I have spent the last 10 years pursuing the limits of how far a human being can travel under his/her own power. My mission: To conquer the world by human power. William Pollard said: "Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow." By exploring the powerful combination of innovation and the limits of human performance, I hope to educate, inspire or simply entertain those who share my passion for all that is Human Power.
I believe in this noble pursuit of human powered efficiency for two very important reasons: The green, non polluting technical innovations that we develop in our super efficient vehicles designed to go vast distances on the minuscule quarter horse power of a human can be incorporated into more fuel efficient methods of transportation, and that will lessen our reliance on fossil fuels which will soften the impact on our environment. Human power is all about the pursuit of doing more with less and it is a refreshing approach compared to our current approach here in North America and many places in the world now, of always seeking to accomplish more with MORE. Bigger cars, faster cars, more consumption, more, more, more.
And in this challenging economic environment, isn't adopting the attitude of doing more with less going to be a fundamental survival tactic for a lot of companies? Isn't it also true that one of the greatest resources in your business is your people- your HUMAN POWER? Learning how to maximize efficiency with your human resources is going to be imperative in getting you to the finish line. I am out to show the world the amazing distances a mere human being is capable of traveling under his own power when there are no technical limitations. This category of record attempt doesn't have any strict rules regarding your equipment like bicycle racing for example. Aside from not allowing any kind of wind assistance or stored energy of any sort, we are free to explore new innovative technologies in the pursuit of efficiently using every single watt of power from a human being.
The other reason I am so passionate about using our own power is that it sends a crucial message. Currently 60% of North Americans are overweight and the health care costs associated with this issue cost Americans over 58 billion $ a year! A leading cause of this problem is obvious in my opinion- it's our sedentary lifestyles. We've been evolving as animals on this earth for 3 million years living active lifestyles. A University of Maryland study found that early man used to walk the distance of a marathon every day of his life. That would be considered a 'normal' environment for the animal called a human being. Now the average North American walks a mere 500 feet (200 meters) per day. It is WAY out of line! When we stray too far from our natural, active environment, we are creating other problems possibly even worse that weight gain. According to a study done by Duke University, after 10 weeks, exercise was as effective in controlling depression as depression medications were and after 10 months.
