sbhikes

If you got a new job, how many days would you wait before you showed up on your bike? How many days would you wait if your bike was a recumbent?

I started a new job today, but I didn't ride my first day. Didn't want to reveal all my wierdness right away. Probably I will ride a regular bike at first. Not sure when I'll start doing it though. They closed the bike path for resurfacing and meanwhile they're also doing construction on the alternate route road.

Anyway, how many days before you showed up to your new job on a bike?

ax0n

Wednesday at the latest. Tomorrow probably would be okay. It took me about 2 months, but I rode my bike to work 9 hours after I bought it.

MediaCreations 

As soon as possible. We're a one car family. My wife needs the car to take kids to school etc. Cycling is my only method of commuting.

I'm proud of the fact that I commute by bicycle. I'm not sure why you'd want to hide the fact.

PaulH

How would nayone know how I got here?

Paul

JohnBrooking

None. None.

I guess you didn't ride to the interview, huh?

CrosseyedCrickt

I rode my bike to my interview at the company I now work for. The irony of the situation is that this companies main product is repop and rolling chasis of classic automobiles (read: auto industry)
I was hired that very day, laser programmers are hard to come by in these parts so I guess they just accepted my oddness.
I've been here slightly over 1.5 years and have ridden all but 10 or 15 days of it

sbhikes

I'm not in engineering. I'm in marketing. I might ride as soon as the road work is cleared up. I didn't want to ride on my first day, not even knowing where my desk was going to be or where I could change my clothes or where to leave my bike (or what the dress code really is).

JohnBrooking

Oh, marketing. I'm sorry.

slowandsteady

Why not ride the recumbent? Not sure anyone would think a recumbent is any weirder than riding an upright bike to work.

MediaCreations 

I understand the first day thing. You've got to know where everything is and whether there's a secure place for your bike. I'm just wondering why you'd wait any longer than your second day.

JohnBrooking

I suspect what Diane is trying to say is that us engineering types (software, myself) can and do get away with being as-geeky-as-we-wanna-be and it still won't effect how we are viewed professionally. (Or if it does, we don't notice.) I have observed that salespeople don't have that luxury, and I suspect marketing people are somewhere in between.

ax0n

Marketing IS sales

That said, if taking people to lunch in your personal vehicle isn't part of your job description, Your method of transportation isn't really anyone's business. I'd drive my first day, taking note of places near your new job where you can park the bike, maybe find a shower or a gym, locate some resources for storing and changing your clothes, etc. Once you have located the resources you need to commute, there's no reason not to.

centuryman

Being able to ride my bike to work is part of accepting the job. I always learn about bike parking, showers, etc. before accepting a job.

Bekologist

I usually ask about bike parking in the interviews. I've had only two or maybe three interviews in the last ten years however.

I'd wait until I figured out where to park and where to keep some work clothes.

banerjek

Zero. However, I do not keep my bike or clothes at work so no one would know that I biked unless they were told.

wheel

Well I would discuss this in an interview because I don't want to work for someone who looks down on me. Considering I don't have a car I would need to walk or take the bus anyways.

Chris L

I've ridden on my first day every time. A tactic I use is to do the ride on the weekend before I start work (Saturday Mornings are ideal) so I can work out things like traffic delays (there are always some), the time I should allow and I can also examine both the building I'm in and those surrounding it for places to leave the bike/change. In one job I actually stored my bike and changed in a neighbouring building and simply walked the last 50 metres or so.

ken cummings

If the second interview is going really well and the interviewer asks, "Do you have any questions?" I might ask how the company feels about bike riding. In the first/screen-out interview by someone in HR I say nothing about bikes. Then I take my truck to work the first day and make sure my boss and others see it. Having proved that I am an honorable member of the motor vehicle community I then ask what the reaction would be to riding a bike to work. In these days of At-Will hiring one can not be too careful. Mind you I never try for jobs that require front office formal type clothing.

gbcb

First day for sure! What difference does it make?

Jarery

I told them in my interview that i ride to work, i think of it as a plus during that stage. Knowing i'm less likely to die of a heart attack in the next 20 years till i retire is a bonus for them.

Gabbo

I'd feel it out for the first week or so. Get real chummy with folks. Use that time to figure out how your bike commuting can be implemented as "low impact" as possible. It's real handy to get there early. That way no one can say that your commuting delays you in any way. On my current job, I started bike commuting about a month after I hired on. It took a year until someone said, "so, you commute every day?" And that's with my bike propped up against the wall of my office every stinking day. Heh heh.

recursive

Zero days. That's what I did for my current job. I parked at a nearby building and changed in a public bathroom and walked to work where I figured out the lay of the land.

idcruiserman

About 2 years.

Why would you wait?

AndrewP

About 10 days. First check out parking and showers. Then do a weekend practice rides, including alternate routes. Finally bring in work clothes, towel, shampoo, U-lock.

MediaCreations 

No wonder so few people commute by bike. Even cyclists make it sound like a difficult adventure.

It sounds like you need to be almost apologetic about riding. I don't hear any motorists asking us whether it's OK to drive to their workplace. Why are we making such a big deal of it?

It's simply a means of getting from point A to point B. Work out what's necessary and then get on your bike.