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Can I ride my bike through a drive-thru?

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Can I ride my bike through a drive-thru?

Old 09-27-11, 02:27 PM
  #26  
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Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
Sure. But the 17 year old kid standing behind the glass he's throwing stuff at is doing what he was told and trying not to get fired. Since we're talking about fast food, that kid probably doesn't even know what discrimination means.
This is true. Just try asking him what the sign that says "We have picture menus available" and for whom the sign is meant.
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Old 09-27-11, 02:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
Sure. But the 17 year old kid standing behind the glass he's throwing stuff at is doing what he was told and trying not to get fired. Since we're talking about fast food, that kid probably doesn't even know what discrimination means.
There's no point in getting mad at the kid to be sure. However, though it sounds cold the kid makes a choice regardless of policy and is responsible for it. The business made a choice in the policy, and in hiring the 17 year old who won't judge circumstances, in the first place. If those choices are wrong then they all have a share in it and I won't see anything wrong with holding them all responsible. For me that just means costing them business.

That said I wouldn't even try a drive-through unless I was pretty sure they'd serve me. A teller of national bank chain handled it pretty well here (I'd been accustomed to using the drive-through of the local bank they purchased). She asked me politely to come inside while making it clear that she would give me service at the window if I insisted. It was one of the few marginally satisfactory policies of that bank which makes me think it was the teller herself, not policy. I went inside btw.
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Old 09-27-11, 02:56 PM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by tagaproject6
Dude, you really have serious issues.
i never threw ***** at the window, but i know what that guys talking about. sometimes you want a drink and they're telling you leave the bike outside. recipe for an irate customer, especially if you're jacked up on adrenaline.
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Old 09-27-11, 02:58 PM
  #29  
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If the business are smart they should accept any customers, including one on tricycles, along as they are not imposing any danger to themselves or others (i.e. I'm not sure riding a bike through multiple drive- thru like some burger joints have is a good idea)


BTW, I like tofu. Bean-curd is healthy for you. What's vulgar about that

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Old 09-27-11, 03:00 PM
  #30  
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Ride your bike thru teh drive thru and find out. It's better to ask forgiveness than permission!
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Old 09-27-11, 03:08 PM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by ticktockpedal
i never threw ***** at the window, but i know what that guys talking about. sometimes you want a drink and they're telling you leave the bike outside. recipe for an irate customer, especially if you're jacked up on adrenaline.
It's not even about leaving the bike outside. If the "dining room" closed at 12am, they are essentially saying "**** you if you don't have a car and want food after midnight."

A good employee asseses the circumstances and gets a happy customer. A bad employee blindly follows company "protocol" that he read in the handbook on orientation day. Some unkempt guy walks up in the middle of the night banging on the glass, it might be best to tell him the rules or ignore his presence. Someone clean cut comes up riding a nice bike, and possibly even wearing a lycra, and it's a 99% safe bet they aren't going to try any funny business. The guys at my local Taco Bell are able to think for themselves and take care of customers, why couln't Jack in the Box?
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Old 09-27-11, 03:11 PM
  #32  
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Around here, some will, some won't. I think it's so uncommon, it catches some of them off guard and they don't know what to do. I've had a Jack in the Box just refuse to acknowledge my presence, even after they spoke to me and I spoke back, then just nothing, and after a while a half-dozen cars were waiting behind me. The bank is always fine with me coming through on my bike. I went in one McDonald's with my bike and they didn't like me bringing my bike in, but it was the downtown Dallas McD's with a whole crowd of hobos standing around outside, so I sure wasn't going to leave it out there.

Beware, that if you go in on a road bike, get a bag of food and a large drink, how do you carry that and pedal out? It's awkward!

Sonic Drive-In's are bicycle friendly, have Powerade as a drink choice, and have half-price drinks in the afternoon when it's hot.
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Old 09-27-11, 03:33 PM
  #33  
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Holy crap monkey! I start a (half-joking) thread, leave for a little while, and there's 32 replies when I get back!

