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Tuesday, November 28

My Bike (lack of) Room

My last bike room was quite capacious.  That was not planned.  It just happened when a family of three moved into a split level because we needed to move from one place to another.  It was very easy to fit all my things into it with room to spare.  Camping gear, bikes, our home computer, bench vise, grinder... bike tires stored in the fire place.

Like I said before, my long term desire has been to live smaller.  I knew it would have its challenges, but efficient use of space just makes sense to me.  Want to hear me rant, ask me about the first home we owned and that the only benefit of a vaulted ceiling was being able to use my Nerf Hoop.

I would just sit on the couch staring up at all the wasted heat.  Meh.

So yeah. The "fifty pounds of house shit in the forty pound house bag" thing. Most of that shit is my shit. I hate to admit that I'm the biggest problem with my dream of living tiny, but it's painfully obvious when you look around our house.  Why can't The Pie relieve some of my guilt by taking up something more stupid than bike cycling... like SUPing?

The Pie's office in its current state:

It's the smallest room in the house, but she only needs enough space for her desk, a printer, and a thousand foster animals (not all at the same time tho).  I've got my fleet of bikes tossed asunder, and two of them have landed in here.  For now.  That and the home computer ended up here by default because it has nowhere else to go at this time.

Two more bikes in the living room... because... burrito.  Right when you walk in the front door, they greet you.  This will be semi-resolved... at some point in the future.  Notice my tarck bike turning away from the plastic abomination it's sharing a room with.

For now, this is where I get to work on my bikes.  It's a tiny space in the back of the kitchen where I guess normal people would put a small table for breakfast because the gigantic one on the other side of the kitchen is too big for a morning meal?  Who designs these things?

It will be a little tight, but I can always work out in the living room if I need the space.  It's also near the kitchen sink so emergency cleanup can be done with more expedience.  I've pretty much got all the things I need on a regular basis; often used bike tools, riding gear, Turbo Bass entertainment system, and house tools (because I'm probably gonna need them pretty handy for the foreseeable future).

This is a work in non-progress:

We're going to wall in the currently screened-in porch.  Sorry but not sorry.  The Pie and I do not "partake," so the need to step outside to "get our minds right" isn't there.  It's a pretty cool porch as far as porches go, but we really need the space.  It will be a couple months before my buddy Daily is going to have time for this project.  Since I want it done right, I don't think this is something I should do on my own.

I own a circular saw and a corded drill.  And a grinder and a Dremel.

I don't think that will be enough.

Anyways, it should be darn near perfect for the purpose of making great bike cycles molar better.  The floor is just shitty enough that some spilled lube and brake fluid will add character.  A door to the outside makes sweeping clumps of mud out that much easier.  Another door separating me from the family will keep them from hearing all the obscenities I'm mumbling while I'm overcoming mechanical "issues."  The recycling bin is right outside, so easy disposal of dead soldiers.  I'm totally guessing if I want some heat or AC, I'll just open the door to the house (or a window).

The only issue is that the room is big enough to store 90% of my bike gear and tools, camping shit, and messenger related items... but not all my bikes if I still want room to work on them.

My temporary solution of using the lean-to bike storage made out of my old water bed died in the move.  I'm not sure it woulda fit anyways, so as sad as I was to see it go, it was gonna happen eventually.   I was gonna shove it in The Pie's office which woula meant the home computer woulda went... in the bath tub?  Dunno.  Anyways, I've been spending a lot of time staring at all the Topeak storage stands and measuring empty wall space all over the house.  I'm pretty sure that we're gonna end up living in a bike gallery.

I'm okay with that.

2 comments:

Gary said...

if you know anyone that owns a bike shop, they usually have bike hanging apparatuses that are too nice to throw away but not nice enough to display a $8000 plastic squishy bike

RK said...

Ignoring hooks, I've found using the bike-shop wheelstand then standing bike on rear wheel saves a ton of space.