I think that the fundamental problem will be the ability of one cyclist to generate sufficient power for an entire house, even of modest size. One way may be to store the energy in DC form in batteries during your normal workouts and use the batteries for emergency situations. However, you will need a transformer to convert the energy to AC for use in a household and I'm not sure that batteries will do the trick. I am a power plant engineer, but not at this size.

Thanks, TL.

Phil, I was actually thinking of something that would power battery chargers, laptops or even a small motor like a sump pump. As I said in that post there are some devices out there already. I do want to see if anyone can help optimize the power generation to allow a person who is not cycling on a regular basis to generate enough power to help deal provide energy for some basic necessities. Based on the power readings from my workouts I can reliably generate 170-220 watts over a 2 hour period. Pro riders can put up numbers like 300-350 watts over that time.

http://www.scienceshareware.com/pedal-power-build-your-own.htm

http://www.mattshaver.com/bikegen/index.htm

http://www.econvergence.net/electro.htm

There are ways to maximize what you get out of it but all that stuff is incomprehensible to me. It just is. Anyway, I would like to be able to not just use one of these for myself - "Want Christmas lights tonight? Well, then get yerself down there and pedal, bikefixed." I would like to have a few units available to lend to people who need them. That is where the optimizing part of it comes in. I'm not in awesome shape but I do know that I have good conditioning and hopping on to ride something like this doesn't scare me at all. What I would like to do is figure out a way to make it easier for people to make the juice without exhausting themselves, especially when they have other things to deal with during a sustained power outage situation. Last June's storm got me thinking along that line and our latest hurricanes have bolstered that sentiment. Hell, I would have brought that thing around Maplewood and rode for people.

I don't know anything about engineering but I'd be interested in your product!

What I really wanted to ask is... How you doing with the squirrel? You know my neighbor said they haven't had any squirrel problems since those cats took up court on her back porch. Might get you thinking, you need a cat or 2? I know where you can find some!

Well, I have done some searching but the problem I find is how confused I get trying to find the optimal solution. I want to get some help setting up a way to multiply the human work to make it easier to generate more power. That way a weaker person or someone with less time to ride the device could still get a good result.

I don't necessarily want to make money from this, I'd rather come up with something that serves as an effective portable generator for emergency needs in a community. Not everyone will be a doofus like me and want to use it all the time.

Will do!

UTC, you're right about running something like a pump directly off the device but it could be used to charge a battery capable of running the pump, couldn't it? I think it could at least do that. Even if it came to something that could charge a series of batteries a community could share for keeping cell phones and handhelds running it might be good. There's got to be an array of devices like PowerMonkey that could be plugged into a power strip. Motion-based chargers could also work. It would be funny to set one of these things up and also clip on a bunch of them to the cyclist's legs while they ride the Tour de Nowhere.

What I am wondering about is a force multiplier. Can the force of a turning wheel be increased somehow by a pulley or fly-wheel system? I seem to recall that some hybrid cars recharge their battery with regenerative braking (Honda's system?) that spins a flywheel. I also saw an induction generator system for bike lights at a bike shop last week - it powers LED front and rear lights. I need greater knowledge than mine to come up with something here. I'd pay for my own system but I'd be interested in a low cost device to give to people who need it. What about meds that need refrigeration? Got a soft spot for diabetics.

I don't want this to be a money-making thing if it doesn't have to.

Here's an odd phenomenon that tends to keep happening to me. At first I thought it was coincidence but after 25 years I think it is just too weird to just be coincindental. Whether the teams were already doing well or not, when I've been around, even in the region, the college and pro teams do well, getting into the playoffs or even winning championships. Often, the teams that start doing well really sucked before I came on the scene.


Boston, MA 1982-1987 (Undergrad years at NU)
Northeastern U has Reggie Lewis and wins B-Ball championships and goes to the NCAAs 4 straight times.
Northeastern U men’s hockey wins the Bean Pot 2 times (a big thing but only in Boston, they normally get clobbered)
Northeastern U women’s hockey is a national powerhouse
Boston Celtics - '84 and '86 champs plus a great run of playoff successes until 1988
Boston Red Sox - '86 WS but they lose (I'll never forget it. The pain! Ooh, the pain...)
Boston College Football has Doug Flutie and the all the stuff he did
New England Patriots - '83 playoffs and in '86 make it to the Super Bowl somehow - but get crushed by 'Da Bears.

