Does your employer support cyclists?

HalfEatenFlapjack

We recently moved offices. Great working facility, but:

1. Cyclists have been allocated tiny lockers, inadequate for storing work clothes, cycling gear, and a damp towel. Towels are 'banned' from being on display anywhere and must be kept in the lockers.

2. The cycle storage facilities are rubbish. We've been here 2 weeks and one bike's been stolen already. The security guard just walked past two guys taking a lock cutter to a bike lock.

Consequently, fewer people are cycling
It strikes me that there is no incentive for employers/office owners to provide decent facilities for cyclist. Remove a parking space and there'd be uproar, but cyclists just have to fit around everything else.

My previous offices' facilities were really good. Is my current situation typical? If so, is anyone aware of any groups or ways of getting employers to take a bit more notice of cyclists? The number of parking spaces is a constant bone of contention. You would think that encouraging people to cycle would help the situation.

markhewitt1978

HalfEatenFlapjack wrote:

1. Cyclists have been allocated tiny lockers, inadequate for storing work clothes, cycling gear, and a damp towel. Towels are 'banned' from being on display anywhere and must be kept in the lockers.

We have no lockers.

2. The cycle storage facilities are rubbish. We've been here 2 weeks and one bike's been stolen already. The security guard just walked past two guys taking a lock cutter to a bike lock.

We have no cycle storage or racks.

The number of parking spaces is a constant bone of contention. You would think that encouraging people to cycle would help the situation.

We never have issues with car parking, masses of it.

CiB

No lockers, showers or changing facilities but I'm tacitly allowed to keep my bike in my office without a fuss, except on odd days when we have big-wig clients in then I'm expected to hide it. The main downer seems to be attitudes, as in 'morning Bradley', or 'you must be mad / aren't you scared / I'd never ride on the roads' type comments. Just smile & wave boys, smile & wave* gets me through it.

*quote...

redvee

HalfEatenFlapjack wrote:

1. Cyclists have been allocated tiny lockers, inadequate for storing work clothes, cycling gear, and a damp towel. Towels are 'banned' from being on display anywhere and must be kept in the lockers.

We've got large lockers for cyclists/motorcyclists and are in demand. I made a claim for mine as soon as I started and had a large locker within 2 hours of starting work a year ago. My locker is right next to the showers so I have the cubicle available to hang cycling kit in to air during the time I'm in work. Only one hook is supplied but I've supplemented this with a couple of suction hooks that I can use for rain dampened kit when I'm working.

HalfEatenFlapjack wrote:

2. The cycle storage facilities are rubbish. We've been here 2 weeks and one bike's been stolen already. The security guard just walked past two guys taking a lock cutter to a bike lock.

Our cycle racks are in a covered shed but this is perspex and whilst it keeps the rain of the bikes it is a sweat box in the summer. There is CCTV on the cycle sheds but this didn't stop one bike being ridden off that wasn't locked.

The number of cars far outnumbers the number of cycles but the cycles share the same gate as pedestrians so our exit is primarily a cycle gate, watching the 6-2 shift leave one day the car queue stretched around the car park and I guess it took some cars 15 minutes to get out of the car park, I can be 3 miles closer to home in that time.

I get a few comments about my lycra as we wait for the chimes at 2200 to clock out but they go straight over my head. I had a manager comment on my headwear 'Who do you think you are, Chris Froome?' when I chose to wear my Raleigh Banana cap in work.

markhewitt1978

redvee wrote:

The number of cars far outnumbers the number of cycles but the cycles share the same gate as pedestrians so our exit is primarily a cycle gate,

You work in Downing Street AICMFP.

redvee

markhewitt1978 wrote:

redvee wrote:

The number of cars far outnumbers the number of cycles but the cycles share the same gate as pedestrians so our exit is primarily a cycle gate,

You work in Downing Street AICMFP.

A bit further along the M4

lockstock666

My employer is very supportive of cyclists.

A proper covered bike shed behind security (FWIW). Decent showers, large lockers, large heated towel rail, free shower gel (only to be used in emergency :shock: ).

