Google's got a lot on its plate at any given time. The company is in charge of the Android mobile operating system, has to put out fires with rambunctious YouTubers, and according to an article from The Wall Street Journal, is constantly on the hunt for missing bicycles.
At its Mountain View campus, Google has around 1,100 multicolored bikes for its employees to ride around to get back and forth building to building throughout the day. The bikes have a yellow frame, blue wheels, green fenders, and red baskets. They're cuter than they have a right to be, and although they're intended for use only by Google employees, Mountain View locals apparently steal them all the time.
Up to 250 bikes are stolen from Google every week.
Google reportedly loses between 100 to 250 bikes every single week, and they've been found in people's lawns, on the roof of a sports pub, and even in a commercial on TV for Garnier. A 68-year-old employee at Oracle who often rides the bikes says they're "like a friendly gesture" for Mountain View residents, and even the city's mayor has admitted to taking one on his way to see a movie following a meeting at the Google campus.
The Mountain View Police choose to not get involved with the missing bikes, so in an effort to take matters into its own hands, Google started placing GPS trackers on the bikes last year. After doing so, the company discovered that its bikes were being transported as far away as Mexico, Nevada during Burning Man, and even Alaska.
Google's now started to test a system where employees can bypass locks on bikes with their smartphones, but it remains to be seen if something like this will be expanded to the entire fleet.
If you've got a bicycle in your life, be sure to hold it close to your heart tonight.
Because somewhere in Mountain View, hundreds are being stolen at any given time.
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