Thursday, April 24, 2008

An Overlooked Peril of Moto-Commuting

Great big stompy boots are one of the benefits we motorcyclists enjoy. A good pair of boots not only protects the rider in the case of an unplanned vehicular exit, but also increases the riders comfort while riding. If you don't believe me, try wearing a pair of Converse All-Stars instead of your usual stompy boots on your next ride (don't crash though. All-Stars provide minimal protection.).

Of course, we wear our boots when we ride to work. Leaving a pair of sensible shoes in the office is a reasonable plan, although to be honest, most of the time I would just wear my boots all day.

Since I've stopped commuting by motorcycle, except for extremely rare occasions, I brought my work shoes home since I can just wear them all day.

A few days ago, however, I got to ride to work. Naturally, I wore my Big, Stompy Boots. Little did I know forces were conspiring to make me walk about two miles during the work day. As a web developer, it's pretty rare for me to even get out of my chair, much less hike around the city.

So, on this particular day, I wound up stomping around the downtown Phoenix area in boots that were not made for walking. I swear my boots weigh three pounds each. By the time I finally got back to my desk, I was tired enough to almost fall asleep.

There are two morals to this story. The first is: I need to get out hiking more often. The other is: having a backup pair of lightweight shoes is always a good plan.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have decided I'm going to buy a low boot style cross trainer like the thorogood ultimate cross trainer. Ought to be agood compromise

Becky said...

I finally bought a pair of short Harley boots, with zippers up both sides. I love them, and can wear them all day at work(I walk alot) and still be comfortable. Before that I had to take that extra pair of sensible shoes to work, and remember to bring them home if I wanted to walk on the weekends. You never know when you might need to walk if you ride.

Bikerchickz

Mr. Motorcycle said...

I rarely ride to work due to the nature of my job requires hauling lots of stuff around in a cage. But on rare ocasions I do get to ride a motorcycle to work. I too have a pair of work shoes at the office. I get to use them once in a while. I'm glad I have them their, because I don't like wearing clompy Harley boots with dockers at the office, and I don't like wearing anything but big clompy Harley boots while riding.

Anonymous said...

I feel your pain. This is why I am experimenting with Doc Martens right now. I figure they are good for streets, riding and hiking. So far so good.

Anonymous said...

Rocky Tacticles in all leather. They are comfortable for all day wear, look decent when your wearing slacks, and survived a get off at 80mph...available at any EMT/LEO/FD supply house. Well worth the money.