Maybe some of you who live in the south or in high humidity area have this issue. I’m not talking about sweaty clothing, we take all that inside for washing obviously. But aero pads, bike helmet, shoes, heart rate strap, bike shoes, aero pads etc, you get through with your workout and everything has got to end back in the garage, WET where it’s like 130 degrees, no air, an Amazon jungle.
Complicating matters is you can’t leave your garage door open to get air in for too long to dry anything because you’ve got expensive shit you don’t want someone to steal.
I will even lower tire pressure on clinchers especially if it gets real hot in the garage to avoid them blowing up. Nothing like watching tv inside and hearing a tire pop in the garage later that night. Whoops, had that a little too high for the garage crockpot.
My guess is most people just bring it all inside to avoid this or set it out in a protected back yard. My wife hates seeing what she hates seeing in the garage now migrate inside.
Anyway I’m sick of it. We need a triathlon garage humidor.
I don’t have a secure garage so my tri/bike stuff lives between the attic, which gets very hot and is a pain to move stuff in and out of, and the sun room, where the wife hates seeing it. Summer race season means a mass kit migration to the sun room and constant reminders from the Mrs I need to stop buying and start selling my stuff (which is true but not something I am willing admit to). What I need is a triathlon Room of Requirements which would have the added benefit that when needed to hit the trainer hard no one could interrupt me.
We moved back to the south last year and will begin house hunting this winter. One of the “must haves” is a pain cave room, one for tri gear storage, a bike trainer with a computer/big screen, and a repair bench. I will add a window airconditioner or a semi-portable unit after we move in because I intend to keep the room at a reasonable temp for storage time and a bit cooler when I spend 2-4 hours on the bike trainer in the winter.
Several of the houses we have been looking at on zillow have full or partial basements, which would serve well for a pain cave.
As far as the OP goes, you should simply go to Home Depot/Lowes/Walmart and get a window AC unit and have it installed in your garage. You won’t have to keep it that cold, just cool enough to keep the gear in good condition and the air movement will help dry out the gear as well.
I wish I had a garage…instead I get to hear on a daily basis from my girlfriend how she doesn’t like that the tri gear takes up the living room, the spare bedroom, and the small shed we just bought that’s in the backyard.
I’ve got a portable box fan in the garage that I originally got for when I’m doing stuff at my workbench. I hang all my damp bike gear on my bike stand and let the fan blow on it. The garage has some screened side windows that allow for some pretty good cross-ventilation.
I’m careful not to leave my garage door open if I’m not going to be around. Never had any of my tri gear or tools stolen, but did have a neighborhood teen who used to swipe beer out of the garage fridge. Never realized it until one day when his dad caught him and hauled him to our front door by the collar, making him apologize and promise to pay us back.
