Home Improvements - For Bikes!?

"Gary K" wrote in message
news:1g043zc.1vk5bzq3jirygN%
I heard of a guy who was building his own track on his rural property
near Perth. A standard 250m track needs too much banking (~45 degrees)

Wow, I never knew they were that steep!
I should go watch a track race somewhere!

for a DIY'er to handle I think, but the Midland track is 400m, bitumen
and looks to be about 5 degrees banking, (which is plenty for
sprinting). 400m track goes around a football field, needs about 1.6
hectares of land. You should do that

$10mil later (urgh.. don't need reminding about land prices!)
Don't know any inner city Melbourne warehouses going cheap
do you? One of them would be perfect for my lifestyle!

I still haven't built up the Raleigh frame with fixed-gear parts. I'm
finding (well _not_ finding) that track parts are not exactly easy
to acquire unless you a) buy a whole bike second hand or b) buy
new (and expensive) parts. Grr.. stupid costly hobbies...

For the house:
- 3 fridges: 1 food, 1 beer, 1 tools ;-)
- In the middle of the velodrome a nice little skate park setup
for "trick" practice.
- A "dishwasher", but for degreasing bike parts
- Cable tv for tour coverage and well stocked DVD/Video
collection for mtb stuff.
- All rooms should be rideable and interconnected allowing bike
travel all over the house.

hippy

hippy wrote in message
...
I was thinking right? (yes, THAT's what that noise was!)
With all that home improvement rubbish on TV, what
would cyclists do if they had to design a house, given
unlimited funds?

Just having an easy back entrance to the yard would be a bonus. One you
could unlock with one hand, and still be easy enough to get in and out of,
even with a trailer or a tandem. Having a back laneway for test riding would
be a bonus too.

Seeings as we have unlimited funds, I would bulldoze every speed hump in the
area that didn't allow for cyclists to fly through too. Technically this is
not part of the house, but anyway...
---
DFM

hippy wrote in message
...
"Gary K" wrote in message
news:1g043zc.1vk5bzq3jirygN%
I heard of a guy who was building his own track on his rural property
near Perth. A standard 250m track needs too much banking (~45 degrees)

Wow, I never knew they were that steep!
I should go watch a track race somewhere!

for a DIY'er to handle I think, but the Midland track is 400m, bitumen
and looks to be about 5 degrees banking, (which is plenty for
sprinting). 400m track goes around a football field, needs about 1.6
hectares of land. You should do that

$10mil later (urgh.. don't need reminding about land prices!)
Don't know any inner city Melbourne warehouses going cheap
do you? One of them would be perfect for my lifestyle!

One recently sold for about $900,000 in North Melbourne, near Errol St. It
had a huge open space about 40 metres by 50 metres. I had a few mates living
in it, and they would ride trikes around from one side to the other. Winter
was obviously a bitch there.

That place would have been my dream home if I could have gotten my hands on
it. Now it's gonna be turned into yuppy townhouses, dammit.
---
DFM

Rick Onanian wrote in message ...
On 22 Aug 2003 06:51:07 -0700, Luigi de Guzman wrote:
A lot of houses have them--garages. Pity they're usually full of
automobile...

I've never seen a garage full of automobile. They're
always full of other stuff.

"In Manila," he said, "the thieves will cut through a wall like this
to get inside."

I've always wondered why thieves don't do that here.
We put heavy steel locks on doors, then leave the wall
right next to it made of the following layers:
Plaster or wallpaper or paint
Sheetrock / drywall
2x4 or 2x6 studs every 16 inches
Insulation, wiring, plumbing inside
1/2" plywood
Siding -- Vinyl, wood, etc.

Seems to me, under a minute with a cordless
reciprocating saw, or 20 seconds with a sledgehammer,
and you've got a hole you can reach in and unlock the
door.

Trouble is, of course, that sledgehammering a wall is so damn *noisy*.
Although given the sparseness of some suburban bedroom communities,
especially around mid-morning, it may just be feasible.....

Apparently, troops operating in urban areas use a similar means to
enter houses--I'm heard it's called "mouseholing"--so that they don't
have to pass through doorways, which are presumably booby-trapped
and/or covered by gunfire. In attached-housing situations, they move
from house to house in this manner...

-Luigi

"You generals all and champions bold
that takes delight in fields
That knocks down churches and castle walls
but now to death mustyield
We must go and face our daring foes
and with a sword and shield
I often fought with my merry men
but now to death must yield"
-"Lord Marlborough," Trad.

Yawn. I already have the equivalent of most of these things
mentioned, but I built them myself from junk found at the non-profit
recycling place. Oh, and there are several masseusses, who rotate in
and out every week for variety. They're built, too. None of this
improves my riding one whit. That comes only from hard work in the
hills.

Steve McDonald

"Tim Jones" wrote in message
. au...

"Andrew Swan" wrote in message
...
...

Hmm, let's see...

A garage with room for a bike rack so I don't have to hang them up
alongside the car (yes, I have a car, shock horror).

A retinal scanning opener for the garage door so I don't have to fish
around in my pockets for keys or a remote control while juggling bike,
mail, helmet, etc.


I ride with a bum bag with my garage door opener clipped to the side -
that
way I just touch the button and I can roll on in! ;-)

A spare room for the (nubile Swedish) masseuse and bike mechanic to live
in (this could be one person or two).


There are sure to be at least a few nubile women that have dual diplomas
in
bike mechanics and massage from the Swedish University of Erotic Therapy
(SUET).

Tim

As Long as these Swedish women don't massage you after fixing the
bikes.....i'd hate to discover greasy hand marks all over my
back...........or front for that matter!!

"hippy" wrote in message
...
"Luther Blissett" wrote
in
message news:bi4ogi$9a3
I just throw my bike in the door .. no worrying about carrying it
upstairs, or down
the hall past various flatmates' piles of garbage.

My problem is the "throw bike in the door" bit. I tend to connect bike
to door frame. Of course, I _could_ try turning on some lights in the
morning.. nah!

But my dream home for my bike: A garage, with a heater and a good
security system. The ute can live outside. Unfortunately such a setup is
hard to come across in the inner city. Except the ute living outside
bit.

I work on my bikes inside my unit. The shed contains a car (damn I
wish I could sell that!) and is freezing! The carpet is also quite dodgy
inside so I feel no need to be careful with oil/grease/parts.

(Hey Hippy - is my snipping improving?)

Tis!
Hey Hippy...is this your unit you are living in? I'd hate to think it was
my unit i am renting out!! after the carpet is completely stuffed, i'm
putting in plastic grass hehehehe
hip

I have recently seen a house up the street that has a small roller door that
is powered with a motor (i reckon about a third of the size of a normal
door) that the guy uses to store his motor bike. It is in the side of his
house and must have been included in the initial plans of the house (I dunno
if he has a door for internal access or not though) and I reckon it would be
ideal for a pushbike.

Also, another thing that I am working on is connecting up an old mountain
bike to a DC motor to make a power generator. My eventual plan is to have
one of these connected up to a Sealed Lead Acid battery which in turn is
used to power a TV. I am in no rush, but I want to get it done well and
truly in time to prevent the kids from becoming couch potatoes........ie,
"sure you can watch TV, you just have to pedal".

No wonder my kids love me.

Gags

"Deep Flayed Mares" wrote in
message ...
hippy wrote in message
...
I was thinking right? (yes, THAT's what that noise was!)
With all that home improvement rubbish on TV, what
would cyclists do if they had to design a house, given
unlimited funds?

Just having an easy back entrance to the yard would be a bonus. One you
could unlock with one hand, and still be easy enough to get in and out of,
even with a trailer or a tandem. Having a back laneway for test riding
would
be a bonus too.

Seeings as we have unlimited funds, I would bulldoze every speed hump in
the
area that didn't allow for cyclists to fly through too. Technically this
is
not part of the house, but anyway...
---
DFM

Gags wrote:

*snip*
"sure you can watch TV, you just have to pedal".

No wonder my kids love me.

I love you too! Do you have a payphone in the kitchen as well? That
would rock.
--
Cheers
LB

Sat, 23 Aug 2003 23:31:18 +1000, ,
Luther Blissett
wrote:

Gags wrote:

*snip*
"sure you can watch TV, you just have to pedal".

No wonder my kids love me.

I love you too! Do you have a payphone in the kitchen as well? That
would rock.

Get a pedal powered 'puter too.
--
zk