Pedestrians - RANT

flhrci said:
what is this exercise thing
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It is a ritual whereby a person picks mildly heavy things up and puts them down. Sometimes it involves pulling on various handles attached to wires, pulleys and stacks of heavy things. For the more initiated, it involves running or walking at a given pace on a machine that allows the user to remain in place!

The goal of the exercise concept is to allow the participant to continue to eat/drink what they want and be otherwise lazy in physical activity. So, it is a zero-sum scenario where the exercising merely offsets the otherwise unhealthy behaviour engaged in by the exercisee.
 
Well, I stand corrected. I guess I was promulgating an OWT. According to this article, good shoes negate any difference in hardness between concrete and asphalt.

https://www.slowtwitch.com/Training/Running/Concrete_or_Asphalt__4793.html

"Conclusion

The difference between concrete and asphalt is a bit like the difference between a standard HDTV and higher resolution TV, where the limiting factor becomes the eye's ability to observe the difference. The difference can be measured, but the difference is not significant in the greater context of the situation. In the case of running, both concrete and asphalt are very hard and deflect very little. The fact that one deflects a tiny bit more than the other scientifically does not translate to an observable difference in impact, especially when running is considered to include the impact absorbed by a running shoe and the sole of the foot."

I am still going to walk in the street in my neighborhood though, keeping in mind to not impede automobile traffic.
 
bnt83 said:
I swear some driver's brains are turned off so much by driving that they would follow me to a complete stop on an interstate with wide open lanes on both sides.
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True because they're on their cell phone so they latch onto your bumper and follow you instead of actually driving. Had a woman on a two-lane last week going between 45-70 mph and could see her animated conversation hand waving and all. "The man" would have likely been upset if I'd just done a PIT maneuver and put her in the ditch for the good of all mankind.
 
JScarry said:
Talk about first-world problems. Maybe you should get your lazy ass out of the car and walk to the gym.
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Yeah, nothing like showing up to the gym all sweat-soaked and sitting on the machines dripping everywhere . . . the other gym patrons will love it (even if he does a wipe-down afterwards).
 
SoonerAviator said:
Yeah, nothing like showing up to the gym all sweat-soaked and sitting on the machines dripping everywhere . . . the other gym patrons will love it (even if he does a wipe-down afterwards).
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So uh, @Sac Arrow , ya gettin visuals of vented leggings girl all hot, sweaty and drippin’:ihih:
 
luvflyin said:
So uh, @Sac Arrow , ya gettin visuals of vented leggings girl all hot, sweaty and drippin’:ihih:
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Funny you ask, VLL was bending over all hot and provocative this morning reaching for her water bottle as she went from machine to machine. If I time it just right, I get an eyeful as she does her stretches on the treadmill. This may sound slightly Freudian, but every time I see her bending over on the treadmill, it makes me think about how it would affect airplane takeoff performance.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Funny you ask, VLL was bending over all hot and provocative this morning reaching for her water bottle as she went from machine to machine. If I time it just right, I get an eyeful as she does her stretches on the treadmill. This may sound slightly Freudian, but every time I see her bending over on the treadmill, it makes me think about how it would affect airplane takeoff performance.
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FER GAWDS SAKE quit thinkin bout airplanes while you are lusting. Lest ye....
https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/R...ID=20001212X18632&AKey=1&RType=Final&IType=FA
 
Been walking the 3 miles to my office for years. If snow or ice blocks the sidewalks I'll walk in the street, there are usually clear patches from the tires. If refuse bins block the sidewalk I might walk in the street. But mostly I walk on sidewalks and alleys, and have never seen anyone else do otherwise.
 
The road to hell is paved with pedestrians.
 
Bill said:
The road to hell is paved with pedestrians.
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4ZfgxU9.jpg
 
Deelee said:
I live in a neighborhood with sidewalks along every road, street, cul-de-sac, drive, court... you name it. If it is a paved, drivable surface, there is a nice, well-maintained sidewalk on either side of it. The kind of sidewalk that should be ever so inviting to pedestrians out for their mid-day strolls. The kind of concrete ribbon that just screams - "Hey! You! Walking-person! Why not walk on me? Look how well-maintained and pedestrian-friendly I am!"

Why, then, do I encounter half-a-dozen foot mobile humans striding at a walking pace on the (side usually, sometimes in the middle!) of the road every day on my way to the gym? I'm not talking about a one-off person who may be confused about the purpose of a sidewalk. I am talking about many, many fellow neighbours who decide to use the road to plod along instead of the sidewalk. Some of them don't even use the side of the road. They use the part of the road normally reserved for powered vehicles that could, if improperly operated, make them into a pedestrian-pancake.

