Getting Paid to Ride My Bicycle

Published on June 24, 2005 By MasonM In Blogging

My new job has me working two different shifts. A couple of nights a week I go in at four in the afternoon and leave at midnight. A couple more nights a week I go in at midnight and leave at eight in the morning. As I ride my bike to work I am either riding to work at night or riding home at night depending on which night it happens to be.

I have equipped my bike with a very bright xenon/LED combination headlight and a five LED flashing taillight. These provide me enough light to see where I'm going and will hopefully be a sufficient alert to drivers that I am not a speedbump. While the route I take is pretty safe, the one mile stretch on the road my place of employment is located is somewhat dangerous for cycling as it has no shoulder upon which to ride. It's the only section I have any real concerns about.

While state law requires a headlight and taillight as well as reflectors for riding at night, I exceeded the requirements with brighter lights and flashing functions that (hopefully) draw the driver's attention and alert them to my presence a bit quicker.

While at work I have to make a patrol of the facility every couple of hours. When I first attempted to do so on foot I found that my still healing busted hip wouldn't allow it. Just too far to walk all at once. Now that my bike is properly equipped to ride at night I am able to do my patrol easily using it. I can ride around the facility, checking all of the key areas, and return to the gate very quickly if someone requires entrance/exit.

The graveyard shift is pretty boring. There just isn't much going on. Once the facility has shut down the only people remaining are cleaning crews and maintenance people and there isn't very much gate traffic to deal with. In order to relieve boredom I get out and ride my bike around the place. While I am constantly observing conditions and doing my job of keeping an eye on things, it's also fun for me as I enjoy cycling. It's kind of cool to actually be getting paid to ride my bike.

Comments

dharmagrl

on Jun 24, 2005

Mason, it sounds exactly like the post I was assigned when I first started working security. Mine was in the middle of winter, though, and I had a truck....and radio, and a spotlight which I had immense fun chasing rabbits with. Within a couple of months I was shift supervisor and out working alongside the PD a couple of nights a week, on patrol the rest.

I still remember those days on post though.....

Congrats on the job, and good luck getting to and from safely!

MasonM

on Jun 24, 2005

Thanks.

Moderateman

on Jun 24, 2005

get a foghorn {can of air} real loud that will alert people too.

MasonM

on Jun 24, 2005

Too many very old a feeble drivers here in Florida. I don't wanna be on the road with someone who's heart decides to stop due to an unexpected air horn.

Actually cyclists are so common down here most drivers do a pretty good job of sharing the road with us as long as they can see us. Naturally we have our exceptions. They're the ones that worry me.

kingbee

on Jun 25, 2005

sounds like youre pretty well lit up. state law here requires a white light that illuminates the roadway in front of the rider and can be seen from 300' in front and from the sides. only a red reflector is required on the rear of the bike but it has to be visible to a driver with headlights on from 500' back (which is sorta bizarre when you compare the two). it's very cool that led lights are now fairly inexpensive. i used to run thru a dozen AA batteries a week in da bad ol days.

sounds like you gotta pretty neat gig goin on too.

MasonM

on Jun 25, 2005

Here in Florida both a red reflector and a red taillight are required for riding at night at as well as the headlight which must be visable for at least 250 ft.

Using rechargeable batteries should save me a lot of change over the course of a year since I'll be riding several nights a week.

The ride in to work last night was pretty cool. The headlight, when on "high beam" really lights up the road pretty well. No trouble seeing at all. I parked the bike in the lot with the lights on and even at about 1000 yards it was plainly visible. Of course with the flashing LEDs it looks kinda like a low flying UFO, but it works.

kingbee

on Jun 25, 2005

leds really go easy enuff on batteries you may not even need to mess around with rechargeables. cateye makes one that pulls 110 candlepower for over 100 hours in non-flash mode and over 200 in flash mode outta 4 aas. not bad for a $25 headlight.

i found a buncha red flashers a couple years ago atta 99c store (for 99c ea of course) that were tossaways--and theyre still working.

one thing i plan to splurge on (i really cant justify it on any rational basis hahahaah) in the very near future is...a digital pressure gauge.

MasonM

on Jun 25, 2005

Yeah the digital guages are nice but since my pump has it's own guage I haven't used my digital in quite a while.

I bought the rechargeables when I bought the light set. Just made more sense than throw away batteries. Besides, the less that goes to the landfills the better in my opinion. The headlight will run 200 hours+ in LED mode, but when using the xenon bulb to really light things up that drops to about 2.5 hours. Huge difference.

Dr Guy

on Jun 25, 2005

YOu got more lights than I did! But that was 30 years ago. I did ride my bike again about 15 years ago. Muy boss insisted upon me wearing a blaze orange blazer too!

Have fun!

MasonM

on Jun 25, 2005

They had bicycle lights back then???? I woulda thought candles, maybe.

Seriously, I remember those crappy, clunky lights with the little magneto that was driven by the turning of the bicycle's wheel as you rode. Better than nothing, sort of.

I'm planning to get one of the reflectorized safety vests like the highway workers wear when I get paid in a couple of weeks. I figure every little bit helps when it comes to getting the attention of the less, ummm, able drivers.

foreverserenity

on Jun 27, 2005

Sounds like you have all bases covered Mason! It's good you're so efficient and know all about bikes!

Dr Guy

on Jun 27, 2005

They had bicycle lights back then???? I woulda thought candles, maybe.

Actually, it was just a jar full of lightening bugs.

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