Hacker News Reader

Comment by quirkot | Hacker News Reader

>> Walking to and from the platform of my nearest tube station is about 2.5k steps....

There are no side walks where I live. The roads have 55mph speed limits and are lined with drainage ditches even if I wanted to walk them. Working from home, I might get ~900 "organic" steps/day unless I go somewhere explicitly to walk (15+ minute drive each way). It's a structural issue more than personal choice

View on HN

I seem to have this debate every three days on HN. I'm shocked that a tech-savvy, self-motivated group of "hackers" don't find this a complete and utter no-go. How is your hair not on fire trying to get out of the hellhole where even bloody walking is not possible?! Why is it that you're not spending every minute trying to move to Zurich, or Vancouver, or Amsterdam, or whatever? How are people OK with spending a lifie not being able to walk? I can only think that people are so attached to their job or their family, that the phrase "quality of life" never crosses their mind.

Well, if you start from the position that rural living is a hellhole, I don't know what to tell you buddy. Plenty of people enjoy it just fine, just different costs and benefits

If someone tells me there is nowhere they can walk in the rural countryside, I'd laugh my way right off my chair.

> There are no side walks where I live. The roads have 55mph speed limits and are lined with drainage ditches

This was my walking commute to first grade at 7 years old in somewhat rural Slovenia. I believe in you.

edit: okay I guess the speed limit was 60kph for the most part because that was the default back then for named towns

What about standing desk with a treadmill or a home gym? Do you have a yard you can walk in, natural trails within walking distance or is it literally impossible to walk outside your front door? Not trying to be snarky, I'm genuinely curious what the layout of your community is like.

That sucks. Do you have room for a treadmill? You can usually find them used pretty cheap and for just walking, almost any treadmill will do. At walking speeds, it's easy to read, listen to music, or watch a show/movie at the same time.

Ride a bicycle for 3x the distance in high gears.

I’m a very fast and experienced cyclist — and riding on 55mph roads is very, very uncomfortable.

There better be BIG shoulders or I'm not doing it. Too many great cyclists have lost their lives on the narrow shoulder of a highway.

> There are no side walks where I live. The roads have 55mph speed limits and are lined with drainage ditches

This doesn't sound very bike-able at all

Or get an ebike. Mod it so it can pace cars. Add even higher gears so you can exercise on it.

An ebike that goes 55mph is an electric motorcycle.

I was thinking more 50km/hr. That will pace cars on residential streets which can be enough to get around for many types of trips, still safe, and has a chance of flying under the radar of most authorities.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com