Is this a common thing? Do people like the way the road feels under their feet as opposed to the concrete of the sidewalk? Is this some sort of COVID thing that I am not aware of (social distancing from other pedestrians?)??

Whatever the reason, it's getting dangerous. I should probably post this petty gripe on one of the local neighbourhood moms facebook pages where it belongs. But since it is a rant, I figured its rightful place was here.
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We must be neighbors ‍♀️
 
Saw it again on the way back from the exercise facility. This time I counted - on my two mile suburban, dead-end street -

One guy walking his Husky - which made me nervous because the dog was on a leash and could decide to commit canine-suicide-by-car by running out into my direction of travel.
One elderly gentleman who was at least shuffling along right next to the cars parked on the curb and not in the middle of the road.
A woman pushing a pram. Again, off to the side, but still in the road.
A jogger. Couldn't tell if man or woman and I didn't want to leer too much... To their credit they were going against traffic.
 
Deelee said:
Saw it again on the way back from the exercise facility. This time I counted - on my two mile suburban, dead-end street -

One guy walking his Husky - which made me nervous because the dog was on a leash and could decide to commit canine-suicide-by-car by running out into my direction of travel.
One elderly gentleman who was at least shuffling along right next to the cars parked on the curb and not in the middle of the road.
A woman pushing a pram. Again, off to the side, but still in the road.
A jogger. Couldn't tell if man or woman and I didn't want to leer too much... To their credit they were going against traffic.
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Stop and ask them. Be nice
 
pmanton said:
How many people park in their driveways with the car blocking the sidewalk?
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Very few. From my observation, that doesn't seem to be the root cause. Wide open sidewalk. Driveways clear. No obstacles, in fact.

Didn't see as many road-walkers today. I did see a smashed up BMW on the side of the road, though. Wonder what happened there...
 
pmanton said:
How many people park in their driveways with the car blocking the sidewalk?:mad: This makes people walk in the street. :D
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That is a big no-no and a constant subject of Nextdoor around here.
 
SoonerAviator said:
lost pets
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Yet another separate-rant-worthy thread.

In my neighbourhood, we get several posts on FB or Nextdoor related to lost pets per day. W T F? How are people losing their pets on such a frequent basis? Sometimes the same person loses their pet in the same month.

Keep track of your pets, people. Jeez.
 
Locally, the stated reason to walk in the center of the street is the presence of snakes.
 
weilke said:
Locally, the stated reason to walk in the center of the street is the presence of snakes.
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Hmm, irrational fear. Some quick googling reveals:

Number of pedestrians killed by vehicles in the US per year: ~6500

Number of people killed by snakes in the US per year: ~5

Yeah, walking in the middle of the road is a GREAT idea...
 
Deelee said:
Yet another separate-rant-worthy thread.

In my neighbourhood, we get several posts on FB or Nextdoor related to lost pets per day. W T F? How are people losing their pets on such a frequent basis? Sometimes the same person loses their pet in the same month.

Keep track of your pets, people. Jeez.
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Or people need to relax and realize that the pets aren't likely "lost", they probably know how to get home. The Yorkie prancing down the sidewalk isn't likely threatening and will make its way home eventually.
 
Van Johnston said:
Concrete is harder than asphalt, which is harder than natural terrain, so over time can do more damage to knees and hips. Therefore when able, I walk on the asphalt-paved streets in our neighborhood.
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yes - we were always told that 25 years ago, and for our distance runners in college it was "a thing". If a person is covering 70 miles a week with questionable footwear, it might come into play for injuries (that will happen anyway if you are covering 70 miles a week consistently), but... I'll reference the following from an article that states it better than I could. Concrete IS less compressible than asphalt, but telling someone that the difference will impact the rate of injury on a runner is... effectively, an old wives' tale.

"Mathematically, concrete absorbs 10 times less energy than asphalt at 20°C. With a typical runner of 70kg landing with about 3-5x body weight of force, neither concrete nor asphalt compress any measurable amount. Practically, there is no material difference when one begins to consider the compressibility of the foot and running shoe material, as we will explore shortly. It is also worth noting that while materials like concrete as subject to fracture under stress, it should be obvious that the loads to which these materials are subject by runners fall way below this threshold, and for our purposes these materials can be considered to be elastic in this part of the stress-strain curve. Also note that cold asphalt has about the same hardness as concrete. Rubber is at least 14,000 times less hard than concrete."

from: https://www.slowtwitch.com/Training/Running/Concrete_or_Asphalt__4793.html
 
Deelee said:
Oh, Nextdoor could be its own special rant.
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For me, a source of amusement, sometimes. I'm often incredulous at some people's opinions. Yes, lots of Karens and the male equivalent. Also lots of SJWs.
 
