Hi dear NS,

I wanted to ask a question about parking odd-sized bike. I have a standard bike but with a crate holder in the front. I’ve tried to fit it into the standard parking, but it needs a space to the left and to the right of my bike to be free if I want to park it there. I go to work right in the peak time and it is really hard to find 3 empty spaces in a row, so my Dutch friends advices me to park it in special parking for odd sized bikes (exactly same bikes as mine and with crates and child seats). But every morning the check-in worker (OV) forbids me to do so because he thinks it fits into standard parking if I try harder and we have at lot of heated discussions where he says it will fit if I try and I keep telling him that I’ve tried and it doesn’t fit unless I have 3 free spaces in a row. I’m quite alarmed that it happens every time and I miss my trains and am late for work. 
I would not like to have this conversation over and over every morning, but I also do not want to spend 30 minutes in the morning trying to find 3 empty spaces to fit my bike, when it’s clearly eligible for parking in odd sized area.

could you please help me with advice what I should do in this situation?

station: utrecht central

happened today again at 8:30 am

looking forward to your answering soon.

irina