Single-speed, mountain, road, cruiser, bmx, tandem, or fixed—they all require pedaling, and if you can work a mean pedal, you’re in for some real results, besides those shapely calves. Pedaling wheels is a powerful motion that delivers a steady source of kinetic energy that can be instantly converted to power anything that seeks an outlet. Rock the Bike, a bike culture advocacy and innovation workshop in Berkeley, is dedicated to squeezing every ounce of potential from these humble 2-wheeled wonders. While the overall message promotes biking as a choice mode of transportation to get from A to B, a bunch of crazy inventions, events, and adventures certainly don’t hurt when you want people to gather ‘round.

Since 2007, RTB has been pumping off-grid sound to crowds at large-scale events, amplifying everything from speeches to rock concerts. The Pedal Powered Stage debuted as its latest reincarnation, the Biker Bar, at the May 2009 Maker Faire in San Mateo, CA. A battery and AC/DC inverter-clad 18-speed cargo bike hauls a serious load of equipment on its Biker Bar trailer to its destination. At arrival, the bar is disassembled and transformed into a station where three ordinary bikes, as long as they’re geared and in good working condition, spin an aluminum tube on bearings and are mechanically coupled to drive the cargo bike that doubles as a generator. The whole shebang delivers anywhere from 300 to 1,000 watts.

Bands at Maker Faire rocked hard sans grid and guilt while the audience took turns feeling the burn…but it hurts so good when you get to be a part of the process. While the enormous 2-day affair, with an attendance of nearly 100,000 people, had a long reach, clean pedal power touched a truly tough crowd, the youth, at a smaller soiree in San Francisco. Mission High School’s 2009 Prom featured a Pedal Powered Stage that got everyone’s legs pedaling and dancing. Even the King and Queen had a go at it, along with their team of teens who hiked up skirts and loosened cumberbunds in the name of clean energy.

Since we can’t always be in party-mode, there’s a way to pedal your way to a relaxing brunch session, well, in addition to biking there. Habana Outpost, a Brooklyn eco-eatery, has featured a “bike blender” (also by Rock the Bike), now known as the Fender Blender Pro, for several years in its al fresco dining space. It’s a sight to see as patrons line up to blend their own smoothies, saving each of them a dollar and a bunch of calories.

With many more practical applications surely to come, the humble bicycle has already proven itself a workhorse, bringing people the gifts of dance, exercise, and deserved fruity delights. And if laziness doesn’t get the best of us, perhaps we can muster enough willpower, and leg power, to cut the cord.