Getting a rep
 

A guy from the other side of the floor (office building) stopped by my office to ask if I had a pump. Apparently I'm getting to be known as the guy who bikes to work. I was admittedly nonplussed, having no clue how such a request could fit into office life. As it turns out, the guys next door here have a football they wanted to pump-up! The guy said that they have the little adapter for using a regular Schraeder valve pump (my pump is dual-headed).

Go figure! Anybody else have amusing stories related to being "the bike guy/gal at work"?

I got an email from a former student whose aunt from Amarillo wants to buy a bike in Austin and where did I get mine? So I'm "the algebra teacher who rides a bike." :D

I'm just dubbed 'marathon man' here :(

I don't think I want to know what they call me behind my back... The boss who shows up with a red bicycle. Or sometimes a black bicycle if I'm being nice to myself.

I'm becoming the used bike merchant: Sold seven so far to budding cyclists! I also make a daily donut run to a local supermarket about 1/2 mile from the office where the staff (some cycle commute in the Summer) call me "SuperCycler"

I get the classic "Lance Armstrong" and "Greg LeMond" at job #1 (not even close to either). Job #2 I get everything from "The Biking Viking" to "Those Shorts Are Really Tight" to "No One Can Miss You Wearing THAT."

I'm notorious for dressing loudly and having no color-coordination whatsoever.

Neon green jersey gets me the "Your hurting my eyes!" Todd, so I hear you on that.

Because I've lost so much weight, I also get - which isn't pretty - 'The emaciated' from some of the more...plump, of my coworkers.

But, I went from a 101 resting heartrate to a 51, cut my blood pressure by almost 90 points and lost 103 lbs. of fat to date; my best moment was earlier today - went to donate blood again (didn't do it for the last 4 months) and saw that I was at 248 lbs. when I went in last time, I clocked in at a hefty 178 today (which got everybody asking what I'm doing to lose weight, etc.)

It's good to see that I'm not the only teacher biking to school. Do you use panniers? Do you just throw your stuff into a backpack? I'm still trying to figure out what to use to carry gear like notebooks and clothes.

Amazing and inspiring! I need to print your story and those of similar weight loss and health improvement to read when I need a little prod out the door. Congratulations and thanks! :)

I bike to school with the laptop and all my notebooks and papers to grade in a messenger bag. Works great, even in the rain. Do your schools let you pack in the building?

Yeah, what the hell is with people who have a problem with you loosing weight? When I got down to 20% body fat (still pretty high) some of my friends said I was getting "too skinny". I was thinking "jesus, I've got another 20 lbs of fat to loose" but who knows. I think people seeing change freaks them out and they also need to rationalize why their own butt is still fat. Good for you though on loosing the weight. Once I become a professor (if everything works out) I'll definately be the biking professor all year round :)

I have both panniers and a trunk bag that also has zipout panniers. I haven't used all at the same time, though. I teach at a community college and tried to get as much work done as I could at school so I wouldn't have to carry my textbooks home. Starting this semester, we have software that has the entire textbook on it so that will no longer be an issue.

I tried riding with a bag on my back -- albeit, not a messenger bag -- and it kept slipping to the front. Also, I prefer to wear a Camelbak since I'm not very adept at putting the water bottle back in the cage. :o

I made the mistake of asking if I could bring my bike into the building and the answer was no. :( When I park-and-ride both ways (from a church six miles away,) I lock it to the rack that is right outside the door but also very near the security office. Starting this fall, I'm going to do a one-way commute of 17 miles from my house (drive in, ride home, etc.) so my bike will be locked to the rack on the back of my car which will be parked next to the police car, also right outside the door. ;) The rack is secured to the inside of my trunk -- not theft-proof but messing with all of that would certainly slow someone down.

When in doubt, DON'T ASK! :)

Well, a lot of the kids at the after-school program thought I was crazy. A few thought that I was so cool! All of them noticed that not a single one of them - even the really really fast one - could catch me before the touchdown ;). And it helped gain me a lot of respect from my co-worker/mentor, who is a very, very, very cool woman. My supervisor thinks that I'm a wonderful, upstanding young man, and the woman who drives the bus that I catch to get back to the University thinks that I am a "very nice young gentleman."

I'd say that it's been both funny and beneficial. ;)

Yeah, I didn't ask. I just brought the bike in on my first day and leaned it against the wall behind my desk. Nobody ever made any negative comments about it.

My principal's theory is that if it isn't unsafe and it isn't disrupting education, why are you bothering him about it?
:D

Occasionally, I think back to when I was in junior high (early seventies), and there was a teacher that we all knew biked to school everyday. At the time, I didn't think much about it, other than wondering why he never drove a car. Now and again I wonder what ever happened to him.

My coworkers come to me for bike advice. Be it, tune up, or new bike. The Pres of the company brought me his wife's Schwinn Collegiate to fix. Upon seeing it, I told him I was taking it to the LBS, needed new rims, tires, and such. This was about a year ago now. He keeps telling me that he is going to bring his matching back for the same treatment.

I have plans on going back and finishing college. Leaning toward a degree in education. To see teachers, that its possible to commute/teach, is inspiration. Thank you.