Office Hijinx | Bike Commuters

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Office Hijinx

Jun 12th 2008

By: Jack "Ghost Rider" Sweeney

22 comments

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A lot of my coworkers ask me questions about bike commuting — usually favorable questions that have to do with the practicality and “inner workings” of using a bicycle for transportation. And, when I appeared in the newspaper a couple months back, someone in my department cut the article out and posted it to our staff “white board” (where all the crucial daily news appears). Hell, I thought they were proud of me!

Then, this magically appeared in my cubicle the other day:

I got a kick out of it, to be sure (after overlooking two GLARING grammatical errors — librarians who can’t properly use the language should be ashamed of themselves!)…but I wonder, how are the rest of you received at work? Are we still “freaks” in the eyes of joe-average-citizen, despite the gas price increases? Is our smart, healthy and eco-friendly mode of transportation seen as a great solution or a kooky “alternative”? Do folks pull pranks like this at your workplaces?

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- Moe
  
  June 12th, 2008 at 20:26
  
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  I’m beginning to get more respect and I can actually say that some of my co-workers are jealous that I ride my bike to work. I’ve dropped 23 lbs since February and I eat whatever I want, I save about 9 bucks per day on gas and my company gives me 50 bucks every month ‘cuz I ride a bike. There are times that I ride a different bike to work every day of the week, to which they comment ‘Another bike?’ and I just say, yeah, try driving a different car every day to work!
- Christi
  
  June 12th, 2008 at 21:15
  
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  A lot of people think it’s hard — taking the train down and then bicycling where the train doesn’t go. However, when I tell people that I lost 4″ off my waist in one month, they tilt their heads and I see that look on their face that goes, “Maybe I should try that…�?
- Paul
  
  June 12th, 2008 at 22:19
  
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  I never have seen much recognition for riding to work everyday, but my bike (the ONLY one) locked outside is pretty much known by all my co-workers and some of them still ask if I rode (commuting 2 yrs) when it’s hot out, being Texas- it’s always HOT or when it rains, or colder winter weather sets in. I’m still thought of being a freak/freeloader/anti-american for not owning a car, even when gas is higher than $4 in Austin.
- Lazy Bike Commuter
  
  June 13th, 2008 at 04:01
  
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  Someone put my rear wheel in the trash can as a joke yesterday. At least, I assume that’s what it was, since they didn’t put it all the way in.
  
  Less than funny, though.
- Tim Grahl
  
  June 13th, 2008 at 04:13
  
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  My situation is a bit different as I am self employed, however I have an office at a local marketing agency that I work out of.
  
  What’s interesting about the people I work around now and the people I worked around at my last office is they all seem to act like they wish they could commute by bike but… they have all these excuses and reasons. So I usually just talk about giving it try once or twice to see how it goes and starting next week I’m actually meeting someone to escort them into the office.
  
  I think it’s only a matter of time… keep riding and more people will keep seeing it as an option and eventually give it a try!
- Ghost Rider
  
  June 13th, 2008 at 04:48
  
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  This prank was a good-natured one…and I HAVE had more and more coworkers and neighbors ask about getting started with a bike for transportation, but like Tim mentions, a lot of those questions are followed by excuses and reasons why it just couldn’t possibly work for them.
- Iron Man
  
  June 13th, 2008 at 06:39
  
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  I don’t get scorn from coworkers, that’s for sure. Even though they might scorn a rider out on the streets. I do get a lot of folks saying “Wow, good for you.” Or jokingly “We may all have to do that someday soon.” People know me as the bike guy, and I guess they talk about me. I hear from spouses when I’m out and about as they bring it up. “Hey your the bike guy right?” they say. “My wife has told me about you.” That’s cool.
- Iron Man
  
  June 13th, 2008 at 06:41
  
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  I used the wrong word just then. It should have been “Hey you’re the bike guy right?”
  
  There’s an English prof (Ragged?) and a Librarian on this site. I gotta do better than that.
- Ghost Rider
  
  June 13th, 2008 at 06:46
  
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  “My wife has told me about you.”
  
  Whoo, that could go in a couple different directions
  
  We’ll let the grammatical errors slide for now…
- Brent
  
  June 13th, 2008 at 07:34
  
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  In my former job I commuted pretty regularly about 15 miles each way. I worked for a large cable sports network. I was also known as the bike guy and most people thought it was cool that I rode my bike in, but there were people who would crack jokes if they saw me in spandex. People would ask me about bikes a lot, and there were at least a few other people that took up riding into work on occasion, and I think I helped influence that. In my new job I only have to ride 1.5 miles, so I just cruise in without breaking a sweat in my normal clothes. Out of ten people in our company, 4 people ride bikes to work on a semi regular basis.
- Nico
  
  June 13th, 2008 at 08:12
  
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  I ride my bike to work, and there’s only one other person who does it too. I think a few people admire and appreciate my effort, and they happen to be those in higher positions than me.
  Then, there are those who are in lower positions than me, and they drive big ass SUVs. They, I’m pretty sure, are jealous, and wish they could control their own lives and make a decision to get their ass in gear.
- Ben C
  
  June 13th, 2008 at 08:36
  
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  I get called ‘Lance Armstrong’ from one of my employees. No one is able to play any pranks on me due to my bike having a comfortable parking spot in my office.
  