They had all this in place long before they joined the C2W scheme too.

They only thing they have done is stop cyclists from cycling on to site - we have to dismount at the entrance on the cycle path. Heath and safety thing. Crossing the perimeter road is safer than riding on it apparently :roll: .

monkimark

We have showers at work (pretty standard for large construction sites) and I pretty much have the shower room in our office to myself - 3m square room with a shower plus space to hang all my cycling gear & a towel. We also have drying rooms so I can put any wet gear down there to dry off during the day if needed.

There is a cycle parking area (bit of concrete slab with some racks cast in) overlooked by one side of the office and inside the hoarding so you have to get through the security turnstiles to get to it.
I tend to park under our site cabins so the bike is out of the rain and i can lock it to the scaffold.

All in all, pretty good facilities.

slowbike

The bike rack is in my office - as is my clothes locker. No showers, but a single toilet cubicle with washbasin allows a stripwash in private.
Few negative comments - and they're just used to me being in lycra at the start and end of each day.

I like having the bike where i can see it and in the dry too.

croptonboy

No lockers\showers (you'd have to keep your gear under your desk and get changed in the disabled toilet)

No parking (you'd have to leave your bike outside on the street)

No C2W scheme (when asked if we did, I was told it was too much hassle to set up)

bails87

We used to have showers. But the building they were in is being demolished so we can't use them any more.

We're now in the 4th week of being told the building is off limits, but they've not actually done anything with it. In the meantime the temporary showers and changing facilities still have an arrival date of 'unknown'.

The secure bike parking was removed at the same time, and hasn't been properly replaced. It will be in time, but they don't seem to have started working on it until they took away the previous spaces even though they're in completely different places.

We too have massive problems with car parking (local residents complain about us parking on roads, but also block any applications we put in to build a multistorey car park) but work don't seem to link 'more people on bikes' with 'fewer cars' so we end up with stuff like this where cycling any real distance is discouraged (I don't want to be antisocial and stink out the office. Also there's no disabled loo, so getting changed and even a little bit fresh would be difficult).

So, previously they were fairly good, but (as with so much) it feels like cyclists are an afterthought so the building work has been a bit of a PITA as it's left me with nowhere to store my stuff, nowhere to get changed and nowhere secure to lock my bike.

jonomc4

My employer has 6 different shower rooms with things like hair dryers, 5 sets of toilets. My locker is 6ft tall by 4 ft wide and we have a tumble dryer all this is in a basement basically just for the cyclists (the company has about 110 people in the office). We have 4 sets of bike racks which sit behind an electronic gate (but the bike are out of view) the door gets open after the receptionists checks us out via camera and intercom. Either that or there is a number locked back door for out of hours.

Boy I suffer!

P.S. funny thing is our company doesn't do the cycle to work scheme - go figure?

woodyonthebeach

Due to working in a serviced office its left to the provider, I wont name as its not needed at the moment.

1. Lockers
Lockers, nope nothing, not a sausage. I hang my towel over my chair or off the window sill next to my desk.

2. Bike Storage
Cycling storage is a little room that consist's of a 6 vertical bike racks (hanging your bike from the handle bars), then its a case of jamming your bike in there if arrive late (ie after 8amish) not so great if you have a nice bike as people don't seem to respect this. From a security aspect the bikes hanging from the handle bars can be locked to the rack, so its just the question of locking the bike up well. The bikes that get put in between the ones hanging is little more difficult as you can either use a nice long cable lock or leave it as it is. The room it self is near the side entrance of the build and requires a key card and code to gain access to it.
From my knowledge I don't think any bikes have been stolen, but I have only been here a short time so I could be wrong.

This room also contains the shower, which by all accounts isnt bad but could be a little bigger.

From the employer point of view as long as we keep the actual office tidy when required then all is good. They have however vetoed the wearing of lycra in the office as the new PA and the Intern (fresh out of uni and a little naive) kept getting distracted This applies to the runner we have in here as well.

katiebob

One shower for the ladies and one shower for the men.

