Brian T.

I rode to work today and on the way back,met the wife and kid at Wendy's for lunch. I can't find my key for my lock, so I was going to leave it outside. The wife was none to happy about this. So after ordering, I asked the girl behind the counter if I could bring it in and lean it against the wall (plenty of room, out of the way) and she said "Sure, no problem." Cool!

I guess some people around here aren't as bad as everyone thinks. Sure helped make my day.

KungPaoSchwinn

I rode mine straight thru the door at Office Depot a month ago,i don't take my lock with me bcz i never plan to stop anywhere and go inside,the staffs inside the store never pay me attention.

SunnyFlorida

Glad it made your day Brian T.

Recently I went to the Sports Authority and asked if I could bring my trike in while I went shopping in their store. It was pouring outside. The greeter hesitated for a second then quickly said yes.

She was a doll. From the corner of my eye I could see she never wandered too far from it even though I had the front wheel locked to the frame. Cool!!!!

El Conquistador De Amore

The Kroger I used to live near would allow me to park my bike behind the customer service counter while I shopped. Sometimes I would just walk it through the store with a basket hanging off the handlebar. You get strange looks but who cares. I really respect store owners that will take the initiative to help you feel safe and secure about parking your bike somewhere inside where it is protected.

I was biking with a friend recently in downtown Atlanta and we decided to stop for lunch and a few beers. At the first restaurant the rather pretty but very dim hostess would not let us bring our bikes in , though there was a very spacious patio and it was not busy. She said we could lock them up on the fence outside on a busy downtown street. I was on my Seven Sola that day......I'm not locking that to a fence in downtown Mayberry much less downtown Atlanta. So we went next door to the next bar and I walked in and happened to catch the manager behind the bar. He insisted on finding us a table where we could park the bikes right next to us. He later sat with us at our table for a while as he was mildly curious about biking. Really nice guy. I will be back there very soon.
It surprises me that some places will turn away potential paying customers for something as simple as finding a secure place to put a bike.

Brian T.

Yeah, I guess you'll never know unless you ask.

My wife was (a little) more nervous about it being unlocked than I was but after thinking about it, I didn't want to leave it outside.

"He insisted on finding us a table where we could park the bikes right next to us. " You've got to love places like this.

asforme

The walmart greeters have always been very accommodating to me. They let me park my bike next to all the carts inside the doors where the greeter stands.

MNiceGuy

Wow great stories! I just moved back to the Twin Cities and bought a commuter bike so I can leave the car home when its not absolutely necessary. I've been trying to work out how I would handle situations where I want to park the bike and go into an establishment. Nice to hear there are still good people out there.

redirekib

I take my bike into most hotel rooms with no problem except the Townhouse Motel in Lake Placid, they don't even like skis in the rooms, go figure.

LJ325

Twice I've seen cyclists walking their bikes through Kroger this past month. No one gave them a second look.

TromboneAl

It's a refreshing change from the standard reply: "I'm sorry sir, the insurance regulations won't allow us to have bicycles in the store."

Slowrollin'

Ummmmm, why are you at Wendy's? I hope you had a salad!! J/K, that's awesome they actually let you bring your bike in. Although, I'm a dick and would just have brought it in.

Mike

pablosnazzy

That is pretty cool that the Wendy's people didn't get all corporate or weird on you. The other night, the lady at the bar let me take my bike into the bar with me instead of leaving it out front. Sort of restores a wee bit of faith in mankind when things like this happen.

Brian T.

I don't like the salads there, they're usually worse than the other food there. But, biking will help burn it off. And we don't go there all the time.

I was at Union Terminal here one day (local tourist spot). Rode down to there, and before turning around to go back, asked one of the workers up front if the had a concession stand. She said no but they had vending machines. Walked backed to them and was approached by some else who said "Sir, you cant have that bike in here."
Not real asinine, but annoyed me nonetheless. I told her I would out in a minute. It wasn't like I was theplace had wall to wall people either. I was 1 of about 30 people in the place of thousands of square feet. Oh well.

JoeB14

I was at another hotel at Lake Placid a few years ago, and not only did they not allow bikes inside the rooms, but they said a fine of $150 would be assessed if the rule was broken.

Brian T.

That's a little harsh.

NE Tiger

I was on a ride last month and came across the "Rail Trail Ice Cream Shop". And I wanted ice cream, but had no cash. Wooden ice cream stand, nothing but cash changing hands, no VISA logo or anything like it in the window.

So I rode over to the Rite Aid, and realized I had no lock with me. I hesitated for a minute, and then rolled the bike into the store. Everyone stared at me, not so much in a hostile way, just kind of a "what the hell?" look. I thought surely that a store not twenty five feet from a rail trail someone must have done this. Anyway, I bought a bottle of water and got cash back, and I asked the cashier if anyone ever brought bikes into the store. She said she'd worked there for three years and had never seen it. Oh well.

By the way, last Saturday I visited that ice cream stand again with my nephews, and it turns out they take credit cards after all.