So I finally got around to posting my 2009 racing schedule to the sidebar on the right and moved the 2008 results down towards the bottom of the pile with the 2007 and 2006 ones as well. Enjoy...
I've got some fun races planned with a lot of local running/snowshoe stuff in there in the early season to boost the running economy. The 2 big ticket races in 2009 will be obviously Ironman Lake Placid and then the New York City Marathon in November. I've lived in NY for 26 years, but never travelled to the CITY once. I'd like to head there to sight see a little bit as long as I am there too. It will be a fun trip nonetheless.
Also, I've got a slight problem...now I'm sure this is going to come across as super bitchy, but since it's my understanding that not too many folks read my ramblings here, I'll divulge a little thing that's been nagging me. So, I live in an apartment with a roommate here in Rochester and she's a friend of mine from high school, we get along famously. She doesn't mind the piles of clothes that are around and is okay with the more occasional that not, pile of dirty dishes in the sink. Very cool, she's honestly almost like my sister (that's the kind of relationship we have.)
But we live on the 2nd floor...and since this is the Western NY snowbelt, I ride indoors pretty much from the time that the streets are covered until the spring time thaw. And Erin is cool with that. Seriously the other day we rented a movie on demand because I had a 2 hour spin to do and she sat on the couch while I spun and we both watched and enjoyed. Awesome.
The thing is that since I have a magnetic trainer (not a fluid one) and since we live on the 2nd story, the people below us have been complaining about the noise from the trainer. Now this is not my first rodeo in this foray. The apartment that I lived in previous to this one had an elderly lady below me that used to complain to the management and bang a broom on the ceiling when I would ride forcing me to move my bike into the basement storage lockers and stare at a concrete wall when I spun.
The people below me are pretty much demanding that I move EVERY ride into the basement now....they have advised that the trainer shakes everything in their apartment and they cannot stand it for longer than a half hour. I train for IRONMAN's....I don't get on the bike unless it is for AT LEAST an hour. I usually NEVER ride for just 30 minutes. They have come up no twice and banged on the door, forcing me to dismount the bike, answer the door all sweaty, and then disassemble everything and move it into the basement to finish my ride. (I do this because I know it must be loud and I am typically a nice guy....or at least I think I am....) I have been affectionatively referring to the basement as the DUNGEON...
I'm cranking up my bike volume this winter and have been riding an average of 6-8 hours a week on the trainer complete with intervals and TT's as well. I've taken the liberty of moving the TT's and intervals in the basement, but there's really nothing to look at other than the washing machines down there. And as an added bonus, the lights are motion sensor lights and shut off after 15 minutes of spinning. Even if I wave my arms and flail on the bike, they don't come back on, so I have to ride in the darkness.
Tonight I was supposed to do a 2 hour long ride. I wanted to stop off at Blockbuster, pick up a movie and watch it while I spun really easy for my aerobic endurance ride. Instead I only lasted 90 minutes in the basement staring at cobwebs until the lights shut off. Honestly I'm a little pissed off that I can't do what I need to in the comfort of my own apartment. It's not like I am getting up at 4am to ride, I do it at like noon on the weekends or 6 or 7pm at night on the weekdays and never ride past 9:30pm. It's not odd hours or anything. I could understand if the constant white noise of the trainer woke them up at 5am and they complained, but now I have to lug the TANK (that's what I refer to my trainer bike as) outside in the cold, along with my trainer and all my stuff, into the building next door and into that basement (because the building I am in does not have a basement...)
This is going to be a pain in the ass if I am going to be riding around 8 hours a week (and increasing) for the next 3-4 months before the snow melts. If I have to do it all in the basement, I think I am going to go batty...and I really don't know how to approach this inevitable confrontation. Any ideas?
2 comments:
The answer seems pretty simple to me. I am sure that with your skills and drive you absolutely rock on your trainer. If a fluid trainer will be quiet enough not to disturb the neighbors below you, you need to spring for one.
Both you and your neighbors have some inherent rights to peace and quiet and the fact that you need to train for hours at a time on your trainer means that you need to find another solution.
Such is live living in an apartment building.
Good luck.
when Curt and I first moved in together we had a second floor apartment and we encountered the exact same thing. nothing we did pleased them and it got ugly. finally we HAD to move and we HAD to find a first floor apartment. Don't expect people to put up with your Ironman habit, the more you try to explain the more they will complain..... especially if they are not athletes, then becasue they are lazy they hate you more. MOVE. And MOVE NOW!
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