Winter Cycling - Where do you keep your bike at work?

Hello Folks,

I was wondering where people keep their winter commuter bikes once they get to work? Taking them inside can get kind of messy and I am not sure the thermal cycling and salt are a particularly good combination. Then again, leaving them outside in the elements seems problematic as well.

What do other people do?

Thanks,
Steve

Mine gets the full elements - don't you love wet saddles :(

Richard

I always put a plastic shopping bag over the saddle to keep it nice and dry.

I hate wet feet more than a wet but.

Steve

Mine gets the royal treatment and goes in my boss's office for the day. I work at a satellite office, my boss at HQ. He wouldn't let me have the vacant nicest office in the building because he would be working here one day every week. He's been here 3 times in the past 5 months, poetic justice says "park the bike in his office".

I keep three bikes in my office. They fit in comfortably with several computers and assorted tools and junk. Why three? In snowstorms I commute on an aluminum Marin San Anselmo. With blue skies I take a Raleigh Triathlon- 1984 vintage- converted to a lightweight hybrid. Most of the time I use my steel steed- Marin Eldridge Grade.

I position the San Anselmo with its Brooks Champion Flyer saddle (a leather thing of beauty and a joy forever from Bill Laine www.wallbike.com ) behind me so that when I lean back for a power nap I have an elegant head rest ;-)

Since I work in IT, people do not comment much about the repair stand and bench. At least I don't have Linux Penquins or feisty chihuahuas.

I think if I even invited Sheldon Brown (with his signature propeller helmet) to share my office, there would be little if any reaction from co-workers (or bosses) ;-)

Sheldon, don't take me up on this! If we moved some of your Leonardo da Vinci workshop in West Newton (with its unimaginable clutter!) to my messy space, we would have to throw out some of the computers- which wouldn't be such a bad idea, when you think about it ;-)

:roflmao:

Let me correct this last post before Sheldon "Enough?" Brown does show up in my office brandishing a triple metric Allen wrench!
Sheldon celebrates life with Old Glory on his helmet! Check out: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/#who
It's Lowenherz who has a propeller ;-) Especially when he is power napping ;-)

:roflmao:

I leave my bike outside most of the time. My office has a covered porch, so do not have to worry about a wet seat. I do take it inside on really wet days when the temps are below freezing to avoid freeze-ups. There is a furnace room right off this porch. I installed a 2-bike hanger. It is nice and toasty and has been a great place to work on my bikes during breaks. Yes, I keep a full sprectrum of tools and other spare parts in my office.

I keep mine in my office behind the little meeting table we have. Never had any complaints about it. Plus, I can hang clothes on it. I tried keeping it in our parking garage but I was constantly worrying about it. After two days asked my boss if it was ok to keep it in my office. He said cool. End of story.

PBW

When I first started commuting to work on my bike 30 months ago, my boss was concerned about my just leaning my old Ross behind the office. I told him that it was his dogs' job to guard it. When I got my first Terry, he insisted that I park it in the basement of the practice, and when it started snowing had me park it in his garage. He got a kick out of my figuring out how to commute that first winter, especially the home-made studded tires. No, where to park at work has never been a problem, no matter how messy the weather. Am I gloating? Yes!

I have to lock my baby to the railing going into the garage. They will not allow us to take the bikes into the building (even in summer!!!) The bonus, is that my desk overlooks the railing, so if anyone even thought about snapping up my bike, I'd be out there in a flash! Also, it would be hard for them to ride with two broken legs.. :)

Joe

Hey guys:
Has anyone ever thought of starting a BUG (Bicycle Users Group) at your work?

http://www.bham.ac.uk/BUBUG/startbug.htm

BUG's can lobby management for lockers, showers, safe covered parking and other benefits. Also check out:

http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/bug/index.htm

I keep my ride in the side hallway in the back of the malt shop by the restrooms. It is safe and protected from the elements there so i'm happy with it.

I keep my in our back storage area. A co-worker also keeps his bike there too (Trek 5200 Campy Chorus). There are only 20 people that work in my area and only 3 have keys.

Most people around here could not straddle my bike :)

I hang my clothes over my bike when I get to work. Let them dry out (summer and winter). It is also not the finest smell from my clothes in the summer time (or when I overdress like this morning).

I keep my bike in my cube. If its especially dirty from rain, I put it downstairs in the big unused area of the building.

But I like having my panniers and gear immediately accessible. It helps remind me that I need to hang my clothes to let them dry out before the ride home. The couple days I have forgotten this step make for a miserable ride.

I started winter commuting after Christmas and decided to keep my commuter bike inside at work. Thanks to restructuring there are some empty cubes. I brought in a old sheet and let all the salt and sludge drip onto it.

