<soapbox>
A few weeks ago I changed jobs and I now work in a pretty new building in
the Melbourne CBD. The organisation is supposed to be very pro-bike and
encourages employees to ride to work. They have got a really flash bike
cage down in the basement carpark that has secure swipe card access and
caters for over 100 bikes (wild [censored] guess on my side). There are lots of
lockers and I have been told that some bike commuters were included in the
stakeholder group when they designed the building and office layout a few
years ago - not that you would know given the situation that I am faced
with!!!
In my old job I worked for Defence and I had a big double locker about 1m
wide and over 2m tall that was located in a changerooom with about 40 other
guys. I used to drive into work on a Sunday night every two weeks and drop
off a stack of ironed shirts and pants and then I would take in socks,
jocks, and singlets as I needed them. There was carpet on the floor, two
ironing boards permanently set up, and plenty of chairs in the middle of the
room. Although the room was not secure the environment was such that I felt
comfortable leaving my $300+ helmet on top of my locker with my bike shoes
and I would leave all of my bike gear hanging on the outside of my locker to
air out and dry. I am only now realising just how lucky I was......
In my new job I went to see about getting a locker and was able to secure
one in the basement level where the bike rack is (good start I thought).
Upon going down to the locker I discovered that it is located in an insecure
room that can be accessed by anyone who is using the underground carpark
(open to the public until 11pm every night). Then I find that the locker is
one of those L-shaped lockers that is only half the height of the entire
locker (effectively doubling the number of lockers but halving the size). I
went back to see the locker guy to see if I could get a second locker but
apparently that would be "special treatment" despite the fact that I ride to
work every day and the fact that it was clear from the layers of dust in the
locker room that not many of the lockers are being used (there are over 150
lockers down there!!!). I couldn't convince the guy that in winter when it
is wet I would have the following items that would be wet and sweaty:
shoes, socks, shoe covers, leg warmers, knicks, undershirt, jersey, arm
warmers, wind vest, waterproof jacket, beanie, helmet, gloves (inners and
outers), reflective bands x 2, backpack cover. All this [censored] is not going
to fit into one of the small lockers and I would not feel comfortable
subjecting my workmates to having it hung up all around the office during
the day. But of course there was to be no special allowances made for me!!!
I did manage to get around the locker situation by scoring a key to a
cupboard up on my floor that is supposed to be for file storage. I removed
all but the top shelf and then wedged in a couple of bits of dowel on the
underside of the shelf so that I can now hang stuff in there (shirts face
forwards as the dowel goes from front to back) and I also have the top shelf
for socks, jocks, singlets, etc.
It is workable now but this is the logistics of it all and I am not looking
forward to winter when I have to get back into wet clothes at the end of the
day due to them being stuffed in a small locker and not being able to dry
out:
Get to work in the mornings and lock my bike in the cage in the basement
level.
Go to my downstairs locker and get a pair of shorts and T-shirt as well as
my shower thongs and towel.
Shower on basement level and change into shorts and T-shirt.
Back to basement locker to hang up bike gear and put on runners.
Lift to Ground floor then transfer to another bank of lifts.
Lift to 37th floor.
Get work clothes out of my upstairs cupboard.
Change into work clothes in the disabled toilet on 37th floor.
Put shorts, T-shirt, and runners back in upstairs cupboard ready for trip
home.
Finish work, get shorts, T-shirt, and runners and go to disabled toilet.
Change into shorts etc.
Back to cupboard and put back tie, belt, workshoes, shirt & pants (wear each
twice (rotate through rest of clothes before wearing the 2nd time) before
taking home to wash).
Lift from 37th floor to ground floor (have to equalise pressure in my ears
after this!).
Transfer to second lift from ground to basement.
Get bike clothes from locker.
Go to men's toilets to change into bike gear
Back to locker to drop of shorts etc for the next day and to get helmet,
gloves, etc
Go to bike lockup
Ride home
I think that there needs to be some serious education of employers and
perhaps building designers to ensure that they are providing environments
that are cyclist commuter friendly - particularly for those of us who have
made the decision to ride every day. I like to think that I am doing my bit
for the environment every day, not to mention my own health and it would be
nice if my choice of transportation was more widely accepted and catered
for.
</soapbox>
Gags