[Doriana] I would bike 500 miles

[doriana_]

The other day, I was meeting a friend for lunch. I biked there, but less than 400 m (1/4 mile) before my destination, I got off my bike and walked the rest. This saved us time - how?
True story, I = H/A/F, my friend = H/A/M

[BitterLemonCurry]

Is parking the bike relevant?

[GalFisk]

Relevant how your friend reached the destination? Did you meet before reaching the destination? Did doing this mean you reached the destination earlier? Gpt food earlier? Left earlier? Got to your next destination(s) earlier? Did you leave your bike where you got off? If not, did you lead it all the way to your destination? Are stairs relevant? Other uncyclable areas?

[doriana_]

BitterLemonCurry
Is parking the bike relevant? No

GalFisk
Relevant how your friend reached the destination? Yes Did you meet before reaching the destination? Yes Did doing this mean you reached the destination earlier? No Gpt food earlier? Yes Left earlier? Got to your next destination(s) earlier? Yes to both because we got food earlier - eating and getting to my next destination themselves didn't take less time Did you leave your bike where you got off? Yope, explore If not, did you lead it all the way to your destination? No Are stairs relevant? Other uncyclable areas? No to both

[GalFisk]

Did you meet your friend while cycling? Where you got off? While walking? While you had your bike? Did your friend use your bike? Did you order food? Did your friend order food? Was the order placed: in person, at the restaurant? By phone call? Text? App? Did you walk in order to be able to place the order using technology? Did you eat at the restaurant? Take away the food and eat somewhere else? Go to a drive-thru? Did your friend go by: foot? Bike? Car? Public transport?

[doriana_]

Did you meet your friend while cycling? Where you got off? This While walking? While you had your bike? Yes Did your friend use your bike? Yes Did you order food? Did your friend order food? We both did Was the order placed: in person, at the restaurant? This, although it was not a restaurant but a cafeteria / dining hall on campus By phone call? Text? App? Did you walk in order to be able to place the order using technology? No Did you eat at the restaurant? Yes Take away the food and eat somewhere else? Go to a drive-thru? Did your friend go by: foot? This Bike? Car? Public transport?

[GalFisk]

Did you friend bike the rest of the way to the cafeteria? Is queuing relevant? Did your friend reach the cafeteria before you did? Was your friend a slow walker? But fast bicyclist?

[Sundowner64]

Did you get off the bike because you met your friend? did your friend suggest that you do?
or was it just coincidence that your friend showed up the very moment when you got off the bike?
Did your friend arrive at the cafeteria significantly earlier than you?
Relevant where you left the bike while being in the cafeteria? Was your friend able to lock up/stow away the bike faster than you would have been able? Does your friend have (with the bike) access to some area where you would not have had?
Was it your bike? Relevant? Did you leave the place together? on bike?

[doriana_]

GalFisk
Did you friend bike the rest of the way to the cafeteria? Yes... Is queuing relevant? Somewhat Did your friend reach the cafeteria before you did? No Was your friend a slow walker? No But fast bicyclist? Not relevantly

Sundowner
Did you get off the bike because you met your friend? Yes did your friend suggest that you do? No
or was it just coincidence that your friend showed up the very moment when you got off the bike? No
Did your friend arrive at the cafeteria significantly earlier than you? No
Relevant where you left the bike while being in the cafeteria? Was your friend able to lock up/stow away the bike faster than you would have been able? Does your friend have (with the bike) access to some area where you would not have had? No to all
Was it your bike? Yes Relevant? Not really Did you leave the place together? on bike? No, we went our separate ways. I biked and he walked

[GalFisk]

Did you plan the bike swap before meeting up? Did your friend bike slowly and you walked alongside? Did your friend bike quickly and you ran alongside? Did you ever take a separate route, or the same route at separate times? Did you get ahead of a queue? Were there more than one queue? Relevant? Relevant where the bike was when you were at the cafeteria? Did the fact that your friend was on bike and you on foot help with getting the food earlier?

[BitterLemonCurry]

Did your friend have to look into the menu, while you were already knowing what you'll have?

[doriana_]

GalFisk
Did you plan the bike swap before meeting up? No Did your friend bike slowly and you walked alongside? No Did your friend bike quickly and you ran alongside? No Did you ever take a separate route, or the same route at separate times? A bit of both, explore Did you get ahead of a queue? Maybe - the queue is hard to predict, but when we got there, it was relatively short and it might have been longer later Were there more than one queue? No Relevant? No Relevant where the bike was when you were at the cafeteria? No Did the fact that your friend was on bike and you on foot help with getting the food earlier? Yes

BitterLemonCurry
Did your friend have to look into the menu, while you were already knowing what you'll have? No

[GalFisk]

When you performed the bike swap, did you do so with the intention of getting the food earlier? If not, was getting the food earlier just a lucky coincidence? Did your friend take the bike because s/he needed it more than you? Could use it for a purpose you couldn't? Or better than you could? Because you wanted to be nice and not make them walk the entire way? Did your friend arrive to the queue earlier than you? Did your friend get your food for you?

