The Drawer

Well, I guess I've reached a milestone.

I started out with one pair of mtb shorts and a t-shirt. Quickly realized I needed a jersey. Then decided I really needed road shorts.

So nothing was ever in the drawer. I wore it, washed it, left it where I could put it on "tomorrow."

Ended up with another pair of road shorts. A couple of jerseys that are really a bit tight but I'm keeping them.

A pair of knickers.

A new jersey that's actually too big -- so of course I love it and wear it a lot, plus I love the bright yellow and black color.

A smartwool midweight zip-T.

And yet, none of this stuff was in drawers or put up. It was kind of stacked beside the bed.

Tonight I opened a drawer that has nothing but cotton t-shirts (that I don't wear), emptied it, and placed my cycling clothes -- and my socks -- in it.

I have a drawer of cycling clothes.

I am happy.

lol It's a big step when you have enough stuff to fill a draw...

For BF and me it started out as a shelf... It's expanded to a draw and the cupboard. The bibknicks of his go in the cuppboard as well as all out jerseys.

My Lorna Jane Sprots Bras, knicks and winter gear all go in the draw as well as his winter gear, knicks and stuff. ^_^

Our gear grew, too! To save time, we took over one of the twin beds in the guest room. Each of us has a section w/ a stack of shorts/leggings, stack of jersey/tshirts, gym bag, helmet, gloves in helmet, etc. Usually we're not so organized, but it helped us deal with the amount of time all the training took.

Never EVEER thought I'd be so jock-like!:eek:

we have two communal drawers, he has a separate one of his own for his special bike undershorts.
He has a closet just for his jerseys. Mine have to share the closet with my other stuff. We're still having serious SERIOUS problems managing bike gear which can be found in most rooms of the house and the garage. Whenever I can, i pick stuff up and put it into DH's office...

Wow Pooks- I just did the same thing!

I went through my drawers of clothes that I didn't seem to be wearing much anymore....cotton stuff mostly...and put it up in bags down in the basement. Then I filled my nice empty drawers with my biking clothes...shorts, knickers, tights (chamois and non-chamois), base layers, socks, Ziip-Ts, merino crews, sports bras...
DH and I now always have biking clothes airing out draped all over the bedroom chairs.

I LOVE it!! I feel like all my clothes seem to be USEFUL now- my "gettin' down to business" biking clothes. I wear my non-chamois knickers or tights and merino tops every day now anyway, whether I'm biking or not. I feel like I can breathe and move in them so much better. Plus they show off my new muscles! :D
Might as well just go with the flow... I figure my whole lifestyle is healthier now, so what can be bad about that?

My jerseys hang in the closet. When I left corporate America, I didn't need all the suits anymore so it seemed like the logical place. Of course, they take up more than half of the darn closet.

My windbreakers, thermal jackets, and rain gear are in the livingroom closet.

Then, I've got an entire dresser of other cycling stuff. Top drawer is socks. Second drawer is base layers. Third drawer is shorts. Bottom drawer is tights, knee warmers, arm warmers, shoe covers, winter gear, etc. The sports bras are in a different dresser.

My mother would be appalled.

Oh, and I've got stems in one of my kitchen drawers (for bike fit).

I have a closet just for cycling stuff. plus two drawers (one for shorts and one for tights)

downstairs
* undershelf basket of water bottles
* entryway closet is full of bike jackets
* top shelf same closet has the helmets and a bag of misc stuff to toss in the trunk on a drive to a ride

two walk in closets in the bedroom
* one side of smaller closet is gathering 7 complete outfits for the aids ride, gotta make sure I have 7 favorite everything
* other closet has 3 complete outfits laid out so there are no excuses for a planned bike to work

chest of drawers:
* bike jersey drawer
* 2-3 drawers of shorts
* bike sock drawer

Laundry Room
* wall mounted drying rack full of bike duds

Patio
* three old junker wheel being used as a trelis
* tricycle planter stand

All over the house
* century t-shirts in small wood frames

....and three bikes....one in the bedroom...