No lockers but as I'm the only cycling lady I just hang my stuff up in the shower room and leave showering stuff in there. The men have been alloctated an unused office for changing and stuff storage.

No bike storage but again we just use an unused corridor/under stairs.

phuqertrfc

Male and Female shower rooms for non gym members.
Nicer male and female shower rooms for gym members.

Lockers, heated towel rails etc.

Several bike sheds.

The best bit is the flexible working for cyclists like myself who can work through lunch and leave an hour early so that I can cycle home and cover the extra time to still get home to see my young daughter before she goes to bed.

sswiss

2 Showers - for office of over 220

No Lockers, no Radiators etc ...so damp stuff hangs off the back of chairs/by windows - wanting for our Director to moan about the office appearance in the winter...so I can have a rant about it

Bike storage, enclosed and swipe controlled - partially covered by cctv as well....

on the whole not too bad!

loads of car parking as well.....

arran77

Nope.

No lockers or anywhere to hang / dry clothes.

Shower in the accessible toilet that is so powerful that there is not a square millimeter of the place that does not get soaked so all your clothes get drenched unless you leave them outside in the corridor.

A 'cycle shed' that is actually a 'smoking shed'.

Cycle to work scheme got scrapped.

Think I'll stick to the car for commuting and the bike for leisure :roll:

markhewitt1978

arran77 wrote:

Nope.
No lockers or anywhere to hang / dry clothes.
Shower in the accessible toilet that is so powerful that there is not a square millimeter of the place that does not get soaked so all your clothes get drenched unless you leave them outside in the corridor.
A 'cycle shed' that is actually a 'smoking shed'.
Cycle to work scheme got scrapped.
Think I'll stick to the car for commuting and the bike for leisure :roll:

Wow, you have a shower, luxury!

I live to far away to commute to work, but I'm going to be starting cycling in my lunch hour, but still that's going to require a sponge down in the disabled toilets, as there's no showers.

arran77

markhewitt1978 wrote:

arran77 wrote:

Nope.
No lockers or anywhere to hang / dry clothes.
Shower in the accessible toilet that is so powerful that there is not a square millimeter of the place that does not get soaked so all your clothes get drenched unless you leave them outside in the corridor.
A 'cycle shed' that is actually a 'smoking shed'.
Cycle to work scheme got scrapped.
Think I'll stick to the car for commuting and the bike for leisure :roll:

Wow, you have a shower, luxury!

I live to far away to commute to work, but I'm going to be starting cycling in my lunch hour, but still that's going to require a sponge down in the disabled toilets, as there's no showers.

It literally floods the place, the water rushes out under the door and soaks the carpet outside, if anyone uses it they have to put the 'caution wet floor' sign out

The Rookie

No showers, no lockers, clothes stored in desk drawer.

Employer put 2 sheffield stands in a stairwell for us (inside a security door).

No C2W.

Umbrella group has a conservation/climate change code for all companies to follow, except we don't!

mpatts

Other than the fact that this forum seems to not be blocked by the 'net filter, that's your lot

jongooligan

Reasonable storage but security chased someone away last week only for him to return the same afternoon and nick the bike he'd removed the lock from earlier.

Three showers in three separate disabled toilets shared by approx 1,000 people. Small lockers but nowhere to dry wet kit or towels. If disabled toilets are in use (they invariably are in use by able bodied) then have to get changed in a toilet cubicle while trying to avoid the ever present puddle.

So, on a good day I arrive dry, get straight into a shower and when it's time to go home get changed in a disabled toilet. On a bad day I arrive wet, queue for a shower in wet clothes and when it's time to go home I have to put my wet clothes back on in a toilet cubicle and don't mange to avoid putting my bare feet in a puddle of pee.

folsom1

No showers, one small unisex toilet for the whole company, no lockers and no bike park.

