The Sunnyvale Sun
News
Pedal power links campus for Lockheed's employees
By Stephen Baxter
For a cutting-edge aerospace company, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company found a fairly simple machine to better link employees on its 425-acre Sunnyvale campus. They sprung for some big, yellow bicycles.
Lockheed introduced 75 canary-yellow Breezer bicycles in October to speed people to meetings and other appointments. The program has been so popular that 75 more were ordered for January.
"It's fun, and it kind of picks up your spirits," said Mary Ann Nelson, a facilities analyst for Lockheed. "On nice days you see everyone zipping around on them."
The multispeed bikes have big saddles, chain guards and a cargo carrier, and they are parked in yellow areas outside buildings for employees to ride. Any employee can take a bike and leave it in the yellow zones.
It can take 22 minutes to cross the campus on foot, but the new wheels have shaved that time considerably. Many employees drive or take a shuttle, but the bikes have given them more exercise and even improved morale.
The program has not been without a few bumps.
Thick thorns have popped tires on the bikes, and some employees have been left stranded in far corners of the campus after their ride wandered off.
A few employees who were recently reacquainted with cycling also took some spills. One employee accidentally hit the front brakes too hard, tumbled over the handlebars and hit his head on the curb, sending him to the hospital, an employee said.
Still others have taken their cell phone conversations for a ride, and then there's the odd, unauthorized ride to lunch.
"Overall people love them," Nelson said. "We're just trying to encourage people to use a helmet."
Employees have been lured to company bike safety courses with the promise of a free helmet at the end, and a few hundred blue and silver Potenza Pave helmets have been distributed so far.
Steve Stoner, a material planner and buyer for Lockheed, keeps one of the blue helmets in his office.
"It's a way for employees to get around without using transportation, and it's good for your body," he said of the bikes.
Stoner, an avid cyclist who has worked at Lockheed for 27 years, helped distribute the safety gear.
He said the program is overdue, and he greeted it with a passion.
"I ride as often as I can," he said.
