in praise of walking

[snugglekitty]

It's about a year and a half now that I have been making a serious habit of walking in Boston.

First, let me say that I love the bike path. When I say "the bike path," I am talking about the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway, which currently goes from a bit up Highland Ave past Davis Square to Bedford. Oh how I love it. Also, federal dollars were approved this summer to extend the bikepath from Davis Square to Lechmere, which I am looking forward to immensely. (Huzzah!)



For a while now, I've been wanting to walk as far as I can on the bike path.
I very often walk as far as Spy Pond, and then walk back. When I started walking regularly, it took me about two hours. Now it takes me about an hour and a half. I also now have a bus pass. So I'm interested in walking as far as I can and then taking the bus - I should be able to go more than twice as far as Spy Pond, since I walk to and from it all the time, and then take the 77, or the 62 if I really kick butt and walk past Arlington Heights. (That may take more training, though.) Since the weather this week is so GORGEOUS, I may do that today.

Other favorite walks of mine -
- From Central Square to Davis, using Mass Ave only to cross (I walk all the way along Green Street and then to Oxford)
- Around Fresh Pond
- To and from Medford
- To or from Winter Hill

Also, last night 7j and I took a lovely walk, from Harvard Square to the Charles, up the Charles to Central Square, into Central, and up Green Street to Harvard again - a very satisfying loop.



What are your favorite walks or bike rides in the Boston area?

Also, despite hating the way they look, I'm starting to think I need to buy some sneakers. My Danskos and Grinders are super, but not really made for walking. Any recommendations? The APMA has a big list of sneakers but personal comments would be great. I want them to be a solid color and would love to pay less than $100, if such a thing is possible.

For serious walkers - how do y'all carry your water bottles? (If the MCB had more than one water fountain, it wouldn't be such an issue.) I don't like to take a big bag with me. Should I suck it up and get a camel pack?

Finally, is there enough interest in this topic for me to post about it more often? I walk all the time and enjoy talking about it. I can start a filter, if desired. I could also take pictures of my walks.

Comments

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

imho (as an occasional runner and fairly extensive walker) the best way to get good shoes is to go over to "marathon sports" on mass ave near porter sq. they will watch you walk (or run) and say things like "no, you're pronating too much" and get you a better pair until you settle on the one that's best for your legs and feet. i think i've usually ended up paying about $80. the ones i get aren't a solid color, but you could restrict your choices to those that came that way, or fix them with a magic marker :)

for pleasure walking i love campuses. the tufts campus is great for walks as it has a lot of steep bits with winding stairs and interesting views.

i don't generally carry a water bottle (on campuses you can often sneak in and use the water fountains) but i have liked a borrowed camelbak-type in times of great need.

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the suggestion of Marathon Sports. It seems like that's really the place to go!

[roozle.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with lyonesse on this one, and I would also add, I'm wearing a pair of black leather walking shoes that came from there. If they are the right shoes for your feet, they might be what you're looking for.

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

Actually, now that I've thought about it a little more - it's not that they have to be monochromatic. It's more that I think most sneakers look silly. But, maybe if they feel good enough, I won't care about that. And maybe it's okay to have one pair of shoes that feel good but don't look good, especially if I don't wear them when I go out socially...

I'm too vain. :)

Anyway, I'm going to go there later today, I think, and see what emerges.

[opn.livejournal.com]

I envy you your walks! I used to enjoy walking along the beach in Connecticut, especially at night.

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

Yes. I would love to live somewhere where I could walk on the beach every day.

[ceelove.livejournal.com]

I would go to Marathon Sports (Mass Ave between Porter & Harvard) for shoes. You tell them what you want, what you'll be using the shoes for, and they fit you appropriately.

I do like my camelbak, but I generally use that for bigger hiking trips. For walking, I got a shoulder strap that my waterbottle fits into - it lets me keep my hands free. It's not generic, though, it's specific to the bottle. If you're looking to save money, though, I'm sure you could design & sew/knit/tie/tape together a bottle holster.

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

Good point. I'll see if I can find a Nalgene holster.

[fraterrisus]

do you have a source for the funds allocation for the lechmere extension? (not that i'm trying to be challenging and obnoxious, i just want to read more and Google-Fu is failing me :)

yup, it's a hard one to Google...

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

Sure do. Here you go:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/08/05/pedal_power_bike_paths_all_the_rage_with_lawmakers/

For an overview, and

http://www.house.gov/capuano/news/2005/pr072905.shtml

for some of the nitty gritty.

Here's the actual bill as it was passed:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c109:7:./temp/~c109Sh6wAw::

I couldn't find the original link explaining that the Somerville extension would go to Lechmere. But I did also find out that there is a Somerville Bicycle Committee. How cool is that?

[dalbino83.livejournal.com]

I'd love being on a walking filter.

[dilletante.livejournal.com]

i use the running shoes i got at marathon sports for long walks now-- m and i both brought our running shoes to japan for hiking days-- and they're very cushy. but also, pricey. ray jardine, the "ultra-lightweight backpacking" guru, was a big fan of keds; the only problem with such cheap running shoes, he said, was that the cardboard lasts tend to wear out relatively quickly and after that the shoes can start to hurt your feet, so you just have to pay attention to that and know when to throw them out and get new ones. (but he still felt they lasted long enough to compete reasonably with $200 hiking boots that last a year of hard hiking).

i favor plastic soda bottles for liquid as they're cheap to replace and weigh nothing-- and also i'm happy drinking soda. i'll often just carry one in my hand; sometimes i stuff a 20 oz bottle into a cheap fanny pack (not the kind with bottle holders, the kind with just one big pocket, which the soda bottle almost entirely fills). when i was hiking i had a sort of fabric bottle holster that hung off a belt-- a very simple thing that would be easy to make-- but the fanny pack works fine. i've seen fanny packs with bottle holders, but never quite felt it was worth getting; though if i do more jogging or skating i might.

i'm a big fan of walking; rather more so than moominmolly, so generally we skate or bike together instead. i find those things also give me the feeling of knowing where i am and being connected to home and the joy of getting stronger at moving over time, as you say about walking; and i like them a lot for that reason. also they allow going further, which can be nice. :) but when i was last recovering from a hospital stay i did a lot of walking to build up strength, and i quite enjoyed that-- walking from our place to davis, say. a thing that we both like for going by foot is going to somewhere where we can rest for a while and then come home the same way-- so walking to davis to drink some coffee and play a few games of pool and then walk home.

i'd love to read about your walks.

[arachne8x.livejournal.com]

Put me on please.

walk pictures!

[cyclothemia.livejournal.com]

i'd love to see more pictures. :)
instead of a camel pack, you could get this thing called a platypus. it's the water bottle only, and then you can put it into a messenger bag, purse, or backpack. it's more practical to me, since the camelpacks were too small to carry anything really except the water, and it was cheaper (and just as effective) to get the platypus.
and i really reccomend them, because you drink a lot more water when you're just biting on a mouthpiece. i was going through 3 + liters a day.

[cutieperson]

pictures!