...but there are only 8 people in the business, and my bike can be left in the warehouse 5 meters from my desk!

awavey

there are proper full length gym style lockers but theres such a long waiting list on them and they rarely seem to change hands, we have desk lockers as well but its mostly for holding all our office/computer storage (clear desks and all that) and arent really that big I can just about fit my crash helmet with a laptop and few other bits and bobs thats about it,so I just use it to leave a spare set of office clothes/shoes, but so my bike gear has to stay under the desk as theres nowhere to hang it up to dry or leave it really

there are showers too but unisex and Ive never quite trusted my male colleagues not to barge in unexpectedly (theres no lock on the door) :oops: so I get changed in the toilets instead, though theyve refurbished them recently and taken away all the clothes hooks, so theres nowhere to hang things up there either which has been proving challenging.

bike sheds, though limited on covered space and the covered bit fills up really early too, plenty of other bike spaces though but mostly open to the elements,supposedly monitored by various cctv, security etc, but things can and do go missing, including bikes.

on the whole Id say they were probably quite supportive, I know it can be a lot worse so Im happy with what they provide for us, biggest gripe from most of the other cyclists is the lack of C2W really, but thats never been something thats bothered me much.

martincroxall

My (County Council) employer is fully behind cycling. I know this because they tell us at regular intervals. However, they've been promising a C2W scheme for over a year and still not got it sorted. The 'staff discounts' at local bike shops turn out to be imaginary and yet are still shown on our intranet after I pointed out the error of their ways.

Facilities wise we have quite a bit of bike parking but it does tend to be poorly thought out and the racks next to the security office (as in, right alongside it) have had bikes stolen and have no CCTV coverage. Fortunately we've about 10 showers although thses are spread across 4 buildings and 4 floors and we've 2000 or so staff so that's 1 shower per 200 people.

There's a good drying room although for some reason it was decided to remove the padlocks and make us supply our own due to the cost involved. Oddly enough this came directly after the car park was extended which cost several ten's of thousands of pounds.

We get lockers but these tend to be spread around the site with no direct correlation to where bikes are stored or where showers or located so you do end up wandering up and down corridors to get from one to the other.

But, at least we have something!

Oh, and we seem to be really up on pointing out our amazing new cycling facilities out in the County but they never seem to me to be very useful. There was a point when if we'd extended the amount of cycle paths in a year by 5 miles then it was seen as something special until I pointed out that was about 20 minutes by bike!

iPete

Lockers, a bit small but do the job
Two OK showers
Indoor bike storage
And the best thing, 2x drying cabinets! Never a soggy ride home.
Office is circa 80 people.

neal1984

I have a decent sized locker, decent showers and a bike 'rack' (covered but more like a smoking shelter TBH). The thing that lets my company down are the locker rooms are air-conditioned all year round so great in the summer but like a freezer in the winter and the refuse to participate in the cycle to work scheme

Der Kaiser

Although I work from home the vast majority of the time when I am asked to go into the office I always cycle in.

They have two showers available.

No Lockers.

Space for 12 bikes to be locked up but this is exposed to the elements.

They are on the Cycle to Work Scheme.

I did a long stretch working in the office about 2 years ago and I always got funny looks when I turned up on my bike. People were amused that I would sacrifice the comfort of a car for a bike. However when I went scooting past them in the queue of traffic out of the car park they didn't look as smug then.

Personally I always feel better after a ride into work. It's about 3 miles so not the hardest ride in the world I tended not to shower as once I got a decent level of fitness I was barely breaking sweat. I would re apply a quick squirt of antiperspirant just in case despite nobody ever complaining. The smokers always smelt worse on their way back from a quick fag outside.

markhewitt1978

I think I'm in a badly sized company really. I reckon about 40-50 people work here, but only about 25 of those are long term staff, the rest are sales who tend to come and go frequently.

So big enough such that the keeping the bike by your desk thing is out of the question, but not big enough that having showers, bike lockers, C2W is going to be attractive.

fatsmoker

Covered storage for bikes here, but not in CCTV coverage so thefts do happen. I managed to get my own special key for the disabled loo so I can do a full strip down and sink wash (no showers). No cycle to work scheme. Radiators for drying wet stuff in the office.

CanalRider

Currently 3 cycle sheds plus one motor cycle shed. Three industrial strength drying cabinets, full length lockers, Two shower blocks and a shower on every floor, C2W and security I have every confidence in.