When the $4 a gallon gas hits, and you can’t fill up your snow blower, try this guy.

Kevin Blake, who by day is an engineer at Trek Bicycles, came up with the idea of using pedal power to push show about 13 years ago. In 1993 Blake built a recumbent commuter tricycle with a friend and remembers thinking “could I put a blade on the front and push snow?”

His friend was skeptical about it working at all because of traction and weight issues with the light weight trike. Undeterred, Blake figured that if he could “snowplow” with a regular shovel then it should be possible to use the legs in a pedaling motion to do the same thing.

It took another eight years for Blake to acquire a junked Craftsman riding lawnmower to use for the chassis of his brainchild snowplow. Every time he shoveled snow in those eight years he would think about his pedal plow. Then one day while watching the show “Monster Garage” he was inspired. He immediately turned off the TV and started sketching some ideas for the snowplow. Within four months (Oct ’03 – Jan ‘04) of working after hours and week-ends Blake had a functional machine. (via)

Awesome. See it in action here.