An Elephant Moved In

"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck) 10/17/2018 at 09:07 • Filed to: None

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An elephant moved into my hotel. I can hear him (her?) clomping around. It’s so loud that it carries throughout the top floor, the floor I’m housed on this week. I feel sorry for the people below us.

Seriously, people. If you can’t walk softly, keep your sneakers on. If you can’t figure out how to walk softly, watch this:

Like a NINJA! Who DOESN’T want to walk like a NINJA?!? Think about how much fun you’ll have sneaking up on your friends! Ninja not your thing? OK. How about walking like a fox?

See? You CAN learn to walk softly. Please, for the sake of the people around you, learn how!

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > TheRealBicycleBuck 10/17/2018 at 09:20

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By the looks of most businesses people walking softly is not something they know how to do.

Ash78, voting early and often > TheRealBicycleBuck 10/17/2018 at 09:23

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About the same time I switched up my running technique to midfoot striking years ago, I also adjusted my walking style — especially on stairs. I find it painful (for me, or for listening to others) to hear someone clomping along on their heels. You shouldn’t hear walking footsteps on most floors unless people are slamming down on their heels . My friend who is a physical therapist says he can tell 80% of what he needs to know about joint pain by watching people’s walking & running gait.

I like the NB Minimus in the Fox walking video, I’ve had a couple pair. Now I mostly hike in the Merrell Vapor Glove, which is just like a big lace-up sock.

smobgirl > Ash78, voting early and often 10/17/2018 at 09:31

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Everything you just said!!!

I was a marathon “coach” (motivator) for a few years and I was discouraged from saying anything about form since I don’t have any sort of medical training. But the thing is, if your feet are making that much noise you’re dissipating energy the wrong way. Clomping, scuffing, slapping, anything I can hear from your feet means you’re more likely to get hurt.

(I wear the Minimus too, heels are too narrow for Merrells).

OPPOsaurus WRX > TheRealBicycleBuck 10/17/2018 at 09:35

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how to lear n to walk silently: have a 2 y/o that wakes up to the slightest noise. I have turned into a fucking level 100 ni nja.

I had been running at night for a while. Its so nice and quite I got good at running quietly too. It helps with the sound to have good running form too. When it comes to biking there is so hiding the sound,  but thats probably a good thing as all the slow people need to git out the way

TheRealBicycleBuck > smobgirl 10/17/2018 at 09:38

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I’m stuck in dress shoes for work but I kick them off as soon as  I get back home or to the hotel. I wear Five Fingers when I can, but sneakers for working around the house.

TheRealBicycleBuck > OPPOsaurus WRX 10/17/2018 at 09:39

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Cycling makes very little noise on the road, but can sound like a rolling train wreck on the trail.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 10/17/2018 at 09:41

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As a fairly large guy, I defy your expectations. I learned by living in a mobile home as a kid. I’d walk to the living room and my mom would yell at me for “stomping through the house.” It didn’t take long to figure out how to walk silently.

Ash78, voting early and often > TheRealBicycleBuck 10/17/2018 at 09:51

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A company called Vivo Barefoot makes all kinds, including office dress shoes. A little rich for my blood ($150-$300) but not far out of line with what people pay for regular dress shoes. My attorney friend swears by them.

https://www.vivobarefoot.com/us/mens

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > TheRealBicycleBuck 10/17/2018 at 09:52

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Ash78, voting early and often > smobgirl 10/17/2018 at 09:55

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I was a hardcore FiveFingers runner for years, but got tired of not being able to wear them anywhere else without looking like a weirdo :D

But I also came to find out that there’s a happy medium of SOME cushioning and minimal drop that is the best of both worlds. I generally look for anything with a pretty hard/flat sole and a drop of 4mm or less and I’m happy. But I try to never run in the same shoes twice in a row. For lifting or short-distance running, I definitely want a hard sole.

For rocky trail running, I gave up on minimalism a while back after stepping on too many sharp rocks. A little cushioning and a proper sole can go a long way towards dissipating a shock, as well as giving you better traction with larger lugs on the sole.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Ash78, voting early and often 10/17/2018 at 09:56

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Not bad, but they don’t sell  wide. My feet are extra, extra wide. Shaped like a duck’s without the webbing. I have a hell of a time finding shoes that fit.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > TheRealBicycleBuck 10/17/2018 at 09:58

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Kung fu panda!

Svend > TheRealBicycleBuck 10/17/2018 at 09:59

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I lived with a young lass, she was quite petite, about 5'2" and quite slim figured, so she had no weight and no size. But I took to calling her Nelly as she stomped around like a baby elephant. I’m positive she did it deliberately to make everyone know she was there. 

TheRealBicycleBuck > Svend 10/17/2018 at 10:08

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I was a resident advisor in a dorm for several years. I could always hear the heavy-footed people coming down the hall. If it was late at night, I’d step out of my room and tell them to walk softly or put on some shoes. I never knew who it would be, but I was never surprised when it was a petite woman.

nermal > TheRealBicycleBuck 10/17/2018 at 10:11

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Have you tried angrily whacking the ceiling with a broomstick?

TheRealBicycleBuck > nermal 10/17/2018 at 10:18

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I’m on the top floor. The elephant is so loud, his (her?) footsteps resonate throughout the upstairs rooms. I can’t hear the equipment in the mechanical room three doors down, but I can hear the elephant stomping around.

OPPOsaurus WRX > TheRealBicycleBuck 10/17/2018 at 10:23

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yea, i’m out on the trails for 95% of my ride. There are now 3 trees laying across the trails (maybe 10" tall) and jumping them makes a lot of noise.

facw > TheRealBicycleBuck 10/17/2018 at 10:35

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I don’t know, sounds like shitty construction at your hotel. Who could have imagined that hotel guests would like not to hear each other. 

