Office Shower Politics
They are installing showers in my office building. As the one that bikes to work, everyone is eager to know my thoughts. “Are you excited?”, “Will you use them?”, “Aren’t you glad they’re accommodating you?”
Meh… I don’t care about the showers.
It’s only 4.1 miles to work and I can’t go terribly fast due to traffic, potholes, stop lights, and avoiding devil buses. I don’t really sweat (except for August or “wet-wipe-season.”) Turning it into a true shower-requiring-workout would be extra nonsense. I imagine a personal trainer hovering over my shoulder:
Plus, moving my shower routine to the other end of my commute would be… uncomfortable.
Yeah, no thanks. I’ll just get dressed at home.
But if they want to give me a closet to hang up my “emergency clothes” (ready in case of downpour or mud) I will take that. That and better coffee. Otherwise I’m all set.
I guess it depends on how far/fast one rides and in what weather.
Personally, I think showers is a huge factor for bicycle commuting for a lot of people in the DC area.
Hilarious, thanks for the smile! No showers at work, but if there were – I don’t think I would want to take a chance. I work with over 30 women, and a few males. We share two bathrooms. Yes, two bathrooms. No time to tie them up by showering.
Yes! Improvements bicycle commuters want/need way before showers: bike lockers and/or secure parking, a locker room or place to change and/or store clothes regardless of shower facility, routes to/from the job that are clear consistent and rideable, and equal treatment with other modes of commuting in Commuter Tax benefits.
Yes, exactly. There will be a follow up post to this when they demo the covered bike parking for building construction. Waiting to see if they will give us new bike parking. If not, I’ll just store my bike in the showers.
Commuter tax benefits? What about the parking?
At my work they rent a floor of a local commercially run multi-storey carpark. They also have other parking areas but the nice thing about the multi-storey is that it allows us to directly compare the standard annual rental price of a parking space in this area with the cost of an equivalent parking-permit from my work.
It turns out that my driving colleagues get their parking subsidised by about 1000 British Pounds (or about 1500 US dollars) per annum. From an organisation which claims to promote sustainable transport!
Of course my employer could claim that it doesn’t cost it so much to provide the facility (perhaps it already owns some carparks, etc) but then we get into opportunity costs – it could be using the current carpark areas for something more productive, like renting them at commercial rates (or just selling the real estate)?
Of course my employer could explain there’s a cultural expectation that an employer provides parking facilities, and that it can’t just stop providing parking places to employees who took the job on those terms. Well I was taught in school that “everybody else does it” and “that’s just how I’ve always done it” are NOT good excuses. If removing the current permit system is too controversial then they need to offer non-permit-holders (like me) an equivalent benefit or we’re basically being paid less than the drivers we sit next too. Forget showers I don’t need. They could buy me a nice new bike every year for that kind of money…
Having to shower at work would require coming in earlier (I’m hourly). Not going to happen. Also, getting naked at work blurs the line just a little too much between work and home. Man, I don’t even like going to the bathroom at work!
Covered parking, or the ability to take my bike inside, is my #1 want. Work showers feels like an “accommodation” they came up with after talking with sweaty sport/recreational cyclists. I can’t see most transportation cyclists putting this on their list of wants.
I have to disagree with your attitude with regard to work showers. My commute is about sixteen miles, and I rarely arrive not needing to shower. It’s more than an accommodation to me.
I’m an hourly worker, and I plan my so I arrive about 30 minutes early, to allow for a leisurely shower and/or flats or other mechanicals along the way. The hour I take commuting plus not having to rush to clean myself up results in a relaxing start to the shift. Especially if the commute involved an “incident” with a driver. That extra time you may believe I give to my employer doesn’t bother me one iota; I consider it my time, and I enjoy the commute very much.
The other items you’ve mentioned are important, too, I’m not holding my breath for them to occur. Just don’t dismiss those of us with longer commutes.
I cycle to work most days, only 6.5 miles but I make it count! The showers are a boon, but they are individual cubicles!