George Hagerman, president of SeaSun Power Systems of Alexandria, Va. ran a tent with a very definite message. Power is cheap! The tall, rugged oceanographer is an entrepreneur developing solar and ocean power. But there were no wind turbines, nor any tide gates to be seen in his tent. George wasn't selling; he was telling.
Instead of gleaming new-age clean technology, there was an old, clunky Mixte frame ten speed set up on a stationary workout stand. We all hate Mixte frames, but this one was being put to good use--it didn't have to be agile on the corners. It was not going anywhere. The rear tire had been removed and a fan belt coupled it to a small generator, Gilligan's Island style. It looked easy on Gilligan's Island.
The generator supplied electrical power to an array of light bulbs of various sorts, and a meter showing wattage. George asked for volunteers "in good condition" to take part in a demonstration. I've spent plenty of time on a racing bike running the backroads of Indiana, so I volunteered without hesitation. This would be the one time I'd get on a bike in D.C., without fear of the chaotic traffic, and without nervously glancing at the bumper of every approaching car for the dreaded diplomatic plates. George explained he was going to use us to make 0.1 kilowatt Hour of electricity. The more sturdy of us, yours truly included, were to spend one full minute lighting two rather paltry incandescent bulbs.
An athletic looking woman of about 30 went first. She was obviously an experienced cyclist, but she had difficulty keeping the power flowing steadily. She got off after her minute looked at me and gasped. Next was a young man about 25, and around 6'4". A powerful cyclist, he easily ran the machine for the full minute.
Next it was my turn. I jumped on and started it rolling with no problem. When cycling I spin, that is, I run the lowest gear possible, and spin my legs as fast as possible. This saves the knees, and takes pressure off of muscle mass in favor of respiratory efficiency, the natural choice of any long-retired distance runner. Fifty seconds later I remembered why I do that. When you are producing electricity on a bike, you have to push a heavy gear, and fast too, there's no way around it. By the last ten seconds my legs were burning. I was winded for a good ten minutes afterwards. The smaller riders had to struggle to keep it going even for thirty seconds-- being light is to your advantage when you are on a moving bike, but not when you're stationary generating electricity.
As we all stood there sweating and feeling glad we hadn't gone for a three hour tour on the Minnow, George explained we had just produced one tenth of one cent's worth of electricity. George said that this illustrates one of the main reasons its so difficult to get alternative energy to the point of competitiveness. He had made his point. Power is cheap, and Gilligan's Island was hell.