Lamppost ownership and chaining up of bicycles

I was a bit late to work this morning but my usual pole spot for my bike was still free. So, I'm locking up and over comes this suited middle-aged man and asks me if I work at nr. 10. I said no, nr. 8.

"Well", he says, "we can have your bike removed".

I thought he was informing me of building work or something and asked if it was just for today. No, this pole is for people who work in nr. 10. I nearly choked. He wanted me to unlock my bike and park it elsewhere (we don't have a pole outside nr. 8). I didn't. I just laughed and he was very angry.

I'm new at work and arrive very early so I guess I've taken his long-held spot and it's pissed him off. I can't possibly imagine that a building is entitled to bicycle locking rights on a traffic sign but I thought I'd ask to be sure. Anyone know?

Never heard of that. Though I would keep an eye on the bike today if I were you, just in case a valve goes missing or something...

Well, if it does, I'll be complaining to the company.

they're probably not entitled, no

but having said that, a couple of weeks ago I got a notice on my bike asking me not to park it in a particular place, and just ignored it as well

couple of days later i went to pick up my bike from my usual place and instead of just leaving a note they'd twisted all my brake cables and broken my front light

so i guess i would probably just park it somewhere else anyway - if he's so uptight that he gets enraged by insignificant crap like that, who knows what else he's capable of... it's not really worth getting into a war over
are there no other places you could park your bike?

Looks like a 2 to 5 year stretch without remission for you Tara, probably on bread and water.

This was the pole of a traffic sign ? Obviously he's been parking his bike there for a generation and was hoping to retire there. You can be prevented from parking your bike against the wall of a building but a free standing traffic sign pole ? Ask him to show you the Verkehrsschildstangensondernutzungsbescheinigungszertifkat next time.

He'll probably either start coming to work at 05:00 to make sure he gets his spot or he'll retire early claiming stress-induced trauma.

Topsy,

There are only a couple of poles and I don't like parking my bike on a wall. I'll see what happens today but I'm not backing down. If he wants the pole, he'll just have to get up earlier. I've seen him and know where he works, so any sabotage points to him.

fair enough
let us know how you get on
i can see this developing into a saga

Couldn't he just park his bike on the other side of the pole? It's not like only one bike can be parked to a pole.

Well yes he could. But some people including me don't like doing that because it is very close to the road and if it gets knocked over it lies in the way of traffic. Plus, my bike has a kid's seat so doesn't leave a great deal of space for another big bike.

On a related theme. Is anyone getting tons of punctures these days? I've had 5 in as many weeks. The trip between Sendlingertor & Karlsplatz is ridden with glass. Doesn't anybody clean up anymore?

Although maybe it's the guy at Nr. 10...

So the TT problem with poles has leaked into the real world ?

@ Tara: Call up the Abendzeitung, they might give you a write-up in their Munich section. News is so slow that they've got an article about a dog-cobbler on their site today.

Mark your territory - piss on the lamppost. Thats what I always do.

i bet bike owners like cats

I'm watching a car get towed away - sunday evening I noticed a sign infront of the building two numbers down to leave the street free for a moving van today. One car was still there this morning and now they are towing it.
FFS - so you go on vacation for a week, come home and your car has been towed because the movers only have to give two days notice?
(Trying to find a way to call the moving company and tell them they are jerks and I will never use them, but they seem to be from Estonia??)
Anyway, check your bike at lunch, Tara

bwhahahahaa... thank you for that gem

Pick up an old bike for free somewhere, buy a couple of cheap locks, and padlock it at your usual place. Then throw away the keys and leave the bike there forever.

It's the only way the Hermanns will learn.

on a point of order, are you actually allowed to lock a bike to a signpost? Surely there is some law against that

Available from the Verkehrsschildstangensondernutzungsbescheinigungsministerium?

Similar situation at the buildings where I work in Newhouses.

Hmm, I don't see "Amt" in there anywhere

It's so important that it's a ministry as against an mere Amt.

Anyway if you're interested you can download your Verkehrsschildstangensondernutzungsbescheinigungszertifkatvoranmeldungsformular online.

i get really annoyed with people with kid's bike seats parked up against poles. they take up so much space & don't leave room for us with normal bikes sans kid's bike seats.

but since your bike isn't locked to the pole, just leaning on it, he could easily just put your bike to the side. that's what i'd do to you if i really wanted my space back.

You don´t need "Amt" if you´re going directly to the "Ministerium".

Edit: Yeti was quicker

And I always thought you were a nice person!!

you do know my comment was tongue-in-cheek? sorry. should have added a smiley.

How bizarre! Hope nothing bad happens to your bike Tara, but as you said you know where to find him!

But Elfenstar's post has widened the circle of suspects, and I don't think SleeplessinMunich is innocent either.

Everybody into the drawing room.

considering people get into territorial spats like this about a lamppost its not surprising the Israelis and Palestinians are at each others throats with missiles and tanks

It was an unprovoked attack and I'm certainly not someone prone to 'spats'. I am however very tempted to bring a kids trailer next time and watch him explode under his suit.

Anyway, a quick check at lunchtime showed that I still have transport home and that the traffic sign under dispute is one related to parking.

@Monkstown,

How have you resolved the problem over in Neuhausen?

It probably says that "locking bikes to this sign is forbidden." If so please let me know so I can come and take a pic for a collection I'm making (sh1t, can't remember the URL for it right now, I'll post it later).

Sorry OhFF, it doesn't actually say anything. Just one of those red circle type things.

If it's a red circle type thingy it means no or limited parking.
Betcha tomorrow you'll find his towel tied around the post.

Tara, there's been a couple of stiffly written e-mails forwarded to us at work and a sign on the bike railings on the next block. The technical college down the road just started putting up bollocksy notices last week too. Now far be it from me to be cynical but...when they say "kostenpflichtig entfernt" would I be thinking the Hausmeister calls out his mate's "firm" and they split the €50 call out charge?

Just wanted to czech who got the pole this morning...

Oh, I did. Was on time this morning so got the pole position. Exploding suit man was nowhere to be seen.

He has probably decided that you are not easy enough to intimidate and has gone to harass someone else!

Good for you!

What a disgrace.