Smallwheels

If I walk more than a few blocks I will get blisters without taking precautions. Years ago a guy I met taught me a way to avoid them. He said that if I wore thin nylon socks against my feet and then covered them with my favorite cotton or polyester thick sock it would prevent blisters. The way it works is the nylon allows the foot to move freely against the other sock. Without that barrier the skin would stick to the thick sock, which would be sticking to the shoe once perspiration made everything sticky. That means that as the shoe moved against the sock and foot it would drag and tear the skin which causes blisters. This method really works for me.

Though I would like to become a barefoot walker it isn't practical. I might try making my feet tougher this summer by walking barefoot for a while. I only learned of the benefits of it this winter so I'm just getting around to testing it, weather permitting.

cooker

My problem with barefoot walking is all the broken glass in the city. Are you going to get those "barefoot" shoes that look like rubber foot gloves?

PaulH

About 500 feet.

Roody

Good luck with the new job!

Monster Pete

I'd love to build one of these. I'd imagine you'd be able to work it by using the wheels from a powered wheelchair or something of similar size, welded on to extended skateboard axles.

Suburban

I like walking. I didn't know some people "endure" it. Now going at toddler speed, sometimes I'm just enduring it.

LesterOfPuppets

They make lots of different dirt boards. Non-motorized ones are typically kinda slow in non-downhill situations. But ya know, I did see a guy commuting to work on a perfectly smooth street on a Surly Pugsly once.

Suburban

There are benefits to barefoot walking? What are they? I always did that on my grandparents farm and sometimes cheat and walk to the nearby parks barefoot. Unfortunately, when people realize how caloused my feet are, they're grossed out. No young woman likes being told her feet are gross. All of the paths and roads around the farm are rocky like this: https://www.edenlandscapingllc.com/html/driveway_5.html Same as the beaches I used to swim at. I've also given up on my shoes hiking up in Algonquin Park a few times when my shoes hurt. I'd rather go barefoot than invest in good hiking shoes seeing as I'm just fine barefoot if it isn't freezing out. My mother and sisters are the same, preferring barefoot.

LesterOfPuppets

I like shorter walks around town and long walks in the woods. Walking the 3.8 miles to work is something I've done but not something I ever want to do.

Suburban

I guess it really depends on the schedule and the scenery.

wahoonc

I have seen skateboards with large wheels 10" range with pneumatic or semi-pneumatic tires. Not sure where I saw them or what they were for, but they had to be better for rough roads than the little wheels that are normally used.

Aaron

ubringliten

No more than a mile for me for walking. The furthest I would ride is 5 miles and after that I would take mass transit.

Freakin'Chickin

2.5 to 3 km also for me is the tipping point; being able to juste walk home from work, if it' under 30min is so much less fuzz. If you ever have to be in trouble with your bike, whatever that will be, it sucks to have to walk when you're short on time ( i usually don't have a toolkit around if I bike to work/around for no more than 5-10 km in an urban area). And drivers around Qc City are becoming more awful to bikes. Sometimes it feels safer just to walk than take the bike. This and bike thief, and me always ending up wet when I'm biking (even with full-on fenders, I still find a way). Sometimes also, it's much more of a hassle to lock your bike when you are working in a huge building, and then go to the front door than simply walk in. And huh, huge thing, there are hills everywhere around here, so sometimes a 20 min walk is close to a sweaty 15 min bike for the same trip :-p

I would say that under 2 km, I walk, 2-3 km, If I want/have to run around I'll sometimes bike, but more than 3 km I ride. If the weather is totally foolish, I prefer to walk longer than bike (i.e. snowstorms, hailstorms). And, sometimes if I have around 3-7 km to go somewhere, I run there with a small backpack, then come home running... or by bus if I feel lazy (much more likely if I already did 8-10 km of running).

I'm also the kind of girl that loves to overlook other peoples' trashes, so if I just see something that I like, I grab it and go. If it's too big and I can't carry it on my bike, I don't like to walk a bike looking foolish with whatever big thing I'm carrying (stumbled upon an older pair of xc skis: the bindings were perfect, so I grabbed the skis, but I was on my bike, and only for about 2,5 km.... I walked my bike for 1.5 km with bike in one hand, and skis in the other. Walking would have been better)

ReinderDijkhuis

Walking 2.5 miles would take too long for a daily commute, but it would be a neat distance for running.

Freakin'Chickin

Indeed, a 4 km (close to 2.5 mi) is a nice running commute: you don't get too exhausted, you can simply wipe out and change when you come to work, your running clothes are not totally wet (so you are asured they'll dry completely), and at the end of the day, you got an 8 km run in, which is pretty decent.

danlikes

I enjoy walking outside and by the good fortune of my life choices I get to everyday. From walking fence lines, checking livestock, assessing crops, evaluating range, or doing field work with one of the dogs.

When your used to walking a you will not break a sweat unless increase your pace or the terrain gets harder.

Walking will assist in increasing and maintaining bone density, I have read that riding actually results in loss of bone density because there is less stress on your skeletal structure or something like that.

Walk for a warm or cool down after your bike rides.

Roody

I agree that if you really want to be fit you have to do some walking. Another idea is to ride your bike to a nature area (where bikes are usually not allowed), take a nice hike and ride your bike back home. Sometimes I even rent a boat and row or paddle for a while. A short swim in the lake would really complete the day.

I like exercise, but only if I feel like I'm actually getting somewhere.

baker8948

I would be willing to walk no further than my garage where I keep my bicycle herd.

Underground

Typically those who walk barefoot have stronger feet. It does depend on how you walk too. Supportive shoes tend to be nothing more than a crutch. Think of this, if you walk and repetitively strike your heel into the ground hard, that isn't good for your feet. So the supportive and cushioned shoes help reduce this impact, but it is still there.

By walking in minimalist shoes, or barefoot, I find that I really pay attention to how I walk and therefore walk better (normally slower). There are several benefits to barefoot walking, but you have to be listening to your body. Heel striking barefoot on concrete would hurt after a while.

Newspaperguy

Up to 2.5 kilometres one way is a comfortable distance for walking, but I still prefer riding the bike, even for short distances. I like my bike and I like to ride it every chance I get.

Suburban

I think I would have hurt myself by now going barefoot if I bashed my heels into the ground. I don't know that I really pay attention to how I walk, so much as I pay attention to where I walk.

Smallwheels

Another benefit to walking barefoot is the grounding effect. There are people who claim that making contact with the Earth directly with one's bare feet improves the electrical balance of the body. It releases free radical electrons and gets rid of inflammation. It helps to balance the body's electrical system which helps all aspects of health. Look for videos online about grounding or Earthing. They will explain some of the theory.

lubes17319

Same here.

Roody

I read a book about the lifestyle of the European professional bike racers. Evidently they believe that walking saps their strength. They make their wives or girlfriends drive the car right to the door so they don't have to walk. Also, they won't live in an upstairs apartment unless there is an elevator.

wahoonc

Y'all made me think...actually a 2.5 mile "commute" to work by walking isn't all that bad in the grand scheme of things. My office is about 42 miles from the house (I only go in about once a month) however a couple of the clowns that work there commute 15 miles or so across town to get there, they typically spend 45 minutes or so on the commute due to traffic, then they leave and go to the gym to work out, so a 45 minute walk to work and a 45 minute walk home might just be to their advantage.

Aaron