prathmann

I remember the year that ABC Sports covered the Race Across America (RAAM). One of the riders was doing the race unsupported and stopping at various fast food places. One of the stops they showed was at a McDonalds and AIRC, he ordered a couple quarter pounders and several orders of fries.

But participating in RAAM probably isn't the path to a healthy lifestyle. And there's really no danger of the participants over consuming calories. The challenge is to take in as many calories as your body can possibly use.

50PlusCycling

I know this is true from personal experience.

meerzistar

I was refused at McDonald's too lol. on bicycles a group of us decided to try the drive when we were teens. Thats what they said, sorry you must have a motor. I suspect its for insurance reasons should a over zealous hungry guy roll over you.

I brought my trek mtb in Tims, Sad Im not permitted to upload a picture to share

meerzistar

which reminded me, I seen 2 police get service on horseback LOL. Just cause their the police,

KD5NRH

Oh come on; dishing out some U lock justice on the imbecile working the clown head is a little much for a burger, don't you think?

CliffordK

Thinking about this a bit more.

The most recent encounter with this policy was at a Dairy Queen that was probably 》50 years old, perhaps quite a bit older.

The policy could well predate all the current employees, and perhaps the current franchise owners.

I believe the restaurant has ZERO off-street parking. Nonetheless, likely 3/4 of the customers are pedestrians, cyclists, and park and walk-in customers.

The advantage of the drive-through is to keep the car drivers moving. So they could well get a glut of cyclists at the drive-up, and thus have traffic issues with cars. One cyclist a day, not a problem, but 100+ a day, sometimes in groups could alter their dynamics, but not necessarily worse.

An outdoor walk-up would make a lot of sense , but I don't think they have it.

However, over the last 50 years, many things have changed including greater acceptance of cyclists on the road. And there should be some recognition of the many reasons a cyclist may choose outdoor service.

Being rude to customers is never a good policy.

01 CAt Man Do

Well said. Adding to that; Failing to recognize the needs of potential customers is also never a good policy. Interesting that in some cases when the needs of customers ( such as the handicapped ) are not met that businesses will jump thru hoops to put HC ramps and doors on their businesses as well as HC bathroom access. Of course it helps when the government mandates that it be done but those of us with some years behind us remember the days when there were very few HC access ramps. Things can change but it usually takes some bucks and a dedicated group of people willing to take the time to make the powers that be do what needs or what should be done. Think about. How much can a couple " Be Aware of Cyclist's " signs posted near the drive thru's cost.

I am encouraged by what "tornado60" said a couple post back about the McD's where he worked as never refusing a cyclist at the drive thru. Makes sense that the problem just might be that they need something like a laser sensor ( rather than something that senses weight )

Milton Keynes

That's basically what I said and I got called a food snob.

Milton Keynes

It's not a secret list of ingredients, it's basically tons of fat, salt, and sugar which makes the food addictive.

jefnvk

Eh, once again you have a hard time convincing me that the food they serve is truly worse for me than any other sort of fast and cheap dining out option, so long as you're eating in moderation. I don't really see a situation where the generic GFS or Sysco burger patties are made with that much more love and care and quality than McDs or Wendys or BK.

There is a difference between being rude and enforcing policy. Just because you don't like the policy, doesn't mean they are being rude about it. I don't like the current trend of people having to bring their dogs to bars, but if I don't like it, I find somewhere else to go. It really is that simple.

Looking at this a different way, if they allowed walk ups is it really that hard to imagine a scenario where a Taco Bell near a fraternity suddenly has thirty people standing in the drive thru lane at midnite, having walked there from a party and all ordering individually, and congregating in the lane and interfering with keeping vehicular traffic flowing through in an expedient manner?

OBoile

No... Just no.

OBoile

To be fair, I was calling the many people who felt the need to chime in that they "never eat at a place as terrible as McDonald's" food snobs, not just you.

OBoile

Lots of people cycle for reasons other than health. Lots of people that cycle for health still indulge in unhealthy food. My cycling club as a weekly fritter ride that ends with everyone getting apply fritters. Many riders get similar snacks on just about every ride.

wphamilton

It's not more unhealthy.

Seriously, you wouldn't care since you had 30 customers going through, taking up a lot less space in the queue. If having more business is bad for business the problem is with your operation, not with the customers who are doing something you didn't account for.

I still say that the most common issue these managers have, that they aren't going to tell you, is the fear that a bunch of teens and ne'er-do-wells will start loitering in the parking lot. In a car, most of the time you drive off with it. On a bike, or walking up, you might hang around. Teens often group around places that allow people to hang around, and that's not what you want to see in your parking lot. Therefore, the cars-only policy so that the situation doesn't arise.

jefnvk

Except, you operation is not based on getting slammed with a party at midnight, it is staffed based on a fairly predictable queue of cars cycling through.

