On a chilly Saturday evening in a suburb just outside Washington, D.C., a crowd of kids were furiously pedaling away on a dozen bikes bolted to the base of a 35-foot Christmas tree display. We were just minutes from Silver Spring’s annual tree-lighting ceremony at the downtown plaza, and some were seriously giving themselves a full workout.
“The faster [they] pedal, the more the light array above them will light up,”said Karl Unnasch, referring to a sort of gauge that he and fellow artist Jon Taylor—the electrician of the duo—have installed above each bicycle. Not only were the riders keeping themselves warm, they also happened to be powering the town’s—and the region’s—first bike-powered holiday tree.
