Work facilities for the cycling commuter

Before you start mapping out your cycle route, find out what facilities your employer offers in the way of showers and change areas. If you’re going to be cycling only a very short distance, and will have a relatively leisurely commute to work, then you probably won’t need much in the way of change facilities – you’ll be able to just park your bike and walk to your desk fresh as a daisy. However, if you don’t want to cycle in your workplace clothes, then you will need at least somewhere to change. While it’s easy to change in the washroom, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to keep your cycling clothes in there, which means that you’ll have to pack them up and take them with you to your desk. It’s much more convenient if there’s a change area where you can safely leave your clothes ready for when you change back into them for the return ride home.

Some employers are a little more enlightened than others and encourage their employees to use environmentally friendly modes of transport for commuting, such as cycling, and to this end offer their employees full facilities, which usually include a change area, and showers. This makes life very easy for the cycling commuter as she can shower once at work after her ride in, thereby not only saving her blouse from getting all sweaty and creased, but also saving on her household water bill.

As an aside, if there are no showering facilities where you work, you might want to draw your employer’s attention to the importance, and benefits, of encouraging employees to leave their cars at home and take alternative modes of transport to work. One way an employer can do this is by offering adequate facilities (e.g. showers and change areas for those people who wish to cycle, run, or even walk). The very least an employer can do for those members of the workforce who wish to cycle is to provide a safe and protected area in which to store bicycles. It’s difficult for an employer to refuse such a request given the need to reduce our collective carbon footprint, which we can do by using less motorized transport. Not only that, but any employer worth their salt will recognize that healthy employees (those that exercise for example) tend to have fewer days off work because of illness. Furthermore, if there’s limited car parking at your workplace, then this is yet another good reason for your organization to offer its workforce cycling facilities.

Read more: planning your route