I suspect that the most common New Year's resolution made is to "Join the local gym". My suspicion is borne out by the swelling number of unfamiliar and often confused faces I see meandering around my local Y trying to figure out how certain machines work. These "January-joiners" swell the membership numbers of gyms, and cause congestion for the first few weeks of the New Year. Experience has taught me that by mid-February, attrition will claim the majority of these well intentioned, and the congestion and waiting for an open elliptical machine with a TV Monitor will become a fading 
memory...
What is wrong with the picture above?
If you are like me, you can recall the Professor on Gilligan's Island pedalling his bamboo and coconut bicycle to generate the energy needed to operate his Rube Goldberg-esque laboratory. Perhaps inspired by the Professor's ingenuity, Windstream llc is currently marketing a Bicycle Generator Kit that can easily adapt to fit any standard bicycle and generate and store electricity.
How cool is this? When used with the portable power pack, a determined cyclist is able to generate sufficient energy to power a laptop or television. An entire bank of such bikes could reduce the energy costs of any gym. It has always seemed a "waste of energy" to me that the elliptical machines at my gym actually need to be plugged in in order to power the LED screen.How it works:
The Bike Power Generator consists of a powder coated steel trainer frame holding a permanent magnet DC generator. Your bicycle (typical adult 27 inch wheel diameter) is mounted securely to this frame and the rear tire is positioned to turn the friction drum that has been custom fit over the generator shaft. The amount of electrical power that can be generated by the Bike Power Generator is determined by the energy available from pedaling the bicycle. (more info)
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6 comments:
I love the pictures...
Unfortunately, I may be one of these Jan. Joiners momentarily. Are you still interested in getting that Squash game going? Let me know, and I'll be ready to take you down a peg or two...
I seem to recall I may have been a January joiner a few years back...The Y has a deal for joining in january -Check it out.
As for the Squash I am up for it, but entirely pegless, so be gentle
I as well have been known as a "January Joiner.” But alas, this year as you may have deduced, will bring about the tides of change for me. Try, Try again . . .
How much time does it take to fully charge that battery with the Exercycle? Then how do you down load it into the grid? I guess that the battery would have to have a bigger charge for it to go into the system. How little of a charge would be sufficient to go back into the system?
JP
I heard of january joiners but now I usnderstand the trend more fuly. IS not so much of a problem where I am {brazil} but is still very funny to see the pictures
I'll be joining the "Y" this month... so I'm pleased to say I'll escape the ranks of the January Joiners! I have a history of loathing the Y for reasons I won't go into here. At any rate, I'll let you know whether or not I become a "February Frequenter". ;)
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