I used to be pretty care-free about where and how I parked my bike, that is until the day my brother had his BMX bike stolen directly from him by some bullies. After that I was very careful about locking up my bike and staying away from questionable people.
Even when I started high school I used to ride all over the place but there were so many vandals that even though my bike was locked up at the school bike parking rack, they would still do things like kick-in spokes, deflate tires, or try to steal anything that wasn't firmly bolted down like quick release wheels.
When I started driving, I stopped biking to school completely, but I still occasionally rode on the weekends with my best friend, but I always had a large twisted cable lock on my bike.
But through the years, my paranoia of having my bike stolen subsided just a bit. I would leave my bike locked outside of my workplace but when I started working at one office, I started bringing my bike into the building.
But when I started working at NOMA in Southfield, we were in the same parking lot as a rather large movie theater that saw a lot of traffic and hooligans causing ruckus in the evening. There was NO-WAY I was leaving my bike outside to be trashed or worse. So, I starting bringing my bike into my cubicle. No problems, no worries. After almost 2 years of doing this, someone in the building management decided to make it an issue and screamed at me for bringing in my bicycle. When I asked why building security never stopped me from bringing it in, she said it wasn't their job to enforce "building policy". So I challenged her to show me this "policy" since there were no signs forbidding bicycles. It's not like I was riding it in the building, I always walked it.
However, even after talking to the building owner and not really getting a clear answer since it seemed like she was just trying to be neutral on the subject, I decided to start locking it on one of the benches just outside the main entrance so that it was in plain sight. The noise-maker of this whole affair then gave me a dirty look and attempted to say that I couldn't do that either, I interupted her and demanded that the building management company either supply secure bike parking for us cycling commuters or they allow me to bring it into my office where there have been no complaints. She immediately shut up and walked away, never to be heard from again.
So, for my remaining weeks at that job, I would continue to lock my bike to the bench or periodically sneaking it in if I got in really early.
After moving to Portland, I got a job with the Port of Portland and they were awesome enough to supply a secured bike parking ROOM for all its employees. Only the people that parked their bikes in the room had the key-code to get into it. Now way was my bike getting stolen in there.
I felt lucky to have such an accomodating employer since Portland seemed to have such a high rate of theft, especially if you didn't have a U-Lock.
I recently started working at Knowledge Learning Center (KLC) as a contractor and started parking my bike outside with several other bicycles, but being so close to a MAX stop made me a bit nervous so i started bringing my bike into my cubicle. My supervisor says it's OK as long as it doesn't block the walkways.
I wish more employers would give accomidations to cycles and either give them a secured location to park their bikes without transients and meth-heads trying to steal their bikes or allow us to bring our aluminum steeds into the office, but not everyone is that fortunate.
I've been lucky enough to never have had one of my bicycles stolen and I aim to keep it that way.
Now, no matter where I go with my bike, I always carry my 2lbs U-Lock to keep "My Precious" nice and safe. It is my main transportation, my hobby, and my passion.
-TQ
I wish more employers would give accomidations to cycles and either give them a secured location to park their bikes without transients and meth-heads trying to steal their bikes or allow us to bring our aluminum steeds into the office, but not everyone is that fortunate.
Here, I summarize:
I'm thinking that this seasonal bloom of the cherry blossom trees that densely inhabit Portland are largely responsible for the nasal infestation of sickly mucus.
Friday night I went to see the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which I found to be amusing. Dude. But, then on my way home, I ran over a rather large metal staple not unlike those used to hold together cardboard boxes.
Just as I was about a half-mile from my friend's house, I was making a somewhat sharp turn but miscalculated where the road ended and muddy shoulder started. This caused my front wheel to suddenly slip out from under me, tossing me to one side and making me land in a really weird position that bumped my hip and whacked my right shin, just above the ankle...again. I bumped it in almost the same place back in August 2005 during the Torture 10,000 ride. HO-LY-CRAP that hurt. It took two days before it didn't sting anymore and for the swelling to go down, but now it doesn't feel like I've broken something.
Late Addition: 26.3 miles of snow-biking goodness.
So, I went for a really long walk/run of about 6 or 7 miles before coming to the realization that I could be riding my mountain bike in this stuff!
Move by Bike 2 and 3
On all occasions it was a ton of fun and always ended up in some free food for my time and effort. But the most interesting thing about these moves is that we always seem to get everything in one go with the people that show up. We've even moved a full-sized matress and a couple of dressers.
Some months ago I was given a decrepit Schwinn road bike during a garage sale. Both tires were flat and rotting, the left brake was missing, and the cables were falling apart. I thought I could make this another project bike, fix it up and give it to my girlfriend. However, seeing as I still don't have any extra money or girlfriend, I've decided to donate the bike to the good folks at the Community Cycling Center.
