From Bike Gear to Power Tools
By Troy Tuyls | Better Together Adventures
I used to browse bike gear and think, I could use one of those. These days, I’m doing the same thing in the tool aisle.
Since moving into the new house, I’ve bought a miter saw, an impact driver, levels, and a multi-tool. Milwaukee is quickly becoming my favorite tool brand. With twelve bikes already, I can usually find something to buy for one of them. Right now, though, I get a little more excited about bringing home a tool that lets me finish something we started.
Cristina and I painted the office first, then worked our way through more painting, patching screw holes, and hanging shiplap. Now we’re taking on the basement. What started with figuring out where the treadmill should go turned into measuring for walls, planning the electrical, and thinking about how we’d both use the room at the same time.
We want to leave our indoor bikes set up for Zwift, with room for the treadmill, rower, and weights. Once you picture a typical evening down there, the little decisions get easier. Where should the outlets go so we can plug in the fans by the bikes? Is there enough room for one of us to row while the other lifts? Can we walk downstairs after work and get started without moving things around first?
We’ve got a full 2027 ahead of us. Cristina and I are taking on the 204-mile Michigan Coast to Coast gravel race, the Pittsburgh Marathon, and a half Ironman. Saying all three out loud makes me laugh a little, especially when I’m standing in the basement trying to decide where an outlet should go. But a lot of the work for those events will happen on ordinary evenings, when we’ve both had a full day and a run or a ride would be easy to put off. I want to make it easy for us to say, “Let’s go downstairs and get it done.”
I thank God for giving Cristina and me a home we get to make our own. We’ve spent a lot of evenings working on this house together, and I’m looking forward to the night we can set down the tools, turn on the fans, and ride our first miles side by side on Zwift. After all those nights of asking, “Where should this go?” it’ll feel pretty good to ask, “Ready to ride?”
Until then, if you see me at the hardware store, I probably forgot something. And yes, I’ll probably take a look down the Milwaukee aisle while I’m there.