I'll post the info on the other 'eras' in good time. I don't want to ruin the suspense but it gets better...

Happy Anniversary, Ms. bikefixed. 15 years today. She gave me this card. Can't tell ya what she wrote inside...

Please help me get rid of a killer

The cure for cancer requires funding and I’m confident that I can count on your support. The PMC website http://www.pmc.org is capable of accepting donations securely online and that is their preferred method of accumulating donations. Follow the links to "e-Gift," my eGift ID is PW0016. This link should bring you directly to a page where you can select my name.

http://www.pmc.org/egifts/default.asp?Add=PW0016

I'm writing to ask for your support of my efforts to find the end to cancer.

A tall task, no doubt, but one which is worthy of all of our efforts. I will be riding my bicycle across Massachusetts in my 12th annual Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC). The PMC is the nation's first fundraising bike-a-thon and today raises more money than any other athletic fundraising event in the country. On August 2nd and 3rd, I will be joined by 5,400 other cyclists who will travel nine routes, logging between 50 and 192 miles over one or two days, through 46 scenic Massachusetts towns to raise $34 million. Yes, two days and $34 million dollars. In 2007 we raised $33 million, of which an incredible 100% went directly to the charity.

For the past eleven years I've been riding with a group of friends on team "Friends of Frada." Our team is dedicated to the memory of Frada Rubin who lost her long battle against leukemia and a brain tumor in 1996. For many of these years we have dedicated our ride to a "Pedal Partner," a person who helps us maintain our focus on why we commit to raise a minimum of $4,000 dollars each for the privilege of riding for two days straight.

As I approach my 12th annual ride across Massachusetts, I'm happy to say that last year's Pedal Partner, Jeremy Wagner, is still in the fight. On a Saturday afternoon in April of 2007, Jeremy was just a 14 year old kid playing soccer with his friends. During the game, he felt intense leg pain and thought that he may have broken his leg. X-rays revealed abnormal bone cells, which led to further testing and ultimately a diagnosis of osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer. Now during the many miles of training rides, each time I struggle to overcome a hill, face a headwind, or find it difficult to overcome the inertia to get out and ride, I think of the courage that Jeremy and all our previous Pedal Partners represent.

I also want to tell you that Kira's mother is also doing well after another cancer scare this year. She recovered well from her kidney cancer treatment last spring and continues to be free from the breast cancer she has fought off twice. Kira and I will never forget the care she received at Dana-Farber in 2002 and the financial assistance we received from the Jimmy Fund.

Please go online or send me a tax deductible contribution to help find the cure. If you would like to send a check, they should be made out to "PMC - Jimmy Fund" and can be sent to me at 7 South Mountain Road, Millburn, NJ 07041.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Peter Wick and Kira Hanson

Stage One of Hillier Than Thou ride's elevation and percent grade data. I wisely chose to ride the 100 Km route instead of the 100 mile route.

It got much worse at Fiddlers Elbow. Why, oh why, does Ms. bikefixed let me do these things?

Posted By: bikefixedWhy, oh why, does Ms. bikefixed let me do these things?

Maybe she's got a really big life insurance policy on you. :wink:

Posted By: metaphysician

Posted By: bikefixedWhy, oh why, does Ms. bikefixed let me do these things?

Maybe she's got a really big life insurance policy on you.

Ya know, I was thinking that too and WAS going to post that as a joke, Mr. funnyman. Some of those descents were terrifying - regularly over 35 mph but reached 45.7 mph going down King's Highway after Mt. Lebanon Rd.

BF, I knew that when you called from Chester you were all wound up, but I can't BELIEVE that you could even TALK after a ride like that. It looks like a suicide run.

Posted By: metaphysicianBF, I knew that when you called from Chester you were all wound up, but I can't BELIEVE that you could even TALK after a ride like that. It looks like a suicide run.

Yeah, I shouldn't have been talking on the phone, even with an ear piece, while driving after that.

Posted By: bikefixedSome of those descents were terrifying - regularly over 35 mph but reached 45.7 mph

:shocked:So why do YOU ket yourself do that...???

I gotta go fall down now and sleep this off. I hope I can walk tomorrow.:wink:

OK, nothing like your 63 km Hillier Than Thou ride, but two or three times, I rode the 100-mile bike ride (in a single day) in NYC, without much conditioning at all during the summer. As it happens, that ride is always the day of the first rehearsal of Harmonium, so I drive straight from the ride to rehearsal. Last time I did it, I got out of the car and was crippled by an excruciating charly horse. I screamed out but no one was in the parking lot to hear me. Plus at the END of the rehearsal is an audition for the chamber group. Getting into that group means a lot to me. Last time I did it, I couldn't believe I actually made it. I hardly had any breath left.