Bahhh, Pooks, you're just a rookie! :rolleyes:
DH and I have got the "system" like Trek420 -
Laundry room - 3 bikes, a 2-shelf shoe rack (6 bikes total needing 5 pairs of shoes! Ugh), work stand, lights, basket o' gloves, head sweats, ear warmers, etc., 2 drying racks full of gear, and a closet for in-use jackets.
Utility room - 2 bikes and storage crate full of off-season stuff.
Garage - 1 bike, hardware (roof rack accessories, etc), lights.
Upstairs, Bedroom 1 - closet with jerseys, tights, shorts, bibs, and Camelbaks.
Upstairs, Bedroom 2 - Chest of drawers full of socks, sport bras, and base layers. Second chest of drawers with his socks, base layers, etc (and a bunch of magazines in the bottom drawer, because he can't bring himself to recycle them!).
Good thing: (a) we have no kids who actually have to USE those spare bedrooms, and (b) bike clothes interchange pretty easily with ski clothes.

my jerseys are hung in the closet (next to my work shirts):D and all of my shorts, bike socks, base layers, etc - go into a little bin that sits on my closet shelf. It was too hard to lose the stuff amongst my other drawer clothes and I am usually rushing to get my cycling clothes on so I can get out the door.

At least nobody recoiled in horror that my bike stuff has just kind of "existed" in piles by the bed until now. Heh.

I can see I need to buy more gear. :D

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Originally Posted by pooks

At least nobody recoiled in horror that my bike stuff has just kind of "existed" in piles by the bed until now. Heh.

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I thought we ALL had piles of bike stuff in piles near the bed..... :confused: You mean we don't?.....(uh-oh)

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Originally Posted by Trek420

* century t-shirts in small wood frames

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You frame your century t-shirts rather than wear them? What kinds of frames are they in? <<I am picturing frames like those for US Flags>>

Anyway, bike stuff is slowly taking serious hold, but we're nowhere near what some of you have in terms of stuff. Though the bikes have moved into the house, 'for the winter' and I fear it's a slippery slope from here....

tygab "You frame your century t-shirts rather than wear them? What kinds of frames are they in? <<I am picturing frames like those for US Flags>>"

Nope, I use embroidery hoops. Large wooden ones.

Center the graphic part in the hoop, stretch it tight, cut off all the excess fabric and turn it back under. I have this high stairwell up to the bedrooms so thought I'd have these round wooden frames running up it...I do have lots of art but wanted this.

If you like the idea I got it from Spazzdog. If not...it was mine. :rolleyes:

That's a really clever idea !

Thank you! Spazzdog should have her own show on HG TV. That gal's got a sense of design.

The other plan (which I still may do, got lots left) was to have Bikerhen and Bikerchick make a quilt out of 'em. They do that y'know.

The next question is: how does your collection of bike stuff compare to collections related to your other sports or interests? Some of you have such big bike collections, I'm wondering if you have room for anything else.

I have one large under-bed drawer of bike stuff, which has to share space with my sleep clothes and a few other odds and ends (but the odds and ends are losing space). Another similar sized drawer is totally stuffed with hiking clothes (wool socks, mittens, long underwear, etc). The basement has my bike tools and spare parts, either on the work bench or in a cardboard box (spare and old parts) or sitting out (work stand, truing stand). My basement also has a shelving unit and 2 closets full of hiking stuff (stoves, tents, pots, water filters, packs, boots). Besides that, the ping pong table is usually half covered with my hiking stuff and maybe a sewing project related to hiking. So for now the biking collection is smaller than the hiking collection, but neither collection is small. The canoe and kayak stuff doesn't take much indoor space (kayaks outside, paddles in garage, PFDs in garage or attic, wet and dry suits in closets).

After reading this thread, I decided my drawers were not obscenely exploding enough with biking clothes. So I just ordered some more! :eek:

I feel better about the large number of jerseys hanging in my closet. The cycling shorts, tights, etc. are in the cedar chest at the end of my bed. Socks are in the sock drawer.

