Thursday, May 17, 2007

The Cyclist-Friendly Workplace

A couple days back, I posted a couple photos of the office bike racks. One of them sitting empty in winter, another of them full-up, just this week.

I've gotta hand it to the company I work for... the racks are very adequate. (Much better than leaving us to fend for ourselves.) They are sheltered from the elements, and a security guy and security cameras are in line-of-sight. (Amazingly, I've had stuff stolen off my bike while parked there - a pump and some tools, etc. One guy got overconfident - left his shiny new bike out there unlocked. Bad move... it wandered away, despite the precautions.)

My company also provides some additional facilities that every employer should provide - at least anybody who employs 10 or 15 or more people. A sweet locker room with showers. I've attached a couple photos.

If I were in charge, it would be written into the building code. I've had much worse facilities - at one former employer, they had a room full of batteries for emergency backup power, and an OSHA-mandated shower to wash off the acid from exploded batteries. I used that emergency battery-acid shower. I also worked for the City of Boise, where I took my "shower" in a sink in a back-hallway bathroom at City Hall. You learn to adapt.

NOTE: Currently I'm fortunate to live less than 4 miles away, so the locker room is a non-factor for my commuting. But it sure is nice when I (regularly) go for exercise-pleasure rides during the day. I take a shower when I get back - my associates thank me for it.

3 comments:

db said...

Wow, those are nice. I've worked in exactly 1 building (out of 5 jobs in the last 10 years or so) that had a shower. Sadly, we moved out of that building last year.

So I make due with a bathroom sink and a washcloth. It's mostly adequate, but there are days when it would be nice to be able to really rinse off (think: rainy morning).

Anonymous said...

We don't have any fancy locker-rooms which is okay for me. There is a guy who sometimes rides to work and then runs at lunch. He runs on the Greenbelt and rinses off in the river. We give him a bad time especially since he lives in Garden City.

Apertome said...

Wow, those are some sweet facilities. We don't have anything like that, but fortunately, my commute is short. I'm the only one who bikes to work here, and I got permission to stash my bike in a storage room. It works great. The only problem is, if anyone else started riding, things would get a little more difficult for me.