I don't plan to do that ride any more. It's just too painful.

So, this Saturday is the final key event in the season for me. The MS Ride in the Berkshires. Yikes. That will be 100 miles I hope I can do...

Posted By: metaphysicianI can testify that bikefixed is on his feet and walking, not limping. A tough dude, indeed.

Who can sing Vivaldi, too.

Oh my god! Bikefixed you were in my old hood!!! I know "Shades of Death Road". I grew up in Newton and some of my friends lived out where you were biking. I always hated the name of that road. Why, why would you give it that name?!!

Gosh but I am a thoroughly carnivorous human. I just got home from an extra long day at work and Ms. bikefixed had worked her magic with a roast beef (or roast beast as she calls it). UN-BE-LIEEEEEEV-ABLE!! She has been making this for me for years and years but each time my mouth and brain and practically my whole body react like well, I don't know how they react. The same thing happens with how she does roast lamb.

Now, she's a great cook but she doesn't think she does anything special with her marinades or pretreatment so she refuses extra special credit for this effect on me. So, what the heck is it? Is it getting to tuck in to a plate of food minutes from the oven, cooked just right? How come I rarely have such a reaction when we eat at a restaurant? Maybe my reflexive comparison to her home cooking occupies my brain and blunts the pleasurable response but it never is the same. This is common to so many people that there must be some other component to it, tied into emotion or something. I know it isn't nostalgia for my mother's cooking. Their cooking styles are completely different. In fact, I always thought meatloaf was a rather bland kinda food but we had it often at home growing up. So, when my wife made it for me for the first time I was completely unprepared for just how awesomely it didn't suck.

As an aside, I had pretty much already become her devoted slave before I knew how much her cooking would redefine my world outlook.

So, back to strong visceral reactions to certain foods and what is going on there. One of the alternative medical approaches that I've come to learn about is applied kinesiology (AK) and I think it has something to do with those same principles. It is like I feel immediately strengthened in all sorts of ways upon tasting a mouthful of that roast beast. The sensation is much too fast to be hormone receptor-mediated so it must be from nerve activity from receptors in the mouth, probably on the tongue but not necessarily (it's an applied kinesiology thing that I don't know how to explain). From what I know, AK doesn't really indulge in attributing the phenomenon it 'observes' to specific physiological things like nerve pathways and neurotransmitters but my own brain wants me to name names when I think about it.

What neurotransmitters are involved and where? I don't do those experiments anymore but I'll bet that oxytocin is involved at least a little along with some well placed dopamine or phenylethylamine (PEA). I actually don't think endorphins or enkephalins are involved in this immediate response since it isn't a mellowing but an enlivening effect.

I'll also mention that I've read a little about the theory proposing different diet habits based on differences in blood type antigens. Some of it makes sense but some of it also makes me want to shout BALDERDASH!! Funny thing is though, I had never eaten lamb more than a couple of times in my life before hearing about it being a great food for my blood type (B negative - Gee, how fitting says Ms. bikefixed). I'll be damned if her lamb roast isn't just like crack cocaine for me - academically speaking of course. And I actually do get to say that when it comes to cocaine - so there, meta...

Things like this always make me go off into a daydream wondering how it all works...

Well, the book does have some interesting things to say, it is definitely controversial. The author says he backs up all his recommendations with lab experiments but most scientists sorta collectively shake their heads. You might find it in the library. Parts of it are boring but not all of it. Say, it could help you get to sleep at night, scully! If anything, it was fun to see what it thought was good for me and what was bad for me.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/eat-right-for-your-type

Posted By: bikefixedAs an aside, I had pretty much already become her devoted slave before I knew how much her cooking would redefine my world outlook.

Posted By: bikefixedbut I'll bet that oxytocin is involved at least a little

Well, those two add up. :dinner:


FINALLY, the Blog title makes sense to me; every time I see it, I expect to be reading about barbecue or roast beef or sumpin'.

Posted By: bikefixedI'll be damned if her lamb roast isn't just like crack cocaine for me - academically speaking of course. And I actually do get to say that when it comes to cocaine - so there, meta...

Now, 'splain that crack about cocaine?

Thursday morning. I'll call you.