[Sundowner64]

Did you both arrive at the cafeteria together? Was your friend on the bike when you arrived there? Did this give him some advantage over other patrons who arrived on foot?
Did you both get your food at the same time?
Did you need to queue up for picking up food? for paying? for getting a free table?
Did you need to take the food yourself? was it served by the table? relevant?
Did paying for the food go faster, so you spent less time in the cafeteria in total?

[doriana_]

GalFisk
When you performed the bike swap, did you do so with the intention of getting the food earlier? Yes If not, was getting the food earlier just a lucky coincidence? No Did your friend take the bike because s/he needed it more than you? Yes Could use it for a purpose you couldn't? Yes Or better than you could? No Because you wanted to be nice and not make them walk the entire way? Yope Did your friend arrive to the queue earlier than you? No, we got there around the same time Did your friend get your food for you? No

Sundowner
Did you both arrive at the cafeteria together? Not together, but at the same time Was your friend on the bike when you arrived there? Yes Did this give him some advantage over other patrons who arrived on foot? No
Did you both get your food at the same time? Yes
Did you need to queue up for picking up food? Yes for paying? Yes for getting a free table? Irrel
Did you need to take the food yourself? This was it served by the table? relevant? Not really
Did paying for the food go faster, so you spent less time in the cafeteria in total? No

[Sundowner64]

Did you enter the cafeteria at the same time? but separately (i.e. not together)? through different entries?
Did you join the queue together? at the same time you would have if you did not swap the bikes?
Were there different queues? different queue length at different time? (so if you arrived only a few minutes later you might have had to wait for half an hour more because of lots of people arriving that time .. ?)

[GalFisk]

Are you a faster walker than your friend? So swapping means you'd both arrive earlier? Shortcuts relevant? WAG: do you do parkour, so you can take shortcuts most people can't?

[doriana_]

Sundowner
Did you enter the cafeteria at the same time? but separately (i.e. not together)? No, we met in front of the cafeteria and entered together through different entries? No
Did you join the queue together? Yes at the same time you would have if you did not swap the bikes? No
Were there different queues? No different queue length at different time? (so if you arrived only a few minutes later you might have had to wait for half an hour more because of lots of people arriving that time .. ?) Possibly

GalFisk
Are you a faster walker than your friend? No/irrel So swapping means you'd both arrive earlier? No, I would have arrived earlier if I had stayed on my bike Shortcuts relevant? No WAG: do you do parkour, so you can take shortcuts most people can't? Nice guess, but no

[GalFisk]

Did swapping mean you could enter together? Enter earlier? Is entering together a key to getting food quicker? Do either you or your friend have some relevant advantage at this cafeteria? Such as being friends with a worker? Is the bicycle relevant in some other way than being a faster mode of transport than walking? Could a different vehicle have worked the same way? Such as a kickbike? E-scooter? Rollerskates? Moped?

[doriana_]

Did swapping mean you could enter together? No Enter earlier? Yes Is entering together a key to getting food quicker? No, but we have to enter together, see next question Do either you or your friend have some relevant advantage at this cafeteria? Yes - I am an employee while my friend is not affiliated with the University. This means that we always have to enter together because I have to pay for him using my staff ID Such as being friends with a worker? Not this Is the bicycle relevant in some other way than being a faster mode of transport than walking? No Could a different vehicle have worked the same way? Yes Such as a kickbike? E-scooter? Rollerskates? Moped? Probably not rollerskates but all others would work

[GalFisk]

Is your friend doing something relevant except bicycling while you're walking? Such as going somewhere apart from the cafeteria? Running an errand? Making a stop? Catching up to someone or something?

[doriana_]

Is your friend doing something relevant except bicycling while you're walking? Yes Such as going somewhere apart from the cafeteria? Yes Running an errand? Yes Making a stop? Yes Catching up to someone or something? No

Well done, GalFisk! We have everything we need for the

********SPOILER********
The other day, I was biking to one of the cafeterias on campus to meet a friend for lunch. 400 m from my destination, I spotted him walking the other way, back to his house. When I stopped and asked him where he was going, he told me he had forgotten something at home. I figured that if I gave him my bike and walked the rest, we should get there around the same time, instead of me having to wait for him.

[Sundowner64]

Great puzzle!