When I visited Canada last month there were constant reminders of how different the bike world was over there compared to here in Australia. One big difference that I forgot to mention is the legitimate need for a proper bike room in the house. You spend a LOT of time riding indoors as a cyclist in Canada. November – May with a few periods of relief in between. Since this is the case you want to make your indoor riding time as bearable as possible, you absolutely NEED to convince your wife that dedicated bike room is the only thing that will keep you from going insane during the winter months.
So back in Canada I went over to my good friend’s place to say g’day and he took me for the tour of his humble abode. Everyone has one mate who has all the toys, and in my world this is the man with all the goods. I walked into his bike room, took one look and lost my breath as if I were climbing up Mt Ventoux. Every cyclist’s dream. This room was specifically designed for the reason of being the ultimate bike room – no holds barred. The entrance is hidden behind a bookshelf so his wife doesn’t have a clue about it.
Here are a few photos to give you an idea of what I’m talking about. Anything he missed?
Note: I won’t mention my mate’s name, but every National/Provincial title jersey hanging (and tucked away) was earned. This bike room of his is well deserved. He taught me much of what I know about bike racing.
Caution – blatant site plug: If you’re stuck indoors and want some exciting video to watch, go to RaceDayRush and watch some real life helmet cam videos of people just like yourself racing their arses off.
{ 40 comments }
Does he have a separate room for weight lifting?
Seriously, his wife doesn’t have a clue?
sorry – my attempt at humor. She’s great – fully supportive. However, my guess is that she’s told that all those zipps are worth $200 a set and that Calfee is $1k. You know…the usual tricks
;-)
*fap*.
Except for that laptop.
Assuming the treadmill is `cover’ so he can say it’s a family fitness room…
Beautiful set up, I’m sure there’s room in my ceiling for something like that, not! I’ll have to stick to my garage (tin shed) with carpet and fridge.
Maybe you could have a ‘Send in your garage/bike room set ups’ post?!?!?!
If anyone sends me photos of their bike room/garage that’s worth talking about i’d love it! Messy, pristine, whatever…Would be great!
Nice car! :)
I thought the tradmill might have been for simulating hill climbs by putting the whole bike on it … looks a bit short for that.
Worked PT for an engineering firm in my university days and we used a large conveyor belt that was left over from a leather factory refit. About 8m long x 3m wide. Set it up in the workshop at a 2-3 degree angle and two of us could ride side by side, front behind, swap turns etc.. It needed 3 phase power though. Probably could have been modified with a washing machine motor… etc
I would have loved to have seen the conversation ‘Honey I need a private room…behind a bookcase…that has a video set up.’
Everyone wants a “shrine” but he deserves one!
In a couple of months when my oldest son moves out I’m getting a bike room but it will never be that cool. That thing is awesome.
Bad post, very bad post.
I now have a vision in my mind that will eventually smash my bank account!
Awesome..
Awesome room!! I agree with JL – a very mean post! :)
The only problem that I see is that the car is not very bike friendly.
Indeed – no bike racks or room in the boot with that big bass box hiding in there.
Someone mentioned that a good post would be to talk about cycling friendly cars. Feel free to send in suggestions and I’ll start looking for car sponsors to sway my opinion ;-)
That car without the boom box and a couple of racks is perfect.
I’ve been using it for over a year for all sorts of cycling trips/racing.
The back seats go down easily for all your gear. My bike fits inside easily if you need to lock it away etc.
And the grunt gets you nicely warmed up for the race.
Station wagon is overkill IMO.
The racedayrush link isn’t working mate
Thanks Mark. Fixed!
Makes our bike room look like the poor house … drool! Then again – we can ride on the road all year round :-)
i bet his wife is a stunner as well.
some people
Hide the wife behind the book case, then he could use the hole house as his bike room.
Don’t we all wish we had a room like that
Now, you have not told us his name, S.B.?
Nope – not SB!
Oooh grreat, now I’m feeling guilty. Looks like its time to clean & tidy my little workshop on the weekend.
To clarify, the bike room has a separate staircase and its not hidden behind a book case. You have to walk past my shoe collection to get there. And the treadmill is mostly so our little kids can shoot them selves off the end (ideas from the OK-Go video). Thanks for all the posts. Its been fun to share with you.
Thanks “Bike Room Guy’s Wife”. I did notice your shoe collection and happened to get a few photos. There’s a blog post brewing as we speak.
Oh, and you are stunning as ukalipt guessed. I thought that may have been your comment…
It also helps living in a country or close to a country where bike goods are a lot cheaper. I was back home in Australia recently and was blown away at the prices of certain goods. No wonder most people order from overseas.
In general agree. I’m not overly familiar with bike prices here in Aus (since haven’t bought a bike in a while). Here’s a pic of a bike I saw back in Canada last month at a shop. A top end fully spec’d out bike for $10k CAD (dura ace, zipp 303, etc)
http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/photo.jpg
What would the Aussie price be for this? I’m guessing $13k AUD? With exchange rate and 5% GST (not shown) this bike would equate to approx $11,750 AUD.
I think he needs a nice comfy couch in there!
Ahhh…a cyclist’s sanctuary. This just raised the bar and probably cost me $20k in renovations. Thanks a lot!
Where are all the bike maintenance and repair tools ?
Heaps of tools neatly tucked away in the red
toolbox (see blurry photo). Unlike me, the tools are nicely organized and put away after use!
thanks for the plug for the site. yeah, Team RaceDayRush.com is out busting our asses trying to get podium placements while fully cammed out.
We are running high end Sony HD cams using DivX compression.
Some good ol’ fashioned Canadian Shield up there. Wanna try something different, try an adventure race….you’ll need a tredmill along with your bike…..
ohh… Do you think I will be able to hide a bike room like that from my future husband?! Definitely gonna build one..
I see an Alberta Provincial Champion jersey, an Alberta provincial project jersey, canadian national team jersey circa 2003. Your buddy is probably someone of some esteem living in Edmonton or Calgary I would imagine? I likely race on the circuit with him, I just can’t really put my finger on who it is.
Belgian National Jersey??
Axel Merckx?
The Belgian jersey is a signed gift from Eddie and Axel. Bike Room guy is all Canadian… besides even Belgians get more road time than Canadians so they don’t need this kind of set -up.
Obviously NO children for this household!!!!!
Come on people – join the real world-
Those with children are lucky to get on their windtrainer for 1 hour while the 'little darlings' occupy themselves without those immortal words -muuuuum where are you??? ( sitting in the same room) muuum can I have a drink- sandwich- chocolate-??? ( having just been given something to eat and drink) and my personal favourite muuuum what will happen if i stick Barbie, Bateman, my hand or my head into the spinning rear wheel on the roller???(despite repeated pleas to move away).
Aaah children – wouldn't have life any other way!!!
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