snowman:
I used to work in downtown Dallas. You didn’t say where you’re from in Texas, but here goes.
Dominos near the “west end” delivers by bike. In a downtown setting where you have “quick” cops, it may be the only way. Dallas cops are great about ticketing… very fast, very good at it. Parking a vehicle illegally even for a few minutes will get you a ticket. Traffic can snarl up and a bike on a sidewalk is a quick solution to that problem.
The downside (aside from rain) is the customer base. They all work in office buildings and all have security guards. You have to get to the building and have the guard call them down and then they take their precious time.
In a large downtown section of a metropolitan area, bikes are a very good choice. Once you figure that you can’t park legally easily, and the cost of
parking tickets, bikes really stand out.
…thanks Snowman, that’s good to hear of the bicycle delivery in Dallas.
Did you see what kind of boxes they have attached to their bikes to carry the pizzas ?
When I was a bike messenger in Chicago, we all had messenger bags, which will work for sandwiches and some other food items, but not for pizza.
I recently saw in Thailand a red box that was bunged to the back rack on their motorbikes with a rear opening door, looked sorta like a small refrigerator. I wish I had a photo of it. A little heavy for a bicycle, I picked one up, about 15 pounds. Anyway, I wish I could find one, preferably lighter, to bungy to a bicycle or motorbike. They are easy to take off and put on another bicycle with a rack or motorbike.
As much as not in Thailand, a rider would sit on the back of the motorbike and carry the pizzas in a hot bag. That is really special delivery! Labor in Thailand is abundant and people there really like to work.
Did not see any bicycle delivery, there seem to be more small motorbikes there than people, and not so many bicycles.
I rented bth over there and preferred the motorbike for safety, moving with the flow of the traffic better.
As for the concern about the hot weather sweatiness, I never saw that to be a problem on a bike. In fact, if you watch bicycle racing, they do not appear to “sweat”, ie, the sweat is evaporating in the wind speed, to keep the biker cool, just like mother nature intended. Bikers sweat more after getting off the bike than on.
In fact, I did car messenger and sweated more getting in and out of a cary and loading and unloading it than being in the air on the bike. Always had to get a parking space further away in the car, sweating more on the walk to the building than rideing a bike.
I found the “sweat” factor to be comparable for a car driver or bike rider, maybe more favorable for a biker because of the use of technical bike clothing that wicks sweat better and exposure to more air.
Code:
The main catch is that you need and in-shape, on purpose kind of person to do it. They have to enjoy bicycle riding. A motorbike, not as much.
From my experience with the messenger business in Chicago, a car driver cannot be converted to a biker, better to find a person that can handle a bike on the road in traffic, enjoys riding, and make sure they wear the spiffy technical bicycle clothing.
hope all this is worth reading, thanks for your input,
Otis
