How bike friendly is your employer?



amelia88

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Jul 4, 2016
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I'm curious to know how bike friendly your workplaces are! For both those of you that already ride to work, and for those that don't.

My employer here in Japan is fabulous when it comes to biking to work - there are showers at our office for those of us that commute - particularly helpful when riding in the summertime! Nothing makes you not want to ride to work like getting there all sweaty and not having a way to refresh!

I ride to work in sports gear and have my clothes in my backpack for work, and it's easy enough to ride in, shower and get ready at the office!

It made me think though, are many other employers that friendly when it comes to cycling to work? I'd love to hear about your workplace!
 
The last place I worked, before I retired, was in the Chicago area. We didn't have showers or special facilities with bicyclists in mind, but my boss was very accommodating and allowed me to keep the bicycle in the building while at work. Bike theft in the Chicago area is a chronic problem, so I much appreciated that. Also was lucky in having very nice bathroom facilities for changing, but it was mostly my boss and his cooperative attitude that helped. I think here in the U.S., that's about as good as it gets for most of us.
 
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I don't bike to work, but I do bike home every now and then. There are times you'll find 3 of my bikes at work at a time resting outside my office. We don't have showers so being that my ride in is over 20 miles I don't think I'd be smelling like a rose. I do a lot of my rides right after work from work and leave the bikes there overnight whenever I want.
For me I only answer to the owner, and at one time his company was my main sponsor when I raced, so I guess he's bike friendly. Besides this is what he see's when he goes by my office everyday, one of my old racing bikes sitting on top of my deck.
My office decor.png
 
@north woods gal I think that's definitely a step in the right direction if your boss is letting you keep the bike inside - I think here in Japan bike riding is just such a part of the culture that the showers were incorporated for riders a long time ago - but I know that when I worked in the US an idea like that would probably have been seen as bizarre since on the whole most people catch transport or drive to work. I wonder if we will see that change over time?

@zipp2001 cool desk setup! And yes, I can totally appreciate that after 20 miles you wouldn't be smelling like a rose - I don't know many people that would be! ;)
 
Amelia, you're mostly likely to see showers and facilities with bicyclists in mind in some of the major bike bike friendly cities such as Portland, Or (great bike town, loved it) or maybe in certain areas of major cities where biking is common. Don't think I'll ever live to see it become a common thing, though.
 
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I work in a big bank and I have some colleagues who are cyclists. Sometimes one of them would bike to work but not from their home. He would come to the office early and after parking his car, he would get his bike in the basement parking and ride a few blocks just to have a sweat and later on would dress up for work. I guess if there are employees who are riding on their way to work, our company would provide a safe parking for their bikes. But I don't have the slightest intention to ride to work. I prefer the car all the time.
 
The last time I had an employer was almost 2 decades ago - a very long time! I was still in college and needed to work on a part-time basis to cover the college fees. My boss was a supermarket owner, and he was an old fashioned stringent sort of guy. But he didn't care what mode of transport his employees would use to get to work, therefore, I encountered no issues for arriving to work on my bike.
 
Not just bike friendly but encourage biking, running or other healthy ways to get to work and have fantastic shower / locker rooms for us plus bike parking at close-in locations at each of the buildings on the campus. The employer deserving of kudos is Premera Blue Cross of Washington in Edmonds / Montlake Terrace north of Seattle (the part I live in ) 14.6 miles via my preferred route.
 
The city I live near in Central Arkansas is very bike friendly, even though there aren't many cyclists. Our office was built with that in mind, it has bike parking and good showers. We can also bring our bikes inside if we wish. I've honestly never seen anyone commuting to work on a bike, kind of a shame really. I would love to but I work out in the field most of the time so it's not possible.
 
I'm curious to know how bike friendly your workplaces are! For both those of you that already ride to work, and for those that don't.

My employer here in Japan is fabulous when it comes to biking to work - there are showers at our office for those of us that commute - particularly helpful when riding in the summertime! Nothing makes you not want to ride to work like getting there all sweaty and not having a way to refresh!

I ride to work in sports gear and have my clothes in my backpack for work, and it's easy enough to ride in, shower and get ready at the office!

It made me think though, are many other employers that friendly when it comes to cycling to work? I'd love to hear about your workplace!


Sounds like you've got yourself a great boss there, mine doesn't give us zilch
 
Sailor here - work is great for cycling. Carry my bike onboard, chuck it in storage and off we go for the week. Showers, my own locker and everything is on the boat.
 
Well I think it's still not applicable to use bike going to office in our country, and it's also not advisable. Some of the offices here don't have a shower rooms, and I'm here in the tropical country, and it's really hard to go to work using my bike.
 
While I don't really like bringing my bike to work (hate when it unexpectedly rains ruining my clothes), work is very bike-friendly and a lot of my coworkers bring their bikes to work, we even have a parking space for bikes.
 
Well I think it's still not applicable to use bike going to office in our country, and it's also not advisable. Some of the offices here don't have a shower rooms, and I'm here in the tropical country, and it's really hard to go to work using my bike.

Same here, the main issue in biking to work is not exactly the parking for the bike but more for the needs of the biker. First is the shower and the clean clothes that would be crumpled since you will carry it in the bag. Then there is the pollution that you will be exposed to. But most of all is the probability of accidents since the bike lanes are not strictly used and not all roads have bike lanes.
 
Same here, the main issue in biking to work is not exactly the parking for the bike but more for the needs of the biker. First is the shower and the clean clothes that would be crumpled since you will carry it in the bag. Then there is the pollution that you will be exposed to. But most of all is the probability of accidents since the bike lanes are not strictly used and not all roads have bike lanes.
Yeah, You're right. Actually I think much better to, instead of fixing the MRT they should just make it an asphalt road for the motorcycle and bike lanes. :)
Actually in some call center company right now, they are providing shower rooms, but there're still some certain company who didn't follow this rules, to have a shower rooms.
 
When I was still working in a company we have an open air carpark and there's 2 horizontal poles we could chain our bikes on. The poles can accommodate about 40 - 50 bikes but the usual numbers are only about half of it. There's a lot of employees that owns scooters and sometimes I could see scooters parked on bike parking slots.