Mom on bike vs. drive-thru burgers....

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I hope this hasn't been posted already somewhere on TE, but anyway, in the news today:
Power of bike mom vs. drive-thru

[Tri Girl]

That's awesome! Who knew Twitter could do good things for the environment? Cool!

[snapdragen]

Egg-cellent!

[shootingstar]

I hope she will work with Burgerville on accomodating drive through cyclists for this chain. It's great to protest, but better to take action to improve and change the minds of fast food chains with drive thru outlets.

I didn't realize that this was a problem with most drive-thru fast food chains...until now. You see, not having a car..we don't use drive through services.

My partner just reminded me that the drive-thru banks in the U.S. don't want to serve cyclists either. Is this true? If so, please name those banks.

Drive-thru banks have not caught on here in Canada.

As for the safety issue, that is ridiculous. When one buys tickets for British Columbia Ferries, cyclists end up lining up in the same line as the cars at the ticket booth. (Cyclists might start off in their own lane, but they quickly get moved /intermixed with the waiting car customers too by the time they reach ticket booth.) Thousands of people go through the ferries at the major points daily.

[Fredwina]

She was on the TeeVee new when I was in Port-o-land last week, but the chain headquarters was "reviewing their policy" . good to see progress

[badgercat]

My partner just reminded me that the drive-thru banks in the U.S. don't want to serve cyclists either. Is this true? If so, please name those banks.

I've never run into that problem, because my credit union has a dedicated bike-thru lane. It's right at the window, about half the width of the car lanes, and pretty much fantastic.

Incidentally, the McDonald's in my previous college town had a dedicated walk-up window, but I imagine that had more to do with keeping the late-night drunkards outside of the restaurant than any sort of environmental statement.

Back to the original topic--cool story! I hope the bike-thru idea spreads further, even though it is kind of a funny mash-up of environmental awareness and stereotypical American laziness ("I couldn't possibly be bothered to GET OFF MY BIKE?!!").

Seriously though, it IS kind of a pain if I just want to grab a quick bite to eat to bring home or (insert whatever else could be drive-thru-able--dry cleaning pickup?), and I have stuff in my baskets that I'd need take in with me (there doesn't exist an errand fast enough that I'd feel comfortable leaving my laptop unattended)--on top of locking the bike--if I could just stay with my bike to do the errand, problem solved!

[lph]

I find it a little amusing that a dedicated cyclist, in my mind promoting a healthy and sustainable lifestyle, is fighting for her right to eat junk food like everybody else

Nice story though. But did you read the comments underneath I know the States are car-centric but this really brought it home.

[Crankin]

I have used the drive through at a local Citizen's Bank while on my bike, quite a few times, with no problem.

How safe are those kids on the back of an Extracycle?
Just asking.

[badgercat]

How safe are those kids on the back of an Extracycle?
Just asking.

I was wondering that myself. I thought at first maybe there were some kind of handles or something retrofitted to it, but then I looked at her blog a bit and could find evidence of nothing of the sort.

[arielmoon]

I find it a little amusing that a dedicated cyclist, in my mind promoting a healthy and sustainable lifestyle, is fighting for her right to eat junk food like everybody else

Nice story though. But did you read the comments underneath I know the States are car-centric but this really brought it home.

That was my first thought too.

[7rider]

My partner just reminded me that the drive-thru banks in the U.S. don't want to serve cyclists either. Is this true? If so, please name those banks.

I've gone up to my bank's drive up window on my bike, too, and they haven't batted an eye.

[owlice]

I think the main issue is liability insurance. Hard for a company to forgo that, and unless and until insurance companies cover bicycling patrons at drive-throughs, I suspect this will not spread very far.

That might be one less minivan on the road, but wow... I canNOT imagine riding around in traffic with three kids on such a bike!

[shootingstar]

I find it a little amusing that a dedicated cyclist, in my mind promoting a healthy and sustainable lifestyle, is fighting for her right to eat junk food like everybody else

Nice story though. But did you read the comments underneath I know the States are car-centric but this really brought it home.

Good point lph. As for a cyclist dropping by for fast food places...I only do it if I am cycling somewhere in an area that has very little immediate food choices. Usually that has been in rural areas or in sprawling suburbs where there are strip malls, etc. and it would take ages and many more kms., to find a decent cafe/restaurant with decent/healthier food. This happens to me a couple times per year.

What type of food places exist for travellers in more remote areas of Norway?

There are some fast food chains in Canada that do have car drive through window service ...with a few food choices that may be abit healthier...I'm thinking of Tim Horton's which started with coffee, donuts, muffins and also has soup, chili, sandwiches.

McDonald's offers cheap, small size muffins. ($1.20 CAN or so) No, they have sugar...but at least they aren't huge megamuffins. I know this because I used to work out in the suburbs with tons of chain stores and fast car traffic. That's where I occasionally bought a muffin on my walk from bus stop to construction site ...a place where we were abit trapped during lunchtime because we were in an industrial area.

But hey, during a long distance touring ride, one will take any filling food as long as it's not too fattening/sugary and upsetting to stomach.

[MartianDestiny]

I hope the bike-thru idea spreads further, even though it is kind of a funny mash-up of environmental awareness and stereotypical American laziness ("I couldn't possibly be bothered to GET OFF MY BIKE?!!").

I have gone through drivethrus on my bike (without incident BTW) frequently in the past (not anymore now that I've moved).

It had NOTHING to do with "stereotypical American laziness" or not wanting to "be bothered to get off my bike" and everything to do with not carrying 10 pounds worth of locks with me on a 7hr mountain bike ride (which is dangerous to me) and refusing to leave a bike worth $3k+ outside alone while I ordered but wishing to show some respect for the establishment by not dragging my filthy, muddy bike through their dining area. After I got food I'd sit in the outside patio and eat.

In what was an urban area with a high bike theft rate I was protecting my property with the best compromise I could come up with. I'd have much rather gotten off and gone into the restaurant...

[sfa]

I was wondering that myself. I thought at first maybe there were some kind of handles or something retrofitted to it, but then I looked at her blog a bit and could find evidence of nothing of the sort.

You can get footrests and stoker bars for the Xtracycle, but it looks like she hasn't because the bicycle-built-for-four wasn't her intention when setting up the bike. She talks about the setup on her blog--she had planned that the oldest child would ride a tagalong behind her husband's bike and she had wanted to get a BoBike Maxi for her middle child but they were out of them when she was setting up the bike. I don't know how long it has been since the initial setup, but you'd think that she'd work to retrofit it now that she sees she is using it more and more for all three kids.

There's a father at my daughter's school who brings his child to school on an Xtracycle, with his younger child riding along. It's pretty cool to see them out on the road. They have the child seat and stoker bar and footrest setup, though, so it's a bit more secure.