10 Reasons Why Biking to Work is Good for Me

The Bay Area is full of macho super-athletes who bike 75 miles every Saturday and post about their times on Facebook.  I'm not one of those, and biking hasn't exactly turned me into Arnold Schwarzenegger (in fact  I'm embarrassed to admit I don't quite fill up my the leg holes of my hot spandex bike shorts).

But for the last 5 years I've biked to work, and it's been a life changer.  Here's my top 10 reasons:

1)Efficient.  Driving to work takes me 25 minutes.  Biking to work takes me 25 minutes.  So I get to exercise and commute at the same time.  I'm way too lazy to exercise for the sake of exercising, but after 5 years I still can't help feeling smug about getting two things done at once (I tried listening to books on iPod at the same time too, but it's unsafe).  Even when traffic was better and biking took a few minutes longer than driving, it was still a good deal.

2)Predictable.  Driving is an emotional roller coaster.  You never know how bad traffic will be, how many red lights you will hit, or if you ride the train, whether CalTrain is going to break down or run over someone.

Google has at least doubled the number of people driving to MTV since I started in 2006, and it's impossible to get there without sitting in off-ramp hell on Shoreline or Rengstorff.  It's so deliciously satisfying to zip past all that stopped traffic in the bike lane or the Steven's Creek Trail.

The other thing that sucks about driving is traffic lights, and the Powers that Be have conspired to ensure that I hit every light red.  Ask Amy about how I feel about red lights (see #3 below).  The combination of secret bike paths and my . .  er . . . flexible approach to stopping at stop signs means it takes the same amount of time to bike every day, regardless of the whims of the traffic engineers.

3)Mental Health + Sleep.  Exercising in the morning gives me more mental energy and clears up the morning blahs more effectively than caffiene.  On the way home, 25 minutes on the bike allows me to get rid of all the frustration and stress of the day, so I show up at home without work on the brain and can sleep better at night.

4)Save the environment.  I'm no tree hugger and throw plastic bags away like they are, uh, disposable. But I avoid driving around 2000 miles each year.  So all you Prius drivers who drive 100 miles per day to and from work can stop looking at my gas-guzzling cars with righteous indignation, because I rarely use them.

5)Save money.  We sold our 2nd car for $2300, and bought my bike for $1000, so it kind of was free until we graduated to a minivan.  But 15 miles a day saves $3.00 in gas, so there.  Plus I take my ridiculously long hot shower at Google, sparing myself the expense of heating all that water (yes, this may cancel out all environmental benefits of biking).

6)Front Row Parking.  I love driving right up to the edge of the office every day.  No parking jams, no long walks, and no valet cars parked behind me when I want to leave.

7)They have lights and splash guards. For 4 years I biked in mortal fear at night and arrived home soaking when it rained.  The emails from Security about their being ambushes of bikers on the Stevens Creek Trail didn't help.  But then I discovered the magic shine and a mud/splash guard.

8)You get to buy gear.  With so many benefits, who can't justify spending outrageous sums on bikes, shorts, jerseys, gloves, lights, tires . . . . ?


9)Nature.  85 and 101 are pretty freeways as freeways go, but they aren't as cool as cruising down a tree-lined path by the bay or a cool river.


10)Charity.  Google gives me a couple bucks each time I bike to work that can be donated to charity at the end of the year.  Wahoo!

Perspective

I'm a big believer that it pays to think about things from someone else's perspective.  That someone may be your friend, an opponent, a coworker, a customer, a competitor, your spouse, or your children.  My son James stole our camera and took a bunch of pictures around the house.  It was shocking to realize how the world looks when you are 3 feet tall.  Now I'm feeling more motivated to spend time trying to think like my advertiser clients as I design new ways for them to reach their customers using the internet.

In-n-Out: A model of operational prowess

I don't understand why I never read a case about In-N-Out in business school.  In-N-Out is my favorite and most frequented dining establishment because it's the best burger you can find for under 2 bucks.  Unlike lousy McDonald's or Burger King food, In-N-Out food is made fresh.  The lettuce and tomato are still cold when the burger hits your mouth, unlike lesser chains who rarely include fresh veggies because it interferes with their nasty microwave production process.  And yeah, the fries get soggy if you don't eat them right away, but that's probably because they aren't dipped in radioactive preservative coating like most places.  I love McDonald's fries as much as the next man, but what are those things?

But the value --high quality for low price--isn't the only reason I keep coming back for more.  The real reason I'm in love with In-N-Out is that it is a model of operational efficiency.  They save so much money from running a tight ship that they can afford to give amazing food away at outrageously low prices.  They even have enough slack left over to do ridiculous things like have someone cut the potatoes, lettuce, and tomatoes right in the restaurant, or paying their employees way more than they probably have to, which everyone knows isn't the cheapest way to go.  So what's their secret sauce?

1)Utilization.  When was the last time you went to In-N-Out without having a line both inside and at the drive in. That's right.  Never.  Sure, they have the dinner and lunch time rush.  Bu if you show up at 3:00 in the afternoon or 9:00 at night, there is still a line.  In-N-Out does this by offering such a high-value menu that people keep coming, and they restrict the number of stores in a given geography so that existing stores are always maxed out.  High utilization means the fixed costs of running the store can be spread across more customers, which means instead of paying 30 cents to keep the lights on per burger, you are only paying 5 cents at In-N-Out, which is why it's cheap, which is why you keep coming back for more, which is why utilization is so high.  A virtuous cycle.  Yeah, Baby.

2)Low variability.  Count the things on the menu at In-N-Out.  Burger, Cheeseburger, Double Double.  Fries, 3 shakes, drinks.  None of these "healthy options", salads, fish sticks, chicken sandwiches, and 27 permutations of the same burger.  No 14 varieties of coffee and weird desserts.  That means they can train the team to churn out a gazillion burgers and fries, and the kitchen can be optimized for a single track system.  Simple menus also mean they can afford to make everything fresh, because they know that every customer is going to order . . . a burger, which means they won't have to go back to the freezer, find the rarely ordered nasty menu item, and nuke it for you.

3)Run the restaurant like a six sigma factory. Have you ever noticed that someone repeats your order back to you 3 times at the drive in, and twice inside?  That keeps the order errors down, which speeds up the assembly line and reduces waste from orders that were created wrong.  Have you seen the little clock by the drive through that tells them how long that customer has been waiting?  It starts flashing around 3:00.  Have you noticed that when the line is long at the drive through, they have someone come out and meet you with a portable computer to take your order?  This not only makes you feel like the wait isn't so bad, it also allows them to put more burgers on the grill and fries in the fryer so you don't wait.

Go on, head down to your local In-N-Out and revel in the efficiency while you stuff your face with a double double and animal fries.  Your arteries might not thank you, but it's worth it.  And if I ever interview you for a job, you'll do a lot better at my In-N-Out case interview than the competition.