A Small Rack for Bikes...

One Giant Leap for the Cycling Kind. Otherwise know as "ask, and you shall receive."  That is the lesson I learned yesterday.

Ever since the school year started, back in late August, I noticed that our new building was missing something. Something that should be in every new building, specially if said new building is designed to be a "green" building. A bike rack.  Bicycles simply promote a healthier lifestyle, but if you are reading this blog, then you don't need to be schooled on the benefits of commuting by bicycle.

I know it's not the biggest bike rack. It's technically designed to hold six bikes, but it's installed in the wrong direction, thereby cutting the amount of bikes it can hold by half. The biggest point; however, It's that is there and it is still functional.

The roads around my place of work are bike friendly. Bike through here in the mornings on the weekends and you are liable to see at least a dozen cyclists zooming up and down this humble country roads.  The roads are well kept.  They are straight -ish.  The hills are tough, but not unforgiving. And as far as my experience goes, the motorists around these parts are respectful and aware of cyclists.  These are a lot of the reasons why I asked to be moved to this new location, so I could commute by bicycle from time to time.  You never know, It could become a habit.

Early in the school year, I asked my manager what would it take to get a bike rack installed at our location. His answer "I don't know. I'll ask."  From then on, every time I bumped into him in the hallway he would give me a quick one or two sentence progress report on the bike rack.  Progress felt slow, but he had an awesome way of letting me know that the idea and the project had not stalled to a standstill.

Yesterday when I got to work after lunch I bumped into him as I was coming in the front door of the building (almost as if he was waiting for me), and with a smile in his face he told me: "That bike rack you asked for was installed a little while ago on the back entrance of the building."  Astonished. All I could reply was "Cool. Thank you, I'll go check it out."

When I saw it, I couldn't help but smile.  An overwhelming sense of hope came over me and I thought "build it, and they will come."  The presence of the bike rack should give people that have been thinking about commuting a little nudge towards the right direction. I for one... can't wait to lock my bike there while I work.

Question is... which one first?

Be Safe and Be Green