Food & Fitness

New form of exercise: dodging cars!

If there’s one thing that’s essential to being healthy, it’s being alive.

This is something which Winnipeg drivers, if my recent experiences as a pedestrian are any indication of, have a conflicting interest with.

I happen to value my life. And I’m going to just make the wild assumption right now that if all of you are alive and reading this, you likely feel similarly and echo my sentiment! We all enjoy living, right? Right.

So I am sure that you’ll all join with me in a chorus of “CARS PLEASE SLOW DOWN WHEN I’M CROSSING THE STREET AND CLEARLY HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY”. Apparently those big flashy lights and large red signs at various intervals along the road aren’t quite self-explanatory enough. Same goes for the cameras openly marked at specific intersections.

That’s why I think that this idea is fantastic. But I would also like to point out that it is certainly not only young people who are speeding and acting reckless on the road- in fact, I’d go so far as to say that most of the idiots who veer straight towards me (10 points for hitting that girl on her way to school!) are middle-aged. Maybe a parental feature is needed in these cars, too?

Anyway, the good thing about drivers being irresponsible is that it gives me a nice brisk bit of exercise in the morning on my way to work or school. Especially during this rest-week between boot camp sessions. Between chin-up challenges and body-weight routines, I’ll be dodging traffic to keep my energy levels up and brain alert today! How will you be squeezing in your workout?

42 Comments

  1. jack

    I’ve cycled alot in both Canada and England and I have to say that England is terrible for cyclists. I’ve had afew near collisions with drivers over here which has forced me to stick to quieter roads rather than the quickest route. A good thing that makes me work more. 🙂

  2. Dr. J

    When living in France, I was waiting to cross a busy street with a friend. She said,”let’s go, they’ll stop.” I said,”I’ll put that on your tombstone!” We waited 🙂

    Glad you are OK!!

  3. WeightingGame

    it’s like a V-chip for the car!
    I worked out today already – I had to download something onto my computer, rendering the web unavailable, so rather than sit around for an hour and wait, I got 40 minutes on the Gauntlet in. Now I’m done, showered and good to go 🙂

  4. Sagan Morrow

    Jack- bike paths are so necessary. I wish that there were more of them around!

    James- Yes doctor:)

    Dr. J- Good thing you were there! The drivers in France seem to move at lightning speed.

    Mark- hopefully more car companies will incorporate similar gadgets!

    Leslie- sometimes it’s handy when computers don’t want to work… gets us moving!

    Danielle- aren’t they? 🙂

  5. tokaiangel

    I’ve got to say that the drivers are CRAZY on the continent. Whenever we crossed the road in Italy on a pedestrian crossing we had to make eye contact with the drivers and psyche them out. We were literally playing chicken with the traffic. Scary!

    Take care out there Sagan!

    TA x

  6. loveofoats

    as a cyclist, i completely agree with this post!!!!!!! during our long distance bike races FOR CHARITY, the drivers are so rude, it is unbelievable… i make every effort to be respectful and share the road when i am driving because i know how it feels to be on the other side!

  7. Cammy

    Yikes! Be careful!

    I don’t worry so much with walking here, but on my bicycle? Danger at every turn. I think drivers are offended that I’m burning calories instead of gasoline. 🙂

  8. Sagan Morrow

    Charlotte- yes, except that could escalate into quite the argument!

    Scrumpy’s Baker- sure does:)

    Loveofoats- that’s ridiculous! You’d think people would at least have respect for a charity event…

    Missicat- hehe oh yes.

    Cammy- heh maybe so:)

  9. Dee

    There’s the Malaysian thing where drivers actually speed up when they see you coming. It’s funny reading some of the comments, because when I went to study in the UK I was struck by how courteous drivers there were. Of course, this was more than a decade ago.

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