Now that retirement is only 11 days away, I am thinking about buying more cycling clothes since I don't need work clothes any more. Seems like a good trade-off to me.

Pooks, your a step ahead of me. Mine still lie around for now. I have no extra drawer or place to put my stuff. I have some sitting on my dresser, and some are laying across the rim of the bathtub. (where I layed them to dry last time I washed them). :rolleyes:
Maybe this should be my insentive to go clean my drawers and closet.
Our bikes are in the living room :eek:
I want them in the back spare room, but DH has to set up something so we can put them back there and just hasn't done it yet. He wants to put some hooks on the walls to stand them up, I just want to get them out of the living room. I wish we had a little place outside to put them but yet be able to keep them out of the weather. Would be a lot easier to just go grab and go ride.
My bike shoes are sitting in my living room too. :D
Just not very organized. Guess since the weather is getting to the point that not much biking is going on, I should organize everything this winter.

i refuse to talk about how much space is utilized by cycling gear! http://www.smileycons.com/img/love2/21.gif

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Originally Posted by mlove

Now that retirement is only 11 days away, I am thinking about buying more cycling clothes since I don't need work clothes any more. Seems like a good trade-off to me.

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Congratulations!!!!! May you and your bike enjoy lots of time together in the near future!

My house is filled with my gear. I luuurve it. However, it is running a bit rampant and I am feeling the need to do some winter cleaning.

Living room: two (formerly 4 before The Boy took his bikes out to CO with him) bikes and a regulation size ping pong table.

Dining room: Climbing shoes, chalk, chain lube on a pile on floor. A fleece, usually my Timbuk2 messenger bag from work sitting next to them.

Closet in living room: bike helmets, gloves, cycling gym bag(s), more chain lube, bike locks

Another closet in living room: ski pants, jackets, more chain lube (we have bottles of this stuff EVERYWHERE!)

My room: One broken drawer (it won't go back into the tread) full of miscellaneous clothing, cycling shorts/jerseys, mesh shorts, all wicking tank tops and t-shirts. Another drawer of warm layers, base layers, synthetics, dirty grungy pants for climbing. Another drawer for tanks with built in sports bras. That leaves me 2 drawers for regular clothes, and my closet.

But my cycling gear doesn't take the cake.... this, my friends, is my Pretty. The Boy and I built it in our basement a few months ago. It is 8 feet long and 4 feet tall, and there are backpacks and more gear piled on the floor below it that you can't see. It is soooooo pretty innit?

http://www.rockclimbing.com/photo/ph...rt=16&id=77905

oh man, if there's ever a gear sport, that'd be rock/ice climbing. Congrats on the nice collection! I haven't gotten into it but I know some who are devotees.

I feel so much better now about having 4 tubs and two shelving units of outdoors sports gear, to which biking got added this year. Our bike collection is a small drop compared to our kayaking gear (for example, we currently have I think six paddles for 2 people), but steadily gaining. Hey as long as we're out there enjoying it, tis all good.

-T

mlove Congratulations!!!!!

10 days now

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Originally Posted by tygab

oh man, if there's ever a gear sport, that'd be rock/ice climbing. Congrats on the nice collection! I haven't gotten into it but I know some who are devotees.
-T

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:) Yeah, I swear I know some folks who like climbing like it just because it gives them an excuse to collect gear. Ours is actually pretty minimal, despite how it looks (thats twice as much gear because we each have our own collection, but taken individually it's not actually as bad). And I cut myself off for buying new climbing stuff unless I absolutely have to. The Boy wants to start ice climbing, he also expressed interest in the kayaking thing. I've dabbled in ww kayaking but I had to put my foot down: NO MORE GEAR INTENSIVE SPORTS JUST YET!! Also, we don't have much time to spare for other hobbies. I've started the running thing, but I don't need any extra gear for that so it doesn't count (though a friend is trying to get me into tris... and I guess that means wetsuits and tri shorts/tops and blahblahblah).