Unfortunately I have to keep mine outside now. I was storing mine in an 'out-of-the-way' place inside until someone discovered it there, reported it, and I was told that we couldn't have everyone in the company keeping their bicycles inside. In my building there's one cyclist. Me. Occasionally there might be one or maybe at the absolute most two others - but that's rare. However, evidently my one bicycle was cluttering the place up.

At first they told me to park it at the company rack - an insecure place 1/2 a km away but I refused with a long letter explaining why not including environmental arguments, safety arguments, and even the argument that the people who drive the polution-machines were allowed to park right outside their own building, so why wasn't I.

The result of all of that was that I got a rack installed right outside my office window. It's still outside which I'm not fond of, but I cover it in plastic if the weather is really bad, and at least I can gaze at it all day long, so I've been satisfied with that compromise.

Unfortunately I may be moving to another department soon, and if that's the case, I don't know where I'll have to park my bicycle - but it won't be outside my window, I know that! :(

The folks in our building have been very mature. I thought that I would have problems, however, so far so good. You can't imagine the mess that a salty, snow covered bike can make when it melts. Happily, the drop sheet does a great job of controlling the mess and no one seems to mind. I do get some odd stares in the elevator when its -40 wind chill and there I am with a bike, dressed like the Michelin man. The smokers crack me up. They always say I am crazy to bike in the cold and yet they stand out and smoke in the cold.

My winter bike stays outside at a rack by my front door (or in my garage at home). My other bike that I use the rest of the year I keep in a store room at my office.

I'm lucky that I get to keep my bike in the office garage.

I've had to move my storage area from the boss's unused office due to excessive salt/goop drip on the carpet. It now goes in a storage room until I can wash it at break time or lunch time. (We have a wash bay for trucks) Lately work has been getting in the way of more important things and I've been riding a dirty/salty bike home instead of a clean one.

Pinerider,

I solved the salt/goop drip problem by using a drop sheet in the office. I make sure that I don't dawdle on the way in so that the salt/goop does not start to melt before I can place the bike on the drop sheet. This seems to work great. No mess on the carpet.

Thanks, Steve I'll try that the next salty ride. Nice and dry today!

I use an old towel as a dropsheet. Works OK, moisture soaks through into the carpet, but the gunk is caught by the towel.

The down side to this is that my bike is rusting hard. That melting salty snow is murder on my iron beast. Better than having a frozen bike to ride home on though! :beer:

I work in a bike store.....go figure!! lol but at school it's just a rack outside the deputy's office, exposed to the elements. Gonna try and rig a place to bring my road bike. Like the enclosed walls of the smoker's garden....just keep a tarp in there...

Brendon
:beer:

I don't commute (yet) but to bring my bike in daily for rides. I'm fortunate in that our director wants to start riding with us so I can pretty much park my bike whereever I want. I'm part of the IT group and park it in a secured server room along with my riding partner's bike.

We have been recruiting additional folks for our daily rides and eventually will need to find a place to park more bikes.

Zack

I drive a school bus, and I park my bike inside the garage. One day, I returned from my route to find some smart-ass teenager riding it. He was my boss's son, so I didn't make an issue of it. But from then on, I locked it with a very inexpensive $5 cable combination lock from WalMart, which I can attach/unlock in 10 seconds. It's a 3-number combination, but I only move one number one notch when I lock it, so I can get it on and off fast. It could be cut very easily, but in low risk areas, it does the job. When I'm in a high risk area, I use a U-lock, which takes a bit more time to get on and off.

Bike stays in cube behind me in front of my desk (never used). I share a cube so my side is packed with clothes (sometimes on a makeshift clothesline when I'm drying wet clothes) and bike gear. In winter, I still bring it in, but I try to shake off the slush on the way in and put down a layer of scrap paper on the carpet for melting icicles and stuff...

I barely have room to move but it's real cozy that way.

Jay

Outside in the cold but under CCTV..

I'm lucky enough to have a parts cage near a machine I operate.It stays in there where I can keep a close eye on it.Once someone moved it joking around.I don't think it will happen again.

It's great to ride a bike.

I only commute by bike on Fridays which is a 70 mile round trip for me. The look on co-workers faces. :eek: I get much respect as a result so I park the Orbea in the conference room. All employees are required to pay homage as they pass my pedal powered rocket. ;)

In my office/cubicle, year round. So far my office mate has not complained. A couple other guys I work with do the same, and we have pushed the company to provide a storage room or bike lockers. They won't even put a rack outside, although even if they did, I'd probably still keep it in my cubicle.

Downstairs in the garage of the building. Keeps it nice and dry and away from the elements (handy, even if it is only my old beater hybrid), and it's a pretty secure area. I use a U-lock to secure it to a floor-to-ceiling post, and the garage can only be accessed by people with security cards for the building. Makes me pretty confident that the bike will be there for the ride home in the afternoon....

Lucky for me at my school we have a shed where we put our bikes. Its good but the roof leaks :rolleyes: ...but the door locks. Its a good place to go when its raining and good to store all your books in. :p
Marie