  I do get the ‘Be careful’ comments from the females on my team. Since many of them are older, it has that motherly tone to it.
  
  Ben C.
  
  Keep spinning!!
- Renai
  
  June 13th, 2008 at 09:23
  
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  I’m one of two employees (out of an office of 15) who commute by bike every morning. I’m also the youngest and female so I get a lot of comments.
  
  People offer me rides almost every day, and I’m always asked how I go grocery shopping or get around. Most people can’t comprehend living car free.
  
  Most of the comments I get are positive, though. My boss calls me his bike riding angel (aw) and when I came in limping this morning (car hit me on my way home last night!) there were a lot of pissed off people. I’m really impressed at how bike awareness has improved within my office. People who haven’t been on a bike in years are all up in arms over bike laws and safety now.
  
  My boss has made it his goal to start riding in some mornings, and recently told me to petition the company to start rewarding employees who don’t use their parking passes.
  
  I’ve got it pretty good around here.
- CC
  
  June 14th, 2008 at 07:36
  
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  I work in a small lab within a HUGE company. At first, my work mates laughed and shrugged it off. They gave me the “yeah right” sort of attitude about bike commuting. Six weeks later and 1 other guy is starting to ride; and another “should” be starting next week.
  The rest of the crowd at the huge company crack the usual comments … “your nuts”, “that’s dangerous”, “you should stay off the road”, “why don’t you just buy a hybrid car?”
  I wouldn’t trade my bike commuting for anything ever again. I rode for years without a car in Atlanta, San Francisco, and LA. I stayed off-bike for 4 years due to injuries, work, and general fat American laziness … I’m done with that now.
  My goal is to have our family [of 4] down to 1 car by Summer 09′. It’s not something that I would talk about around work, as I could be easily classified as a zealot.
- Rick
  
  June 14th, 2008 at 12:42
  
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  One of my students tried to let the air out of my tires once. He could not figure out the presta valve.
- Ghost Rider
  
  June 14th, 2008 at 13:24
  
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  Yeah, at least my coworkers leave my bikes alone…I’d thump their nerdy, bookwormy behinds! Gosh, I hope they’re reading this!!!
- Noah
  
  June 14th, 2008 at 15:38
  
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  Well, before I started bike commuting, I was already viewed as strange. I’m a quirky, twenty-something IT guy whose calling is all about information security. It takes a specifically odd kind of person to get kicks in the info-sec biz.
  
  Adding a bicycle into the mix a few months after landing the new gig (growing tired of $10/Day worth of parking and fuel, mostly parking) just amplified my weirdness. I’m the only consistent bike commuter in my building, where about a thousand people work. There was a schwinn point beach that locked up next to my bike almost daily for about two weeks, but its owner either couldn’t keep it up, or the bike broke. I’d bet the bike broke.
- Antoine
  
  June 15th, 2008 at 03:16
  
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  I’ve been riding to work full time for 9 months now but I’m obviously not providing enough inspiration to my co-workers. I’m still the only bike commuter in a company of 80 employees!
  
  Being branded “the bike guy” seems to be a common thread here. There’s certainly no hostility towards me (not until I get out on the road at least) and I hope knowing someone who’s commuting by bike might make my colleagues a bit more considerate around bikes on their way to and from work.
  
  We pay a lot more than Americans for fuel in New Zealand so I’m surprised I haven’t been asked if I’m riding to save money, which I’m not.
  
  I ride because it’s fun of course.
- Mindy
  
  June 16th, 2008 at 11:19
  
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  My previous coworkers (public library) would have done something like that. Now I work at a university library and I’m one of many bike commuters. The fact that parking is expensive and scarce plays a role, I’m sure, but most of my fellow commuters’ bicycling habits seem to predate their employment at the university.
  
  Mindy
- kelasher
  
  June 17th, 2008 at 17:35
  
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  I’d thump their nerdy, bookwormy behinds! And how closely have you been studying our behinds, hmmmmmm?
- Ghost Rider
  
  June 17th, 2008 at 17:43
  
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  I recognize you, “scheduling guru”, only because I read your blog at work!
  
  I spend a lot of time staring at my coworkers’ behinds…now get back to work!
- Tim
  
  June 17th, 2008 at 19:29
  
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  I get all kinds of friendly ribbing about my flagrant violation of the building’s “no bikes inside” rule. Eventually the building manager caught me in the hallway and confided in me that his predecessor would have had my bike impounded but he was happy to look the other way as long as I didn’t block any fire exits and kept a low profile.
  I also get a good bit of “why don’t you buy a car” chain yanking, but that’s only because I one time made the mistake of reacting to it with something like righteous indignation. With two army veterans in my research group, any response like that is a great way to sign up for lots of friendly harassment. It’s kind of a sign of acceptance, actually.
  Telling though, that one of them starting driving half way and biking the second half of his commute so that he could miss the worst of the traffic and get some exercise, too.
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