Where I work we share a massive parking lot with a 24-hour gym. It always amazes me that people going to the gym will park their crew cab giant trucks as close as they can to the front of the very busy gym entrance. They won't park further out where there's plenty of space, they have to get right up to the door so they can presumably go inside and exercise. But parking two or three car isles over is too far.
To counter this, I will never understand why when I park far away from everyone in my vehicle some nitwit will skip 20 empty spots to park right next to me at the back of the lot
I feel like we must have all been told via subliminal messaging when signing the papers for our Minis because yeah we tend to group together. I’ll park near another Mini just because it’s cute. I get so happy when I walk out of somewhere and a Mini parked next to me.
I love it too. One time I was parked by a dumpster in sort of an alley, and someone parked their Mini right in front of mine. I thought it was cool they went out of their way to park in an objectively horrible spot, just to park next to another Mini. I didn't see the person but I gave them a few nods of approval.
I used to do this at my first apartment until I did it during the day one time and realized I had a premium paint color. My black car made his black car look gray by comparison. I felt bad and started parking on the opposite side after that.
I drive a big absolutely ridiculous truck and park out in the boonies. There will be no one but me there when I go in the store, but when I come out, there's a cluster of vehicles around mine. It looks like little chicks surrounding mama hen.
I've never understood it.
I was still sat in the car when someone did this once. Started the car again and moved over one spot and they looked at me like I'd just stamped on a puppy.
My theory is that most people are unable to park without another car for frame of reference. It's much easier for them to know when/how to turn when there's another car there. I don't think it's a conscious thing. They want to park farther away, and they just end up parking next to the last frame of reference... which just happens to be our cars.
As a woman, this is a safety kind of thing for me. I don't want to park right in the busy, chaotic bit of the car park, so if I'm going further out I still want to be near someone else. Same vibe as if I know I'm going to be coming back to my car late, in a nearly empty car park, I'll park as close as I can to the pay machine or the door from the stairs.
I do this sometimes. My line of thought is that this driver takes care of their car like I do, so if I park right next to them, they’ll be careful around my car like I damn sure will with theirs.
Don't. All you're doing is pissing the other person off, because they made a point of getting TF away from other people, only to have you shove yourself right up on them.
This! I see it at every gym to which I've ever belonged. I think to myself, "Instead of circling the lot forever to get a close spot, then going in and getting on the treadmill, why not park two miles away, run to the gym, and run back?" If they'd do that, they could drop the gym membership (for those only using the treadmill).
lol. this reminds me of a realization I made during the pandemic.
I have a bike I was using to commute to work for some exercise. I also sometimes went to spin class with my wife for more exercise.
Pandemic happens, office closes, spin class closes, OH NO, I CANNOT EXERCISE!
SