Training - Dungeon 3.0.0.0

Okay, so my ideas for Dungeon 2.0 (technically it should be 2.0.0.0, where it's Version.Functionality.SubFunctionality.Fixes) ended up short lived. After many discussions about the possibilities of moving the Dungeon to the "end" of the basement, we decided that moving it would make sense to move the Dungeon from the beginning of the maze to the end. See, the basement is finished in such a way that you wander through the various sections, rather than entering different rooms from a central hallway. With the Dungeon at the end (i.e. version 3.0), all the associated mess would be out of sight, rather than spilling over into the bottom of the stairway in the basement (as was the case with version 2.0).

So, once again, I started moving various bits and pieces of what was to be Dungeon 2.0 enhancements. With a fresh slate (in 3.0) I could affix things to the walls that I'd have had a hard time doing in 2.0. I took advantage of this third chance to get things set up, chances I'd previously let expire.

First down were the floor mats. Doing this after the fact was a real pain, so I've learned that I should put that stuff down first. It helps that I bought a lot of it, for the now unused gym, so I have about two rooms worth of mats. I could start setting things up before I moved anything over.

Second up was a shelf for my AV (audio visual) entertainment center. Cue picture of AV center:

AV center. Second laptop (mainly for MP3s) on top of DVD player on top of VCR, all next to TV. Note gram scale below VCR. Two fans too, the pedestal white one and the industrial floor one.

My dead mini-DVD player got relegated to the dump heap while my new DVD player got a prominent spot. I also hooked up an old fashioned VCR, and ultimately I'd like to set up the laptop to play through the TV. The requires just one cable but I've been too lazy to get it from the second bike room.

Right, the second bike room.

Late in 2008 we had a new furnace installed, along with a new water tank (for hot water), in an unfinished portion of the basement. Said room has enough space for, say, a workbench and a bike stand, plus a few shelves (and a currently unused double wide closet). The new furnace ended up tying up space that we'd planned for storage, so the room became that much less usable for storing things. Plus it's somewhat pertinent that most of the "stored" stuff was bike stuff. Since Dungeon 3.0 is smaller than 2.0, the furnace room got included in the equation to sweeten the deal. I'll be transforming that to a bike workshop slash bike storage area.

Anyway, back to 3.0...

The third task was to mount all the various precious posters I have into some nice blow-out frames I got at Michaels - 40% to 50% off, plus another 15% off at the register. I still spent a couple hundred dollars on frames so you know I got a lot of them. I took along a printout of my "poster inventory", a task I accomplished shortly after Interbike, and the missus and I roamed the aisles, finding the best frame sizes and stacking the selected frames on a cart.

Note I mention the poster inventory list? See, planning ahead works. It's just a matter of when it's done. Three months isn't too bad to get something done.

(On a side note, the missus found a task list I'd made during the summer. Incredibly all the items were done, but when I made the list I wasn't sure I'd get more than one or two things accomplished. It's encouraging to realize that I actually got things done.)

Part of the poster task was to figure out where the studs are so I can hang, say, Eddy's signature without the risk of it landing on my head in the middle of an interval on the trainer. For this I'd bought a magnetic stud finder, a much more "old school" way of finding a stud as opposed to the expensive electronic one I have (and which guides me precisely to spots that have no studs).

This magnetic stud finder purchase - another planning-ahead move that came to fruition.

The final tasks include actually putting the mounted posters onto the wall (I have picture hanging wire and hooks for this), moving in the spin bike, setting up a shelf for storage in the storage room, bringing in the bike workbench (and vise) from the cold garage, and hanging some extra lighting in both rooms. The posters are up, at least some of them, but I have yet to do the other tasks. At least it'll give me the "Dungeon 3.1.1.0" post - more functionality, more features.

Merckx's poster, among other things. No flash so a bit blurry.

The fingerprints aren't obvious until you use a flash. Note bike, trainer, rollers, pump, TV. The bins are full of clothing, at least a couple of them. I also have a large box, my gear bag, and a small box of clothing in the background.

Old school cool and Rock Racing. I gotta straighten out the frames. I have more pictures to hang but I want to wait until I have more of the room in order. Rebecca Twigg's frame didn't make it in yet, so she's hanging in the hallway for now.

I brought the workbench (the one with the stories) downstairs tonight, but I have to set up the vise (it's still in the garage) and tool board. Plus the second bike room is a mess right now so I have to organize that too.

For now though the room I've always envisioned is starting to take form. Another year or three and it might be close to done. In the meantime, I'm really jonesing to get on the bike.

Be back in a bit...