Must....fight....gear.....impulse....

hmmm, most of the house is storage area for toys. My walk-in closet has areas for biking clothes, horseback riding clothes, kayaking clothes, and gym clothes. My husband and I keep our skiing clothes in another closet. The basement is housing for 4 bikes, 4 paddles, kayak gear, and ski equipment. 5 kayaks live outside and camping gear is in the utility room. Since I started commuting by bike, I keep shoes, helmet, gloves, etc. in a wicker basket in the living room (it's covered so it also serves as an end table). My goal is to turn the basement into an organzied toy room. Right now it's pretty disastrous.

Oh, well, heck.
I didn't even mention the 2 kayaks, the 4 pairs of skis, and the 6 or so fishing poles hanging in the garage, to say nothing of their accompaniing gear (paddles, spray skirts, pfds, helmets, poles, boots, etc).
It's a good thing DH's car is SMALL! :p
I was going to put the vanity plate "Toy box" on my SUV....but maybe we should just label the house as such!

lets see. for my cycling stuff i now have a small drawer that i keep my stuff in. still want to invest in my very own girly jersey, but still borrowing bf's for now. the bikes have a home out in the garage, but they find their way to the basement too. there is bike stuff all over the house. for running and other layers for cycling i have a huge drawer for that, i've even gotten rid of the non wicking stuff. i have no idea how i survived without that before.

we have a whole ROOM for hunting and fishing stuff. ok so that's mainly bf's room but my poles and tackle is in there. yes i do need three different poles and a ton of tackel. you need a special one for halibut, one for the small salmon and then one for snagging reds. (scary thing is i think i now own 3 pairs of waders, of course two pairs are for work) don't even get me started on what bf has invested. :eek: the boat is hidden in a special place for the winter so it doesn't get ruined.

a friend is letting us borrow his sea kyaks, but they are down at his cabin so thankfully we don't have to worry about storing those.

the fun of the outdoors. love it!

Loved that! I use big tupperwear bins, no folding and they are "organized" by tops and bottoms!
If you like smartwool check out "Icebreaker". Amazing, wonderful,beautiful merino wool. Active stuff and everyday wear too! We are dealers and my entire sales staff and family is hooked!

THey had some on Steepandcheap the other day.... *drool*... that stuff was snapped up in record time! I think it was there and gone in about 3 minutes!

Thanks for coming up with it Spazzdog and thanks for telling us about it Trek420!

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Originally Posted by Trek420

tygab "You frame your century t-shirts rather than wear them? What kinds of frames are they in? <<I am picturing frames like those for US Flags>>"

Nope, I use embroidery hoops. Large wooden ones.

Center the graphic part in the hoop, stretch it tight, cut off all the excess fabric and turn it back under. I have this high stairwell up to the bedrooms so thought I'd have these round wooden frames running up it...I do have lots of art but wanted this.

If you like the idea I got it from Spazzdog. If not...it was mine. :rolleyes:

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rich people are funny.

i love my drawer too. it was one of the first things i did. i never bother to keep my regular clothes organized, but i always know where my cycling clothes are.
;)

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Originally Posted by Idaho Jen

Loved that! I use big tupperwear bins, no folding and they are "organized" by tops and bottoms!
If you like smartwool check out "Icebreaker". Amazing, wonderful,beautiful merino wool. Active stuff and everyday wear too! We are dealers and my entire sales staff and family is hooked!

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Just a couple of constructive suggestions you might want to pass along as dealers...
I thoroughly perused the Icebraker website. I found it to be very slow to load because of all the fancy Flash features. I'm no computer dummy, yet I found it confusing to navigate the categories as well, even after reading the "primer". Sometimes simpler is better. The other thing I found frustrating is that the photos of their jackets are in black on people against a bright outdoor background which made it impossible to see the details of the jackets- they look like solid black sillouettes. The only other picture of them are drawings. If I'm going to spend a lot on a jacket, I like at least TWO real photos, with at least one clear one of someone wearing it. I find drawings of clothing pretty useless.
Nice looking stuff though. :o