How long do you spend in the shower?

[RenewableCandy]

I remember that: it was called "Bang Goes the Theory, Special, The Human Power Station". It wasn't the shower that killed them though, it was the sheer relentlessness of the day, capped with the lasses doing baking while the chap dossed about taking about an hour to hoover a 3-bedroom flat.

The look on the ordinary family's faces when they finally met the cyclists, was just priceless!

[DominicJ]

Only showers as an option?

What about those of us who only have a bath? (and those crappy tap add-on things that pretend to be showers, that don't work as an actual shower???? )

http://www.bathrooms.com/taps/bath-taps ... er-kl-1050

I've got that, or something very similar.
Its AWESOME

Ok, its not, but its gets the job done, and it runs off the combi.

[PS_RalphW]

We had one of those. It was useless. We dumped it when fitting the smaller bath.

We have gravity fed hot water and mains fed cold. The hot water tank is on the same level as the bath. As you lift the shower head above the level of the taps to head height, the hot water pressure goes from inadequate to zero, plunging you into a cold shower.

I occasionally used it to sluice out the bath.

[DominicJ]

We have a combi, so no hot water tank, flow isnt great, but is adequate.

At the time, it was £10 extra when we bought the bathroom, which saved us a fortune installing an electric shower.

[woodpecker]

I think about this before I get in, and plan to wash as quickly as possible, so usually 3 or 4 minutes. SWMBO, on the other hand, doesn't subscribe to my frugal philosophy for showering (though, to be fair, she's good about being frugal in other areas). Her record so far is 24 minutes, and she averages 19! The hair has to be washed and conditioned frequently, don't you know. I'm going to have to do something about it...

I wash and condition my hair almost every time I shower, but rarely go past 4:30 minutes. I maybe shower once every three days? (unless I'm going out).

I confess that if showering in the morning I do start the hot water off by turning on the hot tap on the basin to brush my teeth. So I'm warming up the shower supply and rinsing my teeth at the same time. When the shower goes on it's warm. All very carefully timed. And if I am not showering after brushing my teeth I use the cold tap instead of the hot.

[emordnilap]

I remember that: it was called "Bang Goes the Theory, Special, The Human Power Station". It wasn't the shower that killed them though, it was the sheer relentlessness of the day, capped with the lasses doing baking while the chap dossed about taking about an hour to hoover a 3-bedroom flat.

And from where did the power for the cameras in the house come?

[emordnilap]

Sorry to keep this off-topic but another thing occurred to me about that Bang Goes the Theory: don't these super-fit cyclists live on stuff like power bars, processed nutrients and concentrated shit like that?

What I'm saying is, the cyclists were probably largely fossil-fuelled. Just a thought.

[RenewableCandy]

Oh of course, and the poor b***ers all needed (hot) showers afterwards. It was done, not as an attempt to be C-neutral, but just to show how much juice we all guzzle without a 2nd thought.

[ujoni08]

RC: correct

Update: I had a very gentle chat with SWMBO, and she said that she was already taking short showers. My observations were simply wrong, I was told. I said OK, that's good. She is now out of the shower in 3-4 minutes! I think I'll just keep quiet and take it as a result

[RenewableCandy]

Smoothly done

[DominicJ]

Do real athletes eat power bars?
I thought that was just fat people?

[woodpecker]

When we cycle toured around the south coast of Ireland, we ate huge amounts of all kinds of healthy food, but I probably got through 20+ Mars bars and similar on top of that over a week, to cover the late-morning and late afternoon energy drops. The total calorie count must have been around four times my usual. Apples and muesli really don't deliver what you need riding up Cork mountains with a fully loaded bicycle.

[PS_RalphW]

I used to do conservation working holidays. I did one at a Bhuddist monestary. The work was hard - clearing trees and laying footpaths - and the food was vegan. Although you could eat as much as you wanted, I just could not eat enough calories to keep me going - my stomach could not hold enough at one meal time. I know why rabbits and sheep spend most of the day just eating - they need to!

[emordnilap]

Food: little and often, is ideal. Getting your stomach 'full' then working until you fill it again is not a way I would advise.

[kenneal - lagger]

I used to do conservation working holidays. I did one at a Bhuddist monestary. The work was hard - clearing trees and laying footpaths - and the food was vegan. Although you could eat as much as you wanted, I just could not eat enough calories to keep me going - my stomach could not hold enough at one meal time. I know why rabbits and sheep spend most of the day just eating - they need to!

I would think that most Buddhist monks are fairly small framed people and have a lower metabolic rate than the average westerner and so can operate on a lower calorie diet.

I would also suggest that veganism originated in tropical areas where a lower calorie diet can maintain the body. In our colder northern climes a more energy dense diet is required to maintain the body.

This requirement for an energy dense diet has been reduced by the advent of better housing and clothing so a vegan diet is now a suitable local alternative for those indulging in a fairly sedentary occupation. I know that some high performance athletes thrive on a vegan diet but they have available specialist dietary advice and a supply chain for some specialist foods.

Once we lose the advantages that come from our fossil fueled society, including home heating, cars, power tools and the importation of many foodstuffs, I suspect that veganism won't be a very suitable option for most of us in Northern Europe.