pgoat

How does your employer treat your biking to work?

I've had a variety of responses from encouragement to downright hostility over the years.

I'm fortunate in my current position - my boss was wonderful enough to invite me to bring my bike inside when he saw me struggling with the usual 10 lbs of chain and lock (I now carry just a wee cable for quick emergency ducks into a store). Also, we had an article on green initiatives in our latest newsletter, and they mentioned my commuting - I thought that was pretty cool!

I'm seeing things change slowly but surely. Keep the bike commute flags flying!

npkeith

HA! My workplace provides bike lockers that I have to rent! No lockers or showers, I change in the john. I get to sign up for the state run bike to work program for some goodies, but I don't even get to park in the carpool lot on the one day a week that I might drive to work.

GV27

Our company is too small to do anything official. But I get to keep my bike in my cube and my boss lets me out of late work. You'd think that would bring some resentment (he comes right out and announces it - "everyone but Chris, he rides his bike every day") but doesn't seem to.

dcrowell

My company have a few bike commuters now. They are okay with keeping the bikes in our offices, as long as we don't cause problems. No special treatment or anything though.

However, because I managed to get a little media attention for my commute, my employer posted it on the company blog.

RLSchell

Very bike friendly, but I work for the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, so they darn well better be! I park my electric bike in the hallway and plug it in. We also have three garage bays I could use (one of which houses an electric car). We have a shower and locker room, but I never use it because I bike in regular clothes and don't get too sweaty with electric assist. The other employees think my bike is very cool, though I can't convince any of the other locals to bike in. When the weather turns ugly, I usually get several offers for a ride home (never needed one yet).

CliftonGK1

I park my bike in my cube when it's nice out. I park in the locker room when it's dripping from rain or caked in snow/slush.
In the winter, our Facilities guys put a catch-all tray down so my bike doesn't mess up the floor of the locker room as it drip dries.
We have full sized lockers and I keep a week's worth of clothes and a spare set of toiletries so I don't have to carry anything besides my lunch when I commute. I drive 1 day a week and swap out my dry-cleaning and re-stock my locker.
There are 2 separate shower stalls in the locker room: 1 normal sized stand-up, and 1 roll-in handicap accessible with a bench and hand held shower head.

Our other eastside facility has a locker room with 3 normal sized stand-up showers, and a wall of half-height lockers (barely tall enough to hang clothes, but better than nothing.) The shower stalls there are blocked right next to each other on one wall, so it's more of the regular communal locker-room, than the private shower stalls at my facility. Still, it's much better than nothing.

oakback

We have a rack outside and showers, neither of which I use. My office is technically for 2 people, but the other desk is unoccupied, so I have plenty of room to park my bike.

The only thing that bugs m eis we have this "wellness program", where you can sign up and get points for different things you do, such as join a gym, lose weight, counting miles that you run; and the winners get their health benefits paid for a month, 2 weeks, etc. There's no provisions for cycling, or alternative transportation to work.

pgoat

That's really cool about the blog - and love your site as well. You should be proud of yourself - that's a formidable commute you do, and outstanding progress on your goals... very inspiring, as I too, am charting my weight loss - I was doing well all summer but pretty much flatlined last month... You gave me a boost this morning - thanks!

Great stories, everyone - I love the one where the facilities guys put out the carpet protector - I still get the occasional comment from maintenance here, but overall everyone has been terrific. Please keep 'em coming.

pgoat

That stinks - you should pursue this - maybe list your annual or monthly commuting mileage, and what you spend on tires, tubes, chain lube and an annual tuneup - it will prolly amount to a fraction of what people spend on a gym membership. See if they can reimburse that.

CliftonGK1

I know the feeling. We have a program called B-Healthy, and they run monthly and yearly contests for the employees. Sign up for their "walking challenge" and you get a free pedometer, and the winner gets a $50 gift certificate to the local running store. There are all these freebies and rewards, but if I put in 400 miles of bike commuting every month for a year I don't win anything. C'mon... at least hook me up with a $50 certificate to the LBS for captaining our company TdC team for the 3rd year in a row.

I shouldn't gripe, though. I do have it way better than a lot of people.

Ricekilla

I have to give credit to "fatguy". My friend has been making excuses to start riding, lives the same distance from work. I just sent him a link to the video and your site.

People at my job were surprised I bike, I MTB, but never told anyone at work. So one day I decided to commute with my MTB on a weekday. I usually do it on Saturdays when it just my buddy and I working all alone. Anyway I come in, and everyone was surprised and really enthused about it.

