Racks, bins and shelves may organize most sports paraphernalia, but not every weekend warrior’s collection is average. Some athletes can fill entire rooms, sheds or garages with the accoutrements of their particular sport.
Sometimes the gear is just large. Sometimes progressing in the sport means acquiring more equipment. And sometimes nostalgia kicks in, with memories attached to a first medal or first set of skis.
We checked in with four Chattanoogans who’ve had to get creative to corral their vast collections. Here’s how they do it.
Kayaks in the Living Room
Taylor Gauthreaux, 25, says he’s lucky to live with a “chill” roommate who spends most of his free time in his bedroom playing video games. That’s because Gauthreaux’s collection of outdoor equipment is slowly taking over their 924-square-foot condo.
For some Chattanooga athletes, making room for equipment is its own exercise
“Our living room is basically a gear closet,” Gauthreaux says. “It’s organized, but it’s definitely a gear closet.”
In his downtime, Gauthreaux can be found whitewater kayaking, rock climbing, bouldering, track climbing, lead climbing, backpacking, open-water swimming, fly fishing or playing disc golf.
All of those interests require particular equipment, which means the self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie has four whitewater boats in the living room, whitewater gear hanging on a banister, paddles in a corner of the laundry room and a bike beneath a stairwell — just for starters. The smaller stuff gets tucked into any empty spot.
“I’m making do with the space,” he says. “It’s quite a scene.”
And, yes, he needs all four boats, he says, as each is geared to different styles of whitewater paddling, his main interest.
Gauthreaux, who works in the mental health field, moved here from West Georgia to earn his graduate degree, “but also for the outdoor potential,” he says.
With Chattanooga’s easy access to outdoor adventures and a community of like-minded enthusiasts, “that made the gear problem worse,” he says. “I want to be prepared for any adventure.”
2,000 Medals … and Counting
An accomplished triathlete, Danny Tolliver requires little more than a bicycle, wetsuit and running shoes to be ready for competition.
But coming home with a finisher medal after each race has posed problems.
“I have all kinds,” says Tolliver. “I have running medals, Ironman, ultramarathon, duathlon, triathlon, marathon, half-marathon. I’ve probably got over 2,000 medals.”
Tolliver, who turns 60 on September 8, took up running in 2015 and cycling about five years later. The combination of skills led him to Ironman competitions (swimming, cycling and running), gran fondos (long-distance road cycling) and all-night ultramarathons (a 100-mile run in Georgia lasted from 8:00 at night to 8:00 the next morning, though “we could stop and rest as long as we got the 100 miles in,” he says).
The result of all this sweat equity is a wall full of colorful ribbons weighted with gleaming medals. They stay in a downstairs den.
“When I first started getting them, I was hanging them on my wall,” he says. “After 20-something medals, I started looking at pictures of how people were putting their medals up. They were getting these ladders from Amazon.”
He ordered three and now keeps his medals looped across each ladder’s six rungs. Top rungs are also a place to prop plaques, occasionally given in addition to or instead of medals, as well as photos of him in competition.
Tolliver, who works as an IT professional for the city of Chattanooga and as a freelance photographer, says at first, he filled the ladders with “maybe 10 or 12 medals across each row, then started going down. Then they just started overlapping. I tried to keep all the biking medals together, but I lost out on that battle a long time ago. Now I just put them where I can.”
Bikes (and Socks) to Spare
Cycling is a shared passion for Melanie Blake, 51, and Ed Kulbis, 48, who combined two large bike collections when they married last year.
“We met on a bike ride,” says Blake. “He showed up wearing bright socks that matched his jersey and helmet. I said, ‘Who’s that guy?” His whole kit [cycling attire] was bright and colorful, and it all matched. That was great. That’s my thing, too.”
Their initial interest grew when they learned they shared not only a love of cycling and socks but also a love of bikes.
“We have mountain bikes. We have road bikes. We have gravel bikes. We have single-speed bikes. And we’ve got multiples of these, depending on where we’re going to ride,” Blake says. “Every bike has a specific use.”
They keep their “daily drivers” in the basement, but the basement can’t hold them all. Others are housed in an office, multipurpose room and storage room on their property, along with various camping and paddling gear.
“We’re building a garage in the next year to put everything in,” says Blake, who works in marketing and website strategy design. Her husband is a process manager in the aerospace industry.
Blake says they hope to eventually add electric bikes to their multitude.
“I’ll never complain about his bikes and gear because I have just as much,” she says.
Coordinating their cycling attire is still a shared passion as well.
“Our sock collection is more ridiculous than our bike collection,” she says.