• 17 Posts
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Joined 3 years ago
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Cake day: July 6th, 2023

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  • Thanks for the recommendations! Some of those look pretty appealing to me, so I’ll have to look into it!

    One thing I can’t abide though are wet socks. There’s currently 20-30cm of snow on many of the sidewalks around me because it’s snowing so fast it’s impossible for the city to keep up, even with plows going every hour or so. Let alone out in nature. But then again, in snow and ice, I think I do prefer to have traction on my soles, and also with a high enough shaft that the snow won’t fall into my shoes. So Ill stick to my blundstones for this weather, and hiking boots for hiking! But I’ll see how it goes with thin soles when it’s cold but relatively dry.


  • Ha, fellow teacher here, though for my country’s equivalent to GED maths.

    I’ve never liked ankle support much. Never had running shoes that went up that high. My hiking shoes do, because on actual alpine trails I’d slice my ankles to bits on the rocks otherwise, but I never lace them up all the way to the top.

    I love going genuinely barefoot, like no shoes at all, when I just go on a little walk through the forest. Always have, to the point that it was a rule in my house that we had to hose ourselves down before coming inside when I was a kid. But that’s soft ground. Never gotten used to gravel, but even just a super thin sole may do the trick!

    In case you live somewhere that gets cold some of the year, do you wear minimal shoes then, too? I feel like there wouldn’t be much insulation



  • Semi relatedly, there’s some new blocks in my city that are both ugly and expensive to live in. It’s this soulless, almost corporate feeling type of architecture. Doesn’t fit into how the city looks at all. They had the opportunity to decide whether to build affordable housing or something pretty that aesthetically fits into the city and picked neither. No doubt the shareholders shed a tear of joy.


  • What a fascinating recommendation, thank you! I’m intrigued

    Since you brought up the minimalist shoes: one thing that’s conflicting is thaty orthopedist recommended I always wear my orthotics when running or hiking while my physiotherapist recommended walking, and if possible running, barefoot as much as possible. I’m looking into barefoot shoes once it gets warmer (those thin soles aren’t super appealing in the current freezing temps). I’ll start out wearing them casually and see how it goes.


  • Thanks for the tips! Now that you mention it, too-high cadence might very well be a big issue of mine. I’ve noticed I even do that while walking too: my non-leisurly walking pace, that I keep when I’m walking to work or running errands, is like 7km/h. So I’m taking some big ass steps (I’m 172cm), which is probably not the best idea. For sure even worse when running, with the higher impact.






  • The reason for that is almost certainly psychological, you’re way more careful if you can feel every tiny slip and know there’s no metal cage protecting you. Similar to how youre less likely to hurt yourself with a sharp knife vs a dull one (though theres more reasons than the psychological aspect there). And I guess part of it is ow speeds; but even then:

    Bicycles are more likely to slip on a snowy, icy or even wet road, simply because they have a smaller surface that touches the road. Also, as opposed to anything 3+ wheeled, they lean into turns and can slip sideways that way. I have a cool laceration scar on my chin to prove that.

    So, I guess my point is, don’t take this comment to mean bikes are the safest vehicle in the snow, folks.


  • I don’t cycle when there’s snow on the road (bc I hurt myself that way once), but know from others there are spike tyres for bicycles. Keep in mind though that this still won’t give you the amount of stability you may be used to from something four wheeled. Be careful not to lean into turns too much, ime that’s the situation where slipping is most likely.



  • Idk how old OOP is, but I’m almost 30 and I never got a polio vaccine. My mum was very diligent getting me vaccinated too, I got all the whoopng cough, measles etc. shots. Even got tuberculosis for some reason, but polio was considered so near extinct that it wasn’t on the list.

    (thanks for making me check my vaccination passport to confirm this btw, found out this way that I need to get something refreshed)