Tuesday, November 8, 2011

If at first you don't succeed...

...be a pain in the arse until you get what you want. Finally, we will be able to go round the work campus on bikes as of the 10th of November!


All cyclists must come in to work via the "B" entrance which is a few kilometers away from the gym (the "P" at the far left of the map) from where I then have to make my way back (in my suit) to the "P" in the middle which is nearest my office. Where there is no path we are supposed to go on the pavement. It adds a bit of faff to the whole thing but it is better than nothing and, in any case, a few extra kilometers are welcome. The rules stipulate that the speed limit (40kph) must be respected at all times but I can't really see myself getting up to that speed on the pavement. There is also a rule which looks like it has been taken straight out of the Ironman regulations: overtaking must be performed within 15 seconds or 100m, leaving a margin of 1.5m. One good thing is that they enforce the use of a helmet (something I was lazy to wear with my suit).

There is a serious problem with parking on campus as we are 6,500 employees. I'm hoping that other people will start to either bring in foldable bikes in the boot of their car to get from their distant parking spot to the office or to leave a bike permanently in the racks to move from one place to another. The next step is to get a "critical mass" of cyclists so that - who knows? - we can look forward to having a shower installed in our office (avoiding the trip to the gym) as is the case in most workplaces in London.

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