You can cycle how far!!!???

[Arch]

Last summer when I was sorting out a full time night warehouse job, the lad in front of me was Eastern European. He was asked if he had a car, or access to a car. When he replied no, he was refused a job. his grasp of English wasn't sufficient to explain how he'd get to the industrial site. I'm not sure if this is legal or not.

I suspect they would say that the job might* involve running errands for which a car would be necessary. Try telling them you have panniers (or a Christiania!) and I expect they'd have brain seizures.

*As in, "you are contractually obliged to do this if we ask, but in reality we never will, but if we didn't include it in the contract someone would refuse to ever do us a favour when we needed it..."

Fortunately, my main job actually specified an ability to ride a bike in the application. Although actually, that should say 'trike', as it's not the same thing at all....

 

[marinyork]

Last summer when I was sorting out a full time night warehouse job, the lad in front of me was Eastern European. He was asked if he had a car, or access to a car. When he replied no, he was refused a job. his grasp of English wasn't sufficient to explain how he'd get to the industrial site. I'm not sure if this is legal or not.

It's common even for first language english speakers. You see this a lot from people that get sent from the jobcentre/new deal for such work - that is often temporary in nature, so it hardly matters. To a certain extent I can see where some of them are coming from as I had a friend who had a packing job 15 miles away and when his car broke he stopped going into work and that was that. They can fire whoever they like, so I don't see it as an insurmountable problem, you might as well start from a position of assuming someone's going to turn up, the turnover rate is high enough anyway. When I've been on unpaid placements you get an idea fairly quickly after a week how likely it is someone is to turn up or not.

 

[Over The Hill]

Unfortunately, there is a sizable majority of the population who think that anymore than riding around the park is a fantastic feat and only super humans can ride more than a few miles without expiring or need the attention of medical staff. You only have to see the reaction of work colleagues when they ask how far you ride on a weekly basis to see the astonishment on their faces.

And they then wave a sponsorship form in front of you for them to cycle seven miles.

OK I could only cycle seven miles when I started but I knew it was not far!

(I do still give them an encouraging smile and cough up the fiver)

 

[Ghost Donkey]

My manager was suprised I didn't take a Monday off work after doing a sprint triathlon on a Sunday. Aparently the 20km bike sounded rediculous. I used it as a rest between my rubbish swim and not so good run (dtill put in a decent bike leg :-)). Same again for the ToB 50 mile challenge ride. Any able bodied adult can do these with a bit of training.

 

[marinyork]

Quite a few of my colleagues think my 4 mile commute there (ten mile round trip) is a very long way.

 

[Maverick Goose]

I saw one job advertised where they said a car was essential, and the job was based in the middle of Rannoch Moor at least 10 miles from the nearest road! Some recruitment goblins obviously failed to do their homework there...and then there was another job in the Peak District near Grindleford where they said the same thing, and mentioned 'the remote location and lack of public transport'. ISTR Grindleford has a train station with hourly services to Sheffield and Manchester....it's not THAT remote silly recruitment agency person

 

[classic33]

Once worked for a company where they had a book running as to how long I'd keep on turning up by bike. Longest they gave me was a month. Weekend total would be around the 250 mile mark.

When they were relocating a bit further away, I was told that the 28 miles, each way, was to far to cycle & could never be done on a daily basis. Answer to that was to get on the bike & find out how long it would take. Disbelief when they were told its doable, and the time it would take.

 

[Davidc]

If it says "own car essential" that presumably means you must own one for when it's needed rather than that you have to use it?

 

[skudupnorth]

I still get called madman for just doing a 12 mile round trip each day ! I wish it was further but it's all just town and road so no fun to extend unless i go down to my Mums house which pushes it to a nice 18 miler there and 20 + back via the country lanes.

 

[Ghost Donkey]

If it says "own car essential" that presumably means you must own one for when it's needed rather than that you have to use it?

This usually means you may need to do business milage and be ready , able and insured to do so. You might be able tto do it by bike, depends what you need to take with you, hoe far, how often etc.

 

[Ravenbait]

We're going down to an undisclosed location in Lincolnshire at Easter for Frood's mum's birthday. We're taking the train to Grimsby and cycling the 30 miles between there and said location.

Frood got a call from his dad yesterday offering to pay for the train tickets to a closer station, because 30 miles is "an awful long way".

"You should have told him that I'm doing 120 overnight in June and 30 is barely a warm-up, even on a loaded touring bike!"

Sam

 

[TheDoctor]

One of my colleages is impressed that I have cycled in practically every day since I started.

It's very nearly a 3 mile round trip...

 

[ColinJ]

One of my colleages is impressed that I have cycled in practically every day since I started.

It's very nearly a 3 mile round trip...

I'm not sure I'd bother with the bike for 1.5 miles - I think I'd walk it!

 

[buggi]

i love it when i tell people i ride 25 miles to work, the look on their face is a picture. and what cracks me up is when you're talking to people about getting fit and they say "But it's alright for you... you can do 25 miles".

Like i could always do it?? Like i was born like it LOL

Do they not realise that i had to work up to it?

 

[Fiona N]

I work from home so no commuting but my fellow councillors are clearly so worried by the fact I cycle to council and committee meetings - a couple of miles and at night, no less - that they've started calling by to offer me a lift