Viva Italia

September 15, 2010 · by · in Bikes & Stuff, Musings, Rants
Cyclocross date number three was a resounding success. I’d say we’re well into second or even third base now, possibly “going all the way” with a race this Saturday at Wildwood Park. Last night at the Cross Lab I learned how to “shoulder” the bike on an uphill, was given some adjustments to my dismount technique (ok, a lot of adjustments) and had more practice getting in and out of those damn pedals. I must have bashed the middle knuckle on my right hand during one of several unplanned dismounts, it’s sore and puffy today, making it almost impossible to flip someone the bird when I drive. You know you’ve had a good time when you can hurt yourself somewhat badly and not notice it, even with the complete absence of alcohol.

I am savouring these last few weeks of outdoor riding. In addition to the CX stuff, I still do morning rides although they are now done mostly in the dark. The group of us have more lights on us and our bikes than the Santa Claus parade. Sadly, soon enough we will be retreating to our Suffer Dens to continue our riding on stationery trainers. If you recall, my Den looks like this (I cropped out the litter box):

Gorgeous, no? Yes, those are hockey bags in the background. We have an ongoing competition in our house to see who can make the basement smell the most foul. I think the cat is still in first place, but I might be running a close second.

But leave it to the Italians to add sex appeal to even the most banal of activities. A fellow designer and cycle fiend sent me a link to an Italian-made exercise bike called Ciclotte that will revolutionize the Suffer Den. According to the website, this incredibly simple yet ridiculously over-designed monowheel “arises from the need to bring into everyday life a design that is a real expession of contemporary living, where work and relaxation, exercise and entertainment share the same dimension, within fluid spaces where all objects can interact with one another.” I wonder if the objects they are referring to include the hockey bags and litterbox?

Perhaps if I pour the contents of the litter box into one of the hockey bags I will create such fluid spacial interaction that my new Italian-inspired Suffer Den will look like this:

or perhaps this, if I’m feeling a bit more “outdoorsy”:

Or if I really wanted to, I could even make my bathroom into a Suffer Den, like so:

What I don’t understand is, with all of that overabundance of Italian design power, why those dumbasses didn’t build in a place to put your espresso.