Commuting - Walking XXI

Before cars, people walked.

For most around the world, walking is unquestionably the main transportation mode, even among motorists. (How else would you get to the elevator?)

The greatest thing about cars is they can get you very far, very fast. The sad thing about cars is that people who become too dependent upon them can't walk a city block.

It's not enough that I ride a bike and walk--other should take it up. That's obvious, since most of my co-workers think fitness is an option. It's not an option--everyone needs to be fit! Walking is a great option for those who don't ride a bike. Everyone can walk!

Even if you ride a bike, walk! Walking strengthens bones, posture
and by golly, it expands your mind, since you can relax a bit and look around you, taking in the beauty of nature. (And if you want to push the envelope a bit, walking can be a real workout at 4+ mph.)

:thumbup:

My wife and I have been trying to walk more often, we take our chihuahua out for a 2mi hike a couple times a week and that little thing has shown suprising stamina (for her 2mi is a long way), she keeps a pretty brisk pace for a little one.

Our walks are usually at night and we live where there are no streetlights. When our dog is out in front the full 16' her retractable lead allows, she is defineable only by her long slender body against the gray pavement. Thus we have dubbed her "The Phantom Sausage"

(nevermind me)

My wife isn't into cycling. Maybe I can convince her to join me for a stroll after work now and then.

This summer I have put more miles on my shoes than I have on my bike. Since I am on my three month leave from work and have no where I need to be quickly, I have plenty of time to walk. Often times, I ride my bike to the local nature preserve so that I can take a lengthy hike. Walking is good cross-training for cycling and is a great way to clear the mind and gives one a chance to smell the roses.

I don't like walking because before I biked, I walked everywhere and used public transit. It disgusted me so much I bought 2 bikes and a car.

I've posted elsewhere that my commute is five miles and a few years ago because it was a wonderful day I decided to walk to work. When I got there and word passed around that I had walked, my boss came up to me and quietly asked me if I needed an advance on my pay for a bus ticket.

Everyone was so dumbfounded that I had walked they assumed that I didn't have any money and that I had no choice.

Originally posted by Moose
My wife and I have been trying to walk more often, we take our chihuahua out for a 2mi hike a couple times a week and that little thing has shown suprising stamina (for her 2mi is a long way), she keeps a pretty brisk pace for a little one.
(nevermind me)

What is that, 14 dog miles? Probably more like 28 chihuahua miles!

:D

Originally posted by RainmanP


What is that, 14 dog miles? Probably more like 28 chihuahua miles!

:D
:lol:

:eek:

:roflmao:

I think I walk only 1/2 mile a day from my commute to and from work.

Peter Jennings ran a piece on the news last night that claimed walking was one of the best ways to have a longer, more healthy life. This was apparantly based on some long-term studies.

Unfortunately, I couldn't watch it, since I was headed out the door (no, I wasn't going walking! :D )

One of the things folks with osteoporosis are encouraged to do is positive resistance exercise to strengthen their bones. Basically use it or lose it. I bring this up because walking works the hips - bones, tendons, ligaments all get a low impact work-out that translates to greater resilience and strength in the long run. Bikers, on the other hand, do not use their hips much. As a result they have higher incidence of hip fractures when they grow old. I am not making this up.

I hate walking walking around town, though. I'm clumsy, slow, and a soft target for kamikaze bike messengers. But I know I don't want to be a getting a hip replacement, so I better get those Rockports on.

BK

Yesterday was a glorious day(Weather Wise) so as soon as the kids came home from school, we packed a rucksack with food and walked. After nearly two hours We finally reached what I had been aiming for - The top of a local mountain(hill).

The view was wonderful, the peacefulness was divine and the sense of achievement was great.

We sat on the grass, looking all around and let the kids just play. We could show the kids that the world is a wonderful place and see that they appreciated it.

They understood what day it was and asked some questions that were hard to answer, then we started to come home, as we came back down the sounds of life slowly came within range of our ears and progressively got louder and uglier.

When we got home, everybody was tired but happy, we fed the kids, put them to bed and within no time they were asleep.

Just try walking, sometimes it truly is soothing.



it's strange that I started this post to explain about the joys of walking, but it quickly shows what's on my mind. I was going to rewrite it but I'll leave it.

Hope your all okay.

Originally posted by Ouch !
Yesterday was a glorious day(Weather Wise) so as soon as the kids came home from school, we packed a rucksack with food and walked. After nearly two hours We finally reached what I had been aiming for - The top of a local mountain(hill).

The view was wonderful, the peacefulness was divine and the sense of achievement was great.