I'm not going to ride my bike there, but I definitely got the idea in my roommate's head, and he has a car
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Old 09-27-11, 03:52 PM
  #34  
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What about drive-thru car washes?
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Old 09-27-11, 03:56 PM
  #35  
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that's one way to cool off on a hot day and get cleaned up to boot
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Old 09-27-11, 03:57 PM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by gbiker
What about drive-thru car washes?
Key word!
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Old 09-27-11, 03:58 PM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by Vicelord
It's like saying if you don't happen to be driving/own a car, you aren't allowed to eat there. It could be deemed as discrimintory either you can only eat there if you are a car driver, or a fatty.
Originally Posted by Vicelord
A good employee asseses the circumstances and gets a happy customer. A bad employee blindly follows company "protocol" that he read in the handbook on orientation day. Some unkempt guy walks up in the middle of the night banging on the glass, it might be best to tell him the rules or ignore his presence. Someone clean cut comes up riding a nice bike, and possibly even wearing a lycra, and it's a 99% safe bet they aren't going to try any funny business. The guys at my local Taco Bell are able to think for themselves and take care of customers, why couln't Jack in the Box?
I'm confused.
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Old 09-27-11, 04:08 PM
  #38  
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Originally Posted by PhotoJoe
I'm confused.
about what? The first quote was my disagreement with companies policies on this, and the second quote was what ticks me off about the 17 year old kids who have no ability to think for themselves while working the drive through window.
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Old 09-27-11, 04:11 PM
  #39  
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The first post seemed to say people should not be discriminated against because they're on their bike, the second states that discriminating based on appearance is ok.
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Old 09-27-11, 04:13 PM
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Originally Posted by PhotoJoe
The first post seemed to say people should not be discriminated against because they're on their bike, the second states that discriminating based on appearance is ok.
if they have a threatening appearance and you feel you would be in danger by bending the rules for them.
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Old 09-27-11, 04:20 PM
  #41  
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After finishing a ride a few weeks ago, I went through the drive-up window at the Walgreens 1/4 mile from my house to pick up a prescription. Most of them know me there and one of the pharmacists is from Europe and follows professional cycling quite closely (picked Cadel to win the TdF). The young lady, after giving me the prescription said "In the future, please don't ride your bike through the drive-up lane...it's a safety issue."

I'm not sure what the issue is but if I'm in the same situation again, I'll drag my sweaty ass and my bike inside to pick up our prescriptions.
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Old 09-27-11, 04:27 PM
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i have ridden through mcdonalds with no problems.
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Old 09-27-11, 04:34 PM
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Originally Posted by surgeonstone
i have ridden through mcdonalds with no problems.
That's just wrong.
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Old 09-27-11, 04:35 PM
  #44  
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Originally Posted by Vicelord
about what? The first quote was my disagreement with companies policies on this, and the second quote was what ticks me off about the 17 year old kids who have no ability to think for themselves while working the drive through window.
I think the 17 year old kid isn't allowed to think for himself. That's a fireable offense. Fast food joints aren't exactly good jobs to have.

Originally Posted by StephenH
The bank is always fine with me coming through on my bike.
I stopped doing business with banks, and use Fidelity instead. They have check writing and debit cards. It's rare that I need to go into the branch, but, when I do, I bring my bike in, lean it against a wall, tend to whatever business brought me in, then refill my bottles and occasionally have a cup of joe or a cookie on my way out.
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Old 09-27-11, 04:37 PM
  #45  
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Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
I think the 17 year old kid isn't allowed to think for himself. That's a fireable offense. Fast food joints aren't exactly good jobs to have.
Maybe I've been working too long for a small company with an emphasis on empowerment, but I would never imagine an employee being repremanded for putting more money in the register unless there were negative effects.
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Old 09-27-11, 04:40 PM
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Originally Posted by dstrong
That's just wrong.
i just got sweet tea for my empty bottles.
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Old 09-27-11, 04:45 PM
  #47  
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The Walgreens near me has no bike rack and refused to wait on me when I rode up to the drive-up window.
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Old 09-27-11, 04:45 PM
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Krispy Kreme... Sonic... Jack 'n the Box... McDonald's...
I've not been eating the right things for bicycling apparently!
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Old 09-27-11, 04:59 PM
  #49  
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I think it also has to do with security in that cars have a make, model and LIC plate... but I am sure being a cyclist at the drive through and getting run over is not good for law suits... (or a walk up in general).
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Old 09-27-11, 05:05 PM
  #50  
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Isn't there one state (Maine?) whose laws say cyclists are allowed to use drive through windows? If so, I wonder if they have a much higher rate of car death and robbery there.

Originally Posted by Vicelord
Maybe I've been working too long for a small company with an emphasis on empowerment, but I would never imagine an employee being repremanded for putting more money in the register unless there were negative effects.
You would think so ... partly because the company you work for doesn't eff this up. That 17 year old kid has a boss ("assistant manager") who doesn't care about the bottom line any more than he does, but does care that his inferiors know who the boss is. When I had a job like that, my boss would say "It might have worked out this time, but ..."
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