It's a small office but they let me keep the bike in the storage room.

CCrew

Same deal here. I actually questioned HR about it. Told the HR director that if she didn't consider it exercise I'd bring a spare bike and she could show me how easy the 18 miles is one way..

To add insult, they'll pay $60 for parking or $60 to metro monthly as a benefit, but nothing for cycling. Although I can park my bike in my office.

I have prompted more than a few to take it up. I'm the oldest guy in the dept

_Roger

dcrowell

Well, I'm glad my project to lose weight via public humiliation is helping others. I'm also glad that it re-ignited my love of bicycles.

pgoat

NO humiliation here - you're smart to address this, and thoughtful to share. Thanks.

Doohickie

The Very Large Indeed Division of My Company has been bending over backwards for cyclists commuting into work, improving access to main facility, making showers available, setting up covered, secure parking, etc.

I work for The Teeny Weeny Division of said company. My office has just a few dozen people and our space is leased, so we don't have the resources of The Very Large Indeed Division. However, one of the managers in this office is a cyclist as well and has commuted in with me a handful of times (although he's more of an evening/weekend rider), and the chief engineer and maybe one or two others have ridden to work. So I get a pretty favorable read from those guys.

When I started commuting, I was told that no, I can't park my bike in the empty cube across from mine. They do allow me to put it in an unused office with a door up the hall that is used for storage. That actually works out better because that office has a locking door and I can change (and take my baby powder "shower") in there instead of the bathroom. I just use the bathroom for a quick facewash and hair combing.

On the balance, my company makes all reasonable accommodation for me as a bicycle commuter. A shower would be nice but would be very difficult to implement in leased space, and we're likely moving to a different space in about a year anyway; I've dropped hints that I'd really appreciate a shower in the new facility but they don't even have a site picked out and a shower for one regular commuter is not going to be the highest priority in site selection, and I realize that.

So, I got no complaints.

CbadRider

My company has full locker rooms with showers - they even provide the towels. The facilities department got upset when people would store their bikes in their cubes and wanted us to us the cheap little grade school type bike rack outside. They had a change of heart when they found out that some people ride in on $4000 bikes. We now have bike lockers at each building.

modernjess

I'm a co owner of my company, we're small and almost all of us ride. I berate those that don't! ;-)

There is no question it's part of our culture, we believe in it and we do it, and we are not in the cycling business.

pgoat

I think that's a big part of it. I've been trying to clean up my image and my bike's, and present it as a more palatable lifestyle - it helps put a more professional face on commuting riders.

BroadSTPhilly

Yeah my sweatpants don't look so professional. Oh well. Anyway the company I work for is pretty laissez-faire. I can keep my bike in my office which is very nice but I don't get kudos for riding in, nor do I expect any.

Consularrider

Our building management has provided two of the old school type bike racks on one level of the parking garage under the building. There is also a locker room with two showers two floors up from the garage (there is also parking at the same level with a door ten feet from the locker room and better street access than the level we use, but don't get me started on that!). Of course the locker rooms are closed for cleaning from 8:30 - 9:30 am, so don't get to work after 8:15. As an employee of the US government, I can receive a public transportation subsidy in the DC area, but not for cycling. At least we don't have to have a parking pass displayed on our rear view mirrors. We have about 10 regular commuters in a building with 13 floors of offices. Also, the building is very conveniently located to several designated by routes, including two MUTs.

jgrendel

I can park my bike inside (in the stairwell, which actually has plenty of space). There are several other regular bike commuters, most of whom ride more often than I do. No real official kudos, but good vibes from pretty much everyone.

Helps that I work for an engineering & environmental consultant.

hubcap

CbadRider - love the avatar

My company encourages using alternative forms of transportation and provides monetary incentive for use of bikes and public transportation. They even pay a nominal amount for those using bikes and such.

srmatte

Security gated facility, bike rack outside, I can park in the employee stairwell if the weather is bad, lockers, showers, and towels provided. There's an unused office I can park in but it's the other side of the building, after biking 12 mi I guess I'm just too lazy to walk the extra 200 yds.

BA Commuter

This past summer, I was featured for commuting to work on my company's on-line newsletter. Gas prices were above $4 and it was Bike to Work month.

My co-workers are pretty cool, however senior management stills makes me feel like I'm inferior because I don't drive a fancy car or that I must have lost my license. Dunno for sure, but I'm psychotic and I can tell those things!

sanitycheck

Now that's a great image!
"Grab an IP packet and hang on tight!"