I've seen a car purposefully ram another car in a Taco Bell drive thru lane before. I can just imagine an angry drunk pulling up behind a crowd of people standing around the window, in one of those lanes where once you are in the drive thru lane there is no way to get out, and doing something stupid because it turns out there are 30 orders ahead of them.

indyfabz

My sister and niece were refused service when they arrived riding horses. Our freedoms are being taken away!

northtexasbiker

It's been standard operating procedure for a lot of drive thru for a long time. Cars and pedestrians in the same space is not a safe mix especially considering you are likely talking about at night when the dining area is closed. Throw in the stupidity/drunk factor of what kind of people would be at drive through that late and you compound that issue. It's pretty easy to see why they would just have a blanket policy of no pedestrians. Unfortunately the way rules generally work is they serve the greater good which means a minority of people are going to be inconvenienced. Cyclist are in that minority. If a fast food restaurant is constantly getting slammed after last call with walk ups, they would be smarter to just open their dining area than allowing them to stand in parking lot.

mtb_addict

I don't think it has anything to do with safety. It's a good excuse to get you to stop arguing with them.

The real reason is it would disrupt their operation.
Fast food restaurant is all about being fast!
Fast food has been designed to order quickly and get out the food quickly.
Any disruption in this flow would be disasterous...pissed off customer either get wrong order or have to wait longer than usual.

If a person walk up to the radio, the sensor will not detect organics, will only detect a 3000-pound mass of metal.
So person have to walk up to the window and order...but now the positions of the orders are messed up...because the walk-up person skipped the radio ordering.
There's going to be confursion...the crewmember would have to be cognizant.
If not, there might even be mixed up...getting wrong orders to wrong person.
But you have min wage worker, alot of teens crewmember, who work with eyes half closed, and half thinking about something else besides work.
That's the real reason...during a lunch rush...it could really be a disaster.

northtexasbiker

That's likely the driving factor for the rule today. Especially considering the technology at play and drive thru ordering being often outsourced. The person taking your order may not even be in the store therefore the person at the window wouldn't even have the equipment to place your order. I could see it originally being a safety issue and morphing into industry standard because of efficiency. I have no idea why a pedestrian would use the drive thru at lunchtime other than stupidity which I guess there is no shortage of.

ironwood

This thread is a perfect example of a "nothingburger".

indyfabz

Heh. IKR Should I see if I can have it put out of its misery?

jefnvk

Nah, at least let it run through the work day Friday. Kill it after COB if you must

wphamilton

Your operation is based on the amount of business, not on the queue of traffic. For a burger joint it may be about the same thing, or 40% of the same thing, but where you're going wrong is your native assumption that a predictable queue of cars is important enough to base procedures on. It's not.

What you can predict about that is the maximum number of cars in line, which gives them a little slack on the orders. Do you need another person if filling the orders is averaging 3 minutes for example and so the last car has to wait 20 minutes? That kind of slack. But with a busy franchise that has almost 60% of their business in the drive through - like McDonalds for example - that's not a factor either. They have to max it out, no room for slack for that portion of your total business.

What's left is the more people going through, the more you make. If you have a "problem" of big parties coming in, you do not want to prevent that. You want to capture it, figure out how how to encourage it, and then fix your business to accommodate it. There's no reason why those rushes aren't as predictable as any other.

You can imagine all sorts of things, inside and out, and it's a good skill for a manager to work out how to handle situations. Ahead of time, by designing procedures, or on the spot solutions.

jefnvk

I can imagine all sorts of things. Mostly when I imagine pedestrians in drive thru lanes, it isn't particularly positive things I think of. $60 in sales when 30 drunk people show up and order two $1 menu burritos each and are all congregating in my drive thru lane is likely far more trouble than it is worth.

There simply is nothing that is going to convince me that rescinding the policy for the whims of the random cyclist who can't be bothered to carry a lock that may come through every few days or weeks is worth it for the company, and that is the only point that matters. There are far more drawbacks to the entirety of the situation than benefits to the company.

01 CAt Man Do

What you are stating here is just more stupid rules and more stupid rules based on stupid theoretical assumptions and / or conclusions. Fact; When potential customers are inconvenienced they will either not go to your place of business or they will go somewhere else. How much this makes a difference is up to the owners. I can't tell you how many times I've been sitting in the parking lot of the local Taco Bell ( late at night ) and watch as cars full of young people pull up thinking the inside is open only to find that the drive thru is the only option. Sadly the girls ( usually what I see ) need to take a pee and have no access to the restrooms. At that point the only thing open near by with accessible restrooms is either the McD's ( across town ) or the Royal Farms ( both about equal distance away ) There are times when I'm glad I'm a man because I have no qualms about walking behind a dumpster and letting it hang out ( if that is my only option ). Believe me, if there was a Checkers near where I live and it was open late at night I would love to ride my bike there to get me a late night snack once in a while.