have you ever been a victim of "bikeism" at work?
teticio
Posts: 107
my boss suggested that i might think about not coming in to work on the bike any more... not because of what he thinks (he is a great guy to be honest) but what "they" might think. the sad thing is that i think he is right. i never thought i would miss anything about working in london but being the only one who cycles in to work in an office of 6,500 people puts me in the minority.
so anyone had any explicit cases of bikeism at work (i mean in the office, not on the road where we all know what can happen)?
ps: now that the days are so short, this is the final nail in the coffin. i am sad to say i will be giving the commuting in my bike a rest. sniff
so anyone had any explicit cases of bikeism at work (i mean in the office, not on the road where we all know what can happen)?
ps: now that the days are so short, this is the final nail in the coffin. i am sad to say i will be giving the commuting in my bike a rest. sniff
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If you want to cycle into work, then you do it, plain and simple surely?
If my work had that attitude then it would galvanise me even more.
Don't succumb, don't follow the pack and be your own person
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If you get to worklate - they have a point
If you leave early - they have a point
If you're too tired to do your job effectively - they have a point
If they have no facilities and you sit arond sweaty with dripping clothes around the radiators - they have a point
But otherwise, what the hell is it to do with them?
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Focus Izalco Team
bullying in the workplace is a serious issue, by the way. It's no-ones business but yours how you get to work.
As long as you're in and ready to work at the normal time it don't matter how you got there.
Univega Via Strato
Hang on let me guess, you do the HR for a hamburger testing company and every one you work with is massively fat!......
I am the only cyclist in my office and have been for the past 3 years and have on occasion suffered from bikeism but I love it so..... Screw Em!!
If you enjoy it then do it, Like the others have said unless it is effecting your work then there shouldn't be an issue.
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Univega Via Strato
I like "isn't it dangerous?" Me "yes!"
long answer at present work bikes, out of the 7 day staff 3 arrive by bike, though to be fair the one would arrive by horse if he could!
there is not a snifter of lycra etc here as all are so close we just jump on bike.
like said above as long as your on time and clean and ready at start of the day whats the problem?
But it isn't, it just feels as if it is!
I know it's cool to do dangerous things, but perpetuating the myth that cycling is dangerous doesn't help encourage cycling... and the best way to improve safety is to get as many people cycling as possible.
Let's not shoot ourselves in the collective foot, guys!
Cheers,
W.
If it is genuinely being suggested that you stop - then that is bullying in the workplace and needs to be officially sorted.
The Mad Monkey [2013 Hoy 003] [FCN: 4]
I think most people are secretly jealous that a cyclist is prepared to do what he/she does and that they feel inadequate as they are not as fit and lazy in their vehicles.
I have to say, I get the p*ss taking out of me for wearing lycra, but then I think "I've got the thighs and censored for it, so f**k em!"
I think you've been a victim of the British way of thinking.
Overcoming things like this, the british weather, the punctures etc. is what win gold medals and the moral high ground!
Suggest you ask your boss to tell you the whole story. And then tell him, very politely, that it's your business how you get to work.
Btw, commuting on the bike in the winter is one of the best things you can do to keep the winter blues at bay (IMO
"What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
"It stays down, Daddy."
"Exactly."
But I don't let it bother me cos I'm saving over £100 a month having got rid of the car and I'm getting loads of exercise thrown in for free.
Whatever you do there'll always be people who don't agree with it, but that's what makes the world an interesting place to be.
Do they have a different attitude to commuting by bike over there?
wrong on more levels than you can shake a stick at.
on the proviso that you're doing the required hours and don't have to be at meetings dozens of miles apart making bikes impractical
if you want to give it up then give it up, no point doing anything that makes you unhappy, but if you really don't want to then fight it. Do 'they' pay you for your commuting time? if not then they've no rights to instruct you what you can and can't do with it.
I'm seen as a complete oddball for cycling and the response I get to any bikey requests to Admin is pitiful but frankly it makes me MTFU and stand firmer against them.
I ride to work 3 or 4 times a week and the only comment I get is how sexy I look in my lycra ;-)
2013 Yeti SB66
I do think it can be dangerous, but so is walking, its all about managing and reducing the danger. I am all for encouraging people to cycle to work, and am working on one guy that may do it. However, my comment that my prime objective when cycling home is to arrive there alive may have out him off slightly....
i'd like to take the "who cares what others think" line - this is more or less how i have always lived my life... but i am a managing director in an investment bank and, once you move away from very tangible results that can be directly attributed to you, unfortunately people's perception of you counts more and, what is more, reflects on your team.
try as i might, it is difficult to avoid having crumpled suit trousers (nowhere to hang them up at work), sometimes specks of mud fly up from the short ride from the gym to the office in a suit... and i started to change into my lycra in the office toilets for the ride home and those 10 seconds of being inappropriately dressed in the lift down to where the bike is parked seem to matter. to have to go back to the gym to change on the way back just adds more hassle.
oh, and i am one of few english working in our office in madrid... the spanish, much as i love them, are not the most open minded of people. i used to always use the excuse of being english to get away with being slightly "eccentric".
well, i appreciate the support guys, but i think i am going to hang up the cycle gloves until i've had a chance to parade around in my sharply pressed suits for a while. once the political climate calms down (i'm sure many of you work in banks and know that things are relatively tense) i'll try going back.
and i was so pleased to have "beat the system"...
I got that impression and by the word 'they' as well. I guess it comes down to wanting to cycle or wanting to roll around in your bonus
Sometimes the boss will say they but actually means himself.
Why not change at the gym and get a permanent locker there, thus arriving at work pristine.
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its surprising, isn't it? what with some of spain's top sportsmen being cyclists.
spain likes cars.
i remember when i first moved here i asked where the local supermarket was and was told it was about 10 minutes in "that direction". after quite a bit longer than that i asked someone else and they gave me the same answer so i asked them if they were sure... they said, "oh, you are WALKING? pffffff".
things are changing but compared to most of europe (especially, uk, netherlands, scandanavia) they are miles behind. my theory is that the transport and system and roads are much newer (thanks to franco holding spain back) so they haven't had time yet to get fed up of the metro and cars and go back to bikes... i was amazed when i was back in london the other day to see so many people cycling. i used to cycle to work when i was working in london and never thought twice about it (until i nearly ended up a road kill) but there were much fewer people cycling in then...
I'm amazed that you're the only one.
I work in a building with more than 1000 others, and at least 50 cycle to work at some time or other, including some very senior or well-known people.
In my immediate office, out of about 30 staff three cycle to work regularly and some of the others occasionally - and some of the rest of them live on farms miles out in the country, which precludes commuting by bike without complicated rush-hour train-and-bike arrangements.
People need to be told what to do so badly they'll listen to anyone
2013 Yeti SB66
MD at an investment bank is not quite the same as an MD in any other company