Everskyward said:
For me, a source of amusement, sometimes. I'm often incredulous at some people's opinions. Yes, lots of Karens and the male equivalent. Also lots of SJWs.
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It's always fun to drop a post saying how masks are crap and then watching the ensuing fireworks - oh and toss some gasoline once in a while to keep it going.
 
Our state and local mask mandates have expired, so glad.
 
Bill said:
Our state and local mask mandates have expired, so glad.
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My state never had a "mandate", nor did my city. Highly encouraged, but left it up to personal responsibility. OK's governor (for all of his shortcomings) let each city gov't determine their mask policy as well as individual businesses. One of the few times I feel that gov't functioned the way it was designed to, lol.
 
Around here, both the government and the people were highly into masking. Even though they are not required outdoors any more, I would say well over 50% still wear them. Also, many organizations still require them. I don't wear one outdoors, but I haven't gotten the bad comments that some of the other non-maskers claimed to have received. Now the argument on Nextdoor is that you are "not courteous" if you are not wearing one.
 
EdFred said:
It's always fun to drop a post saying how masks are crap and then watching the ensuing fireworks - oh and toss some gasoline once in a while to keep it going.
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Haha. I wade into topics that are more hot button than masking... which we can't talk about here.
 
I would like to post a rant about bikers that don't understand the concept of sharing the road.
 
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Bill said:
Hmm, irrational fear. Some quick googling reveals:

Number of pedestrians killed by vehicles in the US per year: ~6500

Number of people killed by snakes in the US per year: ~5

Yeah, walking in the middle of the road is a GREAT idea...
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Right, that's why I say it is the 'stated reason'. The true reason is that they are inconsiderate dicks who enjoy forcing cars and bikes to swerve by walking down the middle of a rural road.
 
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I run before sun rise, and always on the street. If I see a car coming my way (against traffic), i shoot over to the side walk. The problem runners have with sidewalks is they are so uneven, it's easy to trip. Also more likely to have ice in the winter. I've taken a few dixies on uneven pavement and sidewalks - very dangerous. I just get out of the way of traffic when I see it coming my way. Can't do a 2-4 mile run on the sidewalk.
 
EdFred said:
It's always fun to drop a post saying how masks are crap and then watching the ensuing fireworks - oh and toss some gasoline once in a while to keep it going.
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There are a few other things that will do it around here.

The thread that probably brought the most mirth to me was the one where someone claimed - loudly and persistently on ND about someone in their 'hood that had "painted" the letters "MAGA" on the sidewalk. It turned out that the homeowner had actually use a pressure washer to write the letters in his own, dirty, concrete driveway apron. That didn't stop the folks that insisted that he be arrested for defacing public property.
 
I was gonna put up a calendar to guess how much longer this threads gonna last, but I think this is more likely

 
WBI Flyer said:
yes - we were always told that 25 years ago, and for our distance runners in college it was "a thing". If a person is covering 70 miles a week with questionable footwear, it might come into play for injuries (that will happen anyway if you are covering 70 miles a week consistently), but... I'll reference the following from an article that states it better than I could. Concrete IS less compressible than asphalt, but telling someone that the difference will impact the rate of injury on a runner is... effectively, an old wives' tale.

"Mathematically, concrete absorbs 10 times less energy than asphalt at 20°C. With a typical runner of 70kg landing with about 3-5x body weight of force, neither concrete nor asphalt compress any measurable amount. Practically, there is no material difference when one begins to consider the compressibility of the foot and running shoe material, as we will explore shortly. It is also worth noting that while materials like concrete as subject to fracture under stress, it should be obvious that the loads to which these materials are subject by runners fall way below this threshold, and for our purposes these materials can be considered to be elastic in this part of the stress-strain curve. Also note that cold asphalt has about the same hardness as concrete. Rubber is at least 14,000 times less hard than concrete."

from: https://www.slowtwitch.com/Training/Running/Concrete_or_Asphalt__4793.html
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Sounds like we are in violent agreement.

"https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/pedestrians-rant.131994/page-2#post-3082534"
 
Whoa! It is post-ception. Every time I read the entire thread, I click on this link and it takes me back up... then I read down and click on this link and it takes me back up.. then I read down and click on this link and it takes me back up..

Related - signs just went up that paving will soon begin on our street. What will the pedestrians do now? I guess there is that little grassy strip between the sidewalk and the road to walk on...
 
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