My work location is not bike friendly......
 

So I just moved closer to my job (10 miles round trip). So i decided to start commuting on my bike. I bought some slicks for my mtb. then road into work for the first time. I work at a airport and I tried to ride through a access gate (where cars can get throught) and the guard refused me access. I have security badges and all.... I ask why? And he said that it was for vehicles only and that i would have to go through the terminal with my bike to get it onto the aircraft apon (tarmac)... That would be a royal pain in the a**... Theres tons of people, and about 3 doors i would have to go through. ( no metal detectors. thank god). So I did eventually get it through and I started riding my bike on access road and i got pulled over by airport ops. He told me to get off my bike and that personal cyles werent allowed on the airport.... I tried to explain to him that i was on a perimeter acess road (not near the buslte of the airplane operations) and I was in no saftey hazard area... We argued for a bit, i made him quite furious. he called his supervisor who just told me to walk my bike and to not bring it. Defusing the situation for the moment... I'M NOT DONE WITH THIS... :mad: Does any body have any advice for combating this issue?

How close would you be able to get with your car? Maybe see if there is anything you can work out with security or airport ops about riding the bike since it is your commuting vehicle. Maybe some muckity muck at the airport can issue (or instruct security to issue) a special bike pass for you. Check security procedures if they are available to employees and see if a bike ridden into the employee lot actually breaks any rules.

Also.... any chance of parking the bike at a perimeter lot and taking a shuttle to your work location?

Unfortuantely, airports are all about teh securiteez these days.

Your bike is a vehicle. That's why a lot of signs and laws talk about "motor vehicles," to distinguish from other ones. Anyway, unfortunately, that's all I've got. Hopefully the smarter people in the forum will have better advice for you.

that's bizarre. if a car can go there why can't a bike? if it is for security, you can do much more damage with a car and all the carrying capacity that comes along with it.

Unfortunately he seems to be in California, where a bike is not considered a vehicle under the law, though they do have the same rights and responsibilities.

give it up

Sorry to hear that. But as the above poster mention, there's BC, AD and now... 9/11. We live in different eras since that fateful day. Maybe you can install an electric battery pack and tell 'em it's a motorized vehicle now. hahahahaha

hmm, you might be on to something here - a fake engine, a few sound effects... :lol:

It's not a public road, so most of the usual legal wrangling ("same rights and responsibilities") that we usually pull out won't cut it. This is more of an office politics issue than anything else.
1) Find out what policies, if any, actually bar you from riding a bike on the perimeter road. People enforcing the "rules" should be able to point out what rule it is that they're enforcing.
2) Whether there's a real policy or not, contact whoever's in charge of employee health, environmental issues, or similar. Most large employers have at least one. If there's a policy, you're trying to get them to change it. If there's not, you're fishing for a memo clarifying the status of bikes on airport property. Escalate if you get no response.

In general, I would expect that anywhere you could bring a private vehicle, you should be able to bring a bike. I would be surprised if there's anything actually barring you from biking on the perimeter road. As others have pointed out, there's no way there can be a security issue with a bike that doesn't exist with a car, and if you're not in areas where there are aircraft, bike safety is no different from any other road.

However, even from a public perspective, airports are usually amongst the most bike-unfriendly facilities imaginable. So do what you can, but don't be surprised if you are eventually just knocking your head against a wall.

Call Transportation Secretary Lahoods office and complain.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/...n6394904.shtml

His facebook and it looks like it is actually manned!
http://www.facebook.com/sec.lahood

Quit that job and find something better. The simplest fix. A place where their own employees are treated in that way - no place where I would even think about working. It aint't theirs bussiness what kind of transportation you take going to work. If they are behaving in this way, ditch 'em and find a better job. Something with actual respect for their own workers.

Fight it!

Park a clown car by the back gate and put a bike rack on it. When you get there throw the bike on the rack and ride the clown car the rest of the way in.

Don't approach the problem from an argumentative standpoint. Tell your boss that you want to bike to work. Ask about secure parking. What you really want is a place to safely leave your bike, and then a way to get from there to your job location.

Hey, would they let you chain your bike to the fence? Sounds like it would be very secure there.

Bikes are toys, don't you know. :rolleyes:

A couple of us ride our bikes to KBTV, walk them through the GA terminal, and then ride out and leave them in the hangar to go fly. Nobody bats an eyelash, but then we're not going through any sterile areas, either.

Thanks for the input guys. I thinks it pretty funny when the airport is considered a GREEN airport.. i.e. solar paneling, electric vehicles. and they wont let you bring a bike in..lol. So i've talked with my manager and he gave me the number to the operations. so me and a few coworkers are gonna call them and complain. also i'm gonna write a letter and have as many people sign it that i can. I wouldnt mind locking it up. but ive lost a few bikes to theft soo i really dont wanna do that. we do have trucks at work so i thought i can just throw it in the back and drive it through but i think thats rediculous but if i have to do that then i will.. So if i cant get through to these morons then i'll just be a thorn in there side cause i will bugg the sh*t out of then... and maybe play pranks on them. chock there truck tires, grease door handles. but thats a bit childish but fun at times..lol

You must be refering to SJ int. The Mayor and his Green Vision plan. Write to the city and tell them his plan is not working so well when you have to do a "Carry On" to park your wheels. That might raise some eyebrows. :)

I have flown in and out of San Jose, and have used my bike to get to and from the airport. It does surprise me that with the big re-do that they have done (supposed to be finished in a couple weeks - right?) emphasizing green with the solar panels and all, that they have such poor bicycle facilities. I wrote a letter requesting better bike parking facilities (I'd like to see lockers for an airport, where it is reasonable to expect that you would leave your bike for a while), but got a reply talking about how the security risk for lockers was just too high - yet as others have mentioned, they don't have a problem with my parking a van in the parking lot.

We're not quite there yet.

Im at the OAKLAND airport.. but writing the city could be effective..

If there's really such a green initiative going on, it might be worthwhile to try and get the press involved. Averting PR disaster=fancy new bike rack for you.

Emphasize on how Bart can accommodate bicyclist and with the future expansion plan of bart direct to Oakland airport, they need to start planning accommodation for bicyclist.

I mean it's just a bike. why do they make such a big deal about it.. Why is there security issues with lockers? There probaly scared somebody would use them for putting bombs in them...

sweet....

I'd say shoot for the top.

Avoid the petty badges, truck guards and functionaries with a bit of low-level power.
Their goal will be to always keep control over their turf and avoid any heat from their superiors. Understanding is not in their vocabulary - "NO!" is, as you've learned.

Flatly put, they haven't been actually told that it is "okay" for you to ride in - - so it isn't. They call this singular blindness, "just doing our job," and its hard to argue with that, these days. I work with security folks everyday and see it continuously.

Continuing with them is a waste of time... so do something different.

Contact the Airport Director, instead. If you have a chain of command that must be adhered to, then start there as you must. But plant to go the top. If you only "work there" in some service position, a mechanic etc., don't waste your time with protocol.
Airport security is FAR more stringent than it used to be, so beating against their wall is most likely a waste.

Go the person who has the time to hear a well thought out plan, from a clear headed individual who understands all sides... and who has the power to act on your behalf above the security wogs. Plead your case to that person.**

** This is a pretty good place to start:

Call Transportation Secretary Lahoods office and complain.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/...n6394904.shtml

PS And as for the airport being Eco-Green, that is a federal mandate and a public relations gig. The only person who may care about that at the individual level IS someone near the top...