Bikes in the office
Unlike
anricat s post of today, mine doesn't have quite as much history. However, a long, long time ago I started riding to the IBM Office I worked at in the UK. They had no showers and no where to leave the bike, so I bought it into the office and stored it by my desk. The jobsworth that "ran" the building soon clamped down on that and banned it as a Health/Fire/Saftey hazard.
I tried to negotiate but that didn't work, so I did what I always do, be a smart-ass. I bought my bike in with some rope, parked it in the middle of one of the premium underground parking spaces and roped off the space. My bike got moved twice, and the second time the tires were let down. I couldn't be sure if it was another employee or the building people. However, I was ok to use the same space for my car and no one ever let the tires down on that.
Anyway, long story, they always are. Shortly afterwards I started working in the massive IBM Poughkeepsie office, which is more like a small city and has multiple restaurants, its own fire dept. emergency power etc. My friend Peggy who got me into triathlon(repeat ad nauseum) used to goad me about the people in her office who used to not only bring their bikes in, but hang them on the wall.
Not to be out done, after I'd been working in Poughkeepsie for a while and I started keeping my bike in the office. Here is a picture of it. Just to wind up the "jobsworth" back in the UK, the picture is hosted on my formal, original but now defunct official IBM web space. Only five of us were ever allowed personal web space on ibm.com
Move on 6-years, I had Big Red serviced at Jack and Adams last week, brake fixed, steering head serviced, chain replaced and wanted to try it out, so biked in yesterday. Then today I did my usual Tuesday morning swim and biked in on Dale, the original bike that now only has the same handle bars and frame. Everything else has changed, including the Mavic Cosmic Carbone SL wheels bought off ebay after my recent wheel crisis. They are fantastic, very smooth, light and handle acceleration of 200lbs very smoothly.
I have a personal office so big now that I can leave the bike on the floor and have a bookcase, visitors table with three guest chairs and a desk, and the bike doesn't get in the way and no one has to pass it to evacuate the office ;-) Still I bet it won't be like that once they start building the Domain2.
I tried to negotiate but that didn't work, so I did what I always do, be a smart-ass. I bought my bike in with some rope, parked it in the middle of one of the premium underground parking spaces and roped off the space. My bike got moved twice, and the second time the tires were let down. I couldn't be sure if it was another employee or the building people. However, I was ok to use the same space for my car and no one ever let the tires down on that.
Not to be out done, after I'd been working in Poughkeepsie for a while and I started keeping my bike in the office. Here is a picture of it. Just to wind up the "jobsworth" back in the UK, the picture is hosted on my formal, original but now defunct official IBM web space. Only five of us were ever allowed personal web space on ibm.com
I have a personal office so big now that I can leave the bike on the floor and have a bookcase, visitors table with three guest chairs and a desk, and the bike doesn't get in the way and no one has to pass it to evacuate the office ;-) Still I bet it won't be like that once they start building the Domain2.
what age grop were you in Edmonton? You' d have been really young then...
I was 18. It was my second Olympic distance triathlon.
One day I'll go back and have a got at the GB Team again, my Olympic distance times are down around 2:35 now but I need to fix a lot of other things before going International again.
Did you go to the British Triathlon Team dinner where they handed out the team backpacks? If so then we've been in the same room before... I was coached by British jr. coach & commentator Steve Trew at the time, and being British and a junior he brought me along.
I knew Steve well and hooked one of his current proteges, Darren Treadaway http://darrentreadaway.blogspot.com/
Darren is coming over to stay with me and race at the Lonhorn Half here in Austin next month. You two would be about the same age etc. Darren is racing in the Big Woody full IM distance race this w/e in the UK and would love the chance to race IMH.
So, there is every possibility Steve introduced us in Edmonton, he lived not far from where I was the club chairman and used to come to races on Sundays, bring his kids over etc. Small world indeed.
I have an appointment to see Ray Joyce, CO at Hanger Prosthetics about my running shoes etc. so making a start.