We sat on the grass, looking all around and let the kids just play. We could show the kids that the world is a wonderful place and see that they appreciated it.
"Ouch,"

I hope you'll get the idea to take a walk and write about it again sometime. You really touched my heart on this one.

my grandparents just went on a trip to spain to visit my uncle. while they were there they didn't have any motorized vehical so they had to walk everywhere. They said they ended up walking about 4 miles a day... to go to town to get fresh bread and to see different things.

My grandfather is diabetic and after a few weeks he realized he was loosing weight. And he cut his daily insulin need in half!

So, they've both decided to walk everyday, even when they don't have to.

I think that's what is wrong with America. Why Americans are dubbed lazy. Why Ouchy's boss couldn't understand why he would walk. We don't want to do something unless we have to.

That's the point I see in this. Doing something that you don't have to do, but enjoy it. Getting out and doing something just for the heck of it.

Originally posted by Ouch !
I've posted elsewhere that my commute is five miles and a few years ago because it was a wonderful day I decided to walk to work. When I got there and word passed around that I had walked, my boss came up to me and quietly asked me if I needed an advance on my pay for a bus ticket.

Everyone was so dumbfounded that I had walked they assumed that I didn't have any money and that I had no choice.

Funny! Did you take the advance? :)

Thanks pete. much appreciated.


Sandra , I didn't take the advance but I did walk to work the next day, since then I have to say that the bike is my first choice, it's just so much fun.

Originally posted by Bikes-N-Drums
I don't like walking because before I biked, I walked everywhere and used public transit. It disgusted me so much I bought 2 bikes and a car.

Two steps forward, one backward.

What could be disgusting about walking and public transit?

Was there too much smog in the air for walking?

I recall the article at CNN.com, in which they wrote that it is dangerous to walk or cycle on days when there is a smog. CNN suggested the solution - drive the cars, do not walk or cycle on such days. Duh!

Is not it clear that the smog will get even worse with such "solutions".

While I was returning from Pittsburgh, PA, to D.C. this June, I stayed in a motel at Williamsport, Maryland, for couple of days.

Once or twice we walked from motel to the town center to look around and do some shopping. Our bikes remained at the motel.

In the beginning I could not get why people were staring at us from passing by cars. Then I realized that my spouse and me were practically the only pedestrians in the town.

The sidewalk lasts there only on some insignificant portions of the road. We had to walk mainly on the shoulders or the right side of the road.

I saw that people buy food, medicines, etc. right from the cars at the special windows in the shops. Even cash from ATMs can be withdrawn from a car.

I got an impression that to walk there, as we did, was a sort of a social taboo, a gaffe. Like only poor people were supposed to walk along the roads.

There had to be something in the American history or culture what is causing this attitude. I can not understand yet or find what it is.

But it is important to find and and address it, as the USA plays significant role in changing the global ecology.

Besides the US is defining the world fashions nowadays. For example, the fashion on SUVs came from the US. If consumers in the USA start using, say, pogo sticks for mass transportation, before long the whole world may follow.

Originally posted by Alexey
I got an impression that to walk there, as we did, was a sort of a social taboo, a gaffe. Like only poor people were supposed to walk along the roads.
Today I got in about 5 miles of walking, not including on-the-job.

I am a strong dude because of it. Part of the time, I ran because the bus made me late to work. I never had to breathe through my mouth at all, due to my cycling heart.

I feel sorry for people getting fat in their cars at 25 years old.

(Disclaimer: if you are overweight, I was, too. Don't take offense, it's the transportation system working against you! Get out of that car as often as you can!)

:D

I tried to walk to my work recently. It is 15 km round trip.

It is much more difficult than cycling the same distance. And it takes 3 times more time.

But there are advantages too. Some time is saved in preparation, parking bicycle, etc.

But mainly it is that I can listen to my mp3 player while walking. I have lessons with one more foreign language in mp3 format. On bicycle I am afraid to listen to mp3 player, as I need stereo sound to track cars around me.

My route goes via district where not nice people may live. It sees it is a bit more safer on bike to pass this district, as the speed is higher on bike.

Originally posted by Ouch !
Everyone was so dumbfounded that I had walked they assumed that I didn't have any money and that I had no choice.

Several months ago I started walking from my office to lunch. There are several places to eat within a couple blocks of my office.

I live in a small town of about 40,000 people. In the past several months, I think about 100 of them have asked me why I walk to lunch or somehow commented on seeing me walking.

Walking is somehow "odd" even though the town spent a ton of money installing sidewalks, crosswalks and walk signals on the traffic lights. I virtually never encounter another walker during my lunch break.

I love to ride my bike to the local forested park and walk the trails. I even walk places sometimes because the weather's too nice and biking is too darn quick!