One thing that I have a lot of trouble with on my daily commute is not falling on my bottom and/or a gazillion other people. In the morning time, there's basically no way I will ever get a seat so I am always standing, squashed amongst many others. There are bars overhead that you can generally hold on to, but often-times you find yourself in such a cramped position as to not be able to hold onto any and instead you must rely on your own crafty balance. This wouldn't be too bad but I don't have crafty balance, and this is only worsened by the fact that I am wearing heels that minimize my floor contact.
You see hardened commuters who can just stand in the middle of the car and read a book and have no problems, while I am standing there holding onto an overhead pole flailing about like a jack in the box. The other day I think I might have pierced a guys foot with my shoe and from hearing the under the breath cursing, I don't think he was pleased.
I keep trying to find the best way to stand - facing the direction of travel, facing away from the direction of travel, facing perpendicular to the direction of travel, and nothing really works. Do you keep your knees locked? Slightly bent? I sometimes I think it helps to keep a slightly wider stance than normal, but this can be near impossible in the mornings. And I also try to have my toes pointed in different directions, but this can also be difficult without looking really silly. Basically to maintain any sense of cool while on the tube I need to either have a seat or be in a position where I can hold on firmly (aka, have basically my entire forearm wrapped around) one of the floor to ceiling poles. And then I have to be mentally prepared for starting and stopping and the occasional random lurch that comes with traveling on the District Line.
Are there any secrets to train standing that I just haven't discovered? Is there just a bit of a learning curve? Or is my balance just that bad? Most likely it is all of these things.
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5 comments:
Be careful when using a wide stance. It can get one in big trouble in the US.
The tube doesn't do for old frail people, does it?
Did you know that the force applied by a shoe heel is 100x-1000x more than that of the foot of an elephant? That poor man.
In these situations I try to stand facing 90deg to the direction of travel with one foot facing forward and one pointing to the side so they are 90deg to each other. I'm told that this is the best way to adapt to rapidly changing directional forces. However I would be lying if I said it didn't involve often having to grab out for something/someone to stop me from falling. But as my display on the stairs in the apple store yesterday showed, I'm apparently averse to keeping upright at the best of times.
i'm just glad that i'm tall so i don't get stuck near peoples armpits! - i think some people have never heard of anti perspirant!
I'm a fairly seasoned BART surfer, and am generally one of those people in the middle of the car reading a book and not holding on to anything. Here are my tips:
* Know the parts of the line where you do need to hold on. (For me, this is outside of West Oakland station where the train slows to switch tracks, as well as outside of MacArthur when it does the same thing. Otherwise, we're good, and if I really try, I can even surf these parts without too much stumbling.)
* Stand sideways, and brace yourself into the force of the train. I generally stand perpendicular to the way the train is moving with a slightly wider stance (think of a small plie) and then as the train accelerates, bend the forward knee and allow it to shift your weight for you as it stops accelerating. This is the same with deceleration... lean into it by leaning to the forward side, and then let the train shift your weight onto your other leg as it stops.
Stopping will look something like this:
leaning />....stopping <\ /\
Just be careful about putting too much weight on what is the left leg in this case. When you're leaning against the stopping of the train, it sort of holds you up, so the actual shifting of weight from leg to leg is more of a rocking motion.
* Holding onto something around your center of gravity is better. If you can find a place to hold on that's close to your waist, do that, but be sure you're letting the train move you a little. The biggest mistake people make is holding onto something and trying to stay really rigid. The train is still going to move, so you're better off grounding yourself to the floor and not the pole. If you rely too much on the pole, which is shaking, you'll be all over the place too.
This is always going to be a bit harder on a train that's completely packed. The key is to try to get as much space as you can by standing sideways. You might also try getting a pair of commuting shoes...cute little maryjane sneakers or something instead of your heels. If you are in heels, make sure that when you're leaning, you're just leaning on the ball of your foot.
This is way longer than I intended it to be, but hopefully it helps preserve some feet (as well as keeping your shoulders from getting wrenched.)
Good luck!
Gee, I was envious of those who take the train to work, but now it sounds complicated. Though, maybe better than flying down I5 and fighting for space against super tankers full of explosive gass with my Prius.
I want video of Chris at the Apple Store.
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