Rock The Bike

The lines were never ending to create customized smoothies

go vibrant is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to make an active, energetic lifestyle irresistible.  Our efforts are focused around amplifying the efforts of other organizations/clubs/etc sharing a similar goal.  We accomplish this in a variety of unique and irresistible ways. 
 
We heard of a stationary bike retro-fitted to include a blender powered by pedaling the bike.  An internet search led us to Rock the Bike and the Fender Blender.  This was definitely right in line with our line of thinking in terms of cool and irresistible.  We believe by drawing attention to ourselves, we’ll be in a position to then redirect this attention to the activity/club/etc we wish to promote. 
 
Our first use of this new addition was at the Taste of Cincinnati in May.  This event features numerous restaurants selling their products to a crowd of 500,000 at this 3 day event.  go vibrant partnered with the organizers of the Taste to create a new category-go vibrant Choice.  The criteria for entry of an item was that it must fall within the American Heart Association’s guidelines.  At the event, we set up our Fender Blender on Fountain Square,the epicenter of the event, for one hour each day.  The lines were never ending to create customized smoothies as we highlighted the booths with go vibrant Choices.  We even had a member of our City Council make a smoothie.
 
 
Our second use of the Fender Blender occurred at the Hyde Park Blast in June.  This all day event featured multiple runs and bicycle races.  We were asked to provide entertainment for attendees during a 2 hour stretch of non-race time.  Partnering with the YMCA and the Cincinnati Recreation Commission, this down time was filled with engaging fitness activities.  Again, the use of the Fender Blender was nonstop.
 
Since the Hyde Park Blast, we have received request from numerous organizations to assist with the promotion of their events.  Needless to say, our schedule is filling up rapidly.
 
 
With regard to our ties to the biking community, we work with Queen City Bike, a nonprofit dedicated to developing Cincinnati into a biking community.  In addition, I serve on the Board of Wasson Way which is a nonprofit attempting to develop a 6.5 mile bike trail along abandoned railroad tracks.  Finally we partnered with 5/3 Bank and ArtWorks to design, build, and install a unique bike rack on Fountain Square to encourage bicycle commuting.
 
In the future we are considering (this is very funding-dependent) purchasing multiple Fender Blender Pro’s to power a variety of electric required items.  No details are available as to what type of items we’d power as we’re still in the fundraising stage. 
 
 
The coolest pedal powered activity I’ve seen occurred in Europe where multiple stationary bikes were connected in a series to generate enough electricity to power a video projected on the side of a building of a male supposedly stripping.  At the end of the video, the text appeared on the building indicating how many calories were burned by peddling the bikes. 
 
I’m including some photos from the Hyde Park Blast.  As you’ll see, we have “branded” the bike.  We have other photos and videos on our facebook page  http://www.facebook.com/govibrant.