TheRealBicycleBuck > facw 10/17/2018 at 10:39

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While you can mitigate for some sound, the low-frequencies caused by someone stomping around is almost impossible to eliminate. The solution is simple - walk softly or put some shoes on! Shoes have the cushion to absorb most of the impact which causes the noise in the first place.

Svend > TheRealBicycleBuck 10/17/2018 at 11:03

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We had some shoe dragger students in the store one particular night. I was working in the aisle and could hear for several minutes some students laughing and joking but it was the dragging of their feet that got to me.

After several minutes I left my chilled a isle and went next door to the p roduce aisle and shouted, ‘pick up your fucking feet!’.

I felt much better but a while later realised it probably wasn’t the best thing to do. 

TheRealBicycleBuck > Svend 10/17/2018 at 11:13

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Were they wearing flip-flops or maybe sandals? The shhhhhh-smack sound those make drives me nuts too.

Svend > TheRealBicycleBuck 10/17/2018 at 11:38

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No, they were wear ing regular footwear, which is the bit that winds me up. Nobody seems to know how to walk or dress themselves, dragging feet across the floor, trousers a good few inches away from their belt line literally hanging off their arse, etc... 

I hate the sound of flip-flops too. Grrr. 

ttyymmnn > TheRealBicycleBuck 10/17/2018 at 11:49

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I have started taking foam earplugs with me when I travel. It’s the only way I can get to sleep. When my family is in a hotel, I am constantly on my boys about being quiet. It’s unfortunate that most people just don’t give a shit about anybody else.

ttyymmnn > TheRealBicycleBuck 10/17/2018 at 11:51

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I have a neighbor with a recording studio in his house. Sometimes, when he is mixing at four fucking thirty in the morning, the bass comes through his house, across the yard, through my house, and into my bedroom. It used to be so bad that I was constantly calling the cops. He has settled down a lot since then. 

TheRealBicycleBuck > Svend 10/17/2018 at 11:58

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Join me...

TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn 10/17/2018 at 12:02

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I don’t think it’s a conscious thing. I think they were never taught any better and don’t even realize what they are doing is annoying. That was the response I got when dealing with all the college kids stomping their way down the residence hall hall.

It’s nice to know that some people are trying to do better. As for that, MOST people are pretty quiet in the hotels. The stompers are a rare breed.

TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn 10/17/2018 at 12:16

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I’ve had to deal with a neighbor like that. He didn’t have a recording studio, he was just obstinate . His house was across the street and two doors down and it was still loud enough to rattle my windows. Most of the other neighbors were too timid to talk to the guy or call the cops . We went at it a few times in the street when I asked him to turn it down. The last incident involved the cops. I called them when I couldn’t get him to answer the door. The cops took to beating on the door with a flashlight until he answered. He had gotten high, cranked up the stereo, then passed out. They came real close to loading him up and taking him to jail. I never heard his stereo again.

Svend > TheRealBicycleBuck 10/17/2018 at 12:23

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I’m British so it’s more a, ‘GET ORF MA LAAND!’

Nice video professionally done. 

ttyymmnn > TheRealBicycleBuck 10/17/2018 at 13:51

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I don’t think it’s a conscious thing.

Exactly. I’m trying to teach my kids to be consciously quiet.

ttyymmnn > TheRealBicycleBuck 10/17/2018 at 13:53

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Your tax dollars at work. The problem with my guy was that the studio is the back of the house, and it was intermittent and repetitive, not like blasting a song. When the cops drove by the front of the house, they couldn’t hear anything. I finally had them respond to my house and come inside so they could hear what I was hearing. 

TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn 10/17/2018 at 13:58

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I’ve had to do that too. The resonance frequencies happen to match and rattle everything in one room.

Roundbadge > TheRealBicycleBuck 10/17/2018 at 14:06

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Earlier this year, I lived out of a hotel for two weeks for work. One of those evenings, I was awakened by what sounded and felt like people having sex in my room. It was actually next door...but I felt every movement of the bed, heard every word spoken between the two. I knew exactly what was happening, what they each wanted next, and how it felt.

For an hour and fifteen minutes.

The stamina was impressive, actually. Moments after the symphony died down, I heard the shower running, and maybe 5 minutes after that I heard the door open and close as one of the parties left.

A few weeks ago I was back in the same town for work again. One of the people at the location mentioned the fact that no one from that town was allowed to get a room in one of that town’s hotels. Apparently it’s due to rampant prostitution in the area. I guess that figures...

Duck Duck Grey Duck FTMFW! > TheRealBicycleBuck 10/17/2018 at 16:15

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I was visiting a friend once at her dorm and was bouncing a regular sized bouncy ball. People came up from 2 floors down to tell me to stop. I was shocked.

Also this,

smobgirl > Ash78, voting early and often 10/17/2018 at 18:30

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I did the Pikes Peak Ascent begins a girl who was running totally barefoot. Besides everything you’re stepping on, I stubbed one toe  about a thousand times because I don’t pick my feet up enough when I’m tired. I can’t even imagine.

Ash78, voting early and often > smobgirl 10/17/2018 at 18:41

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Nice! I live at 1,000’...I can’t even imagine running at 10,000’+.

But I would definitely love the dry air over the Gulf moisture!

TheRealBicycleBuck > Duck Duck Grey Duck FTMFW! 10/17/2018 at 18:43

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Dorms really are the worst. Most of the ones I’ve lived in were made of concrete which is an excellent carrier of sound. The first dorm I lived in was built this way. Two floors up, they had a pool table in the lounge. Those bastards couldn’t keep the balls on the table and we heard every bounce. Despite repeated complaints, they kept knocking the balls off the table. We had to steal their balls at least three times before they got the message.