"Inside the Cycleplex: The Weird, Wild World of Google Bikes"

"Not far from Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California, there’s a nondescript building that looks like it might be home to stealth startup. But if you walk in the front door, you won’t find cubicles or computers. You’ll find a secret bike shop where people like Robert Jimenez and Terry Mac twist wrenches and true tires all day long, rocking out to AC/DC and Pink Floyd. Then, if you slip into the back room, you’ll see them: 1,300 green, blue, red and yellow Google Bikes, stacked Santa’s workshop-style as far the eye can see."



"This building is the nervous system for a remarkable campus-wide bike-sharing program that doubles as a mirror of the search giant’s corporate culture.

On any given day, you can find about 700 of the bikes scattered like toys across Google’s Mountain View campus. All morning long, Google’s private shuttle buses drop off employees in front of clumps of bikes. The Googlers mount up and ride to work. Jimenez and Mac are part of a seven-person army that keeps them up-and-running, seven days a week. "

Robert McMillan reports for Wired April 25, 2013.

Source: Wired, 04/26/2013