Time Magazine had an interesting article last month about gyms where some of the equipment captures energy output and converts it into electricity. There are more than 80 gyms in North America with these converters, including the Washington Sports Clubs in our area.

The article also mentions that some [unnamed] "hipster bars" require patrons to pedal for a few minutes on bicycle generators before getting served their drinks.

These locations aren't quite carbon-neutral but it's an interesting concept. I used to wonder why people weren't capturing the energy output from exercise machines, but now they are.

As for the "hipster bars" with the bicycle generators, wouldn't that be perfect for a DC Tri happy hour?

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2032281,00.html?xid=rss-topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Ftopstories+%28TIME%3A+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo

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I'd especially like it if we could pay 100 percent of the tab at the "hipster bars" by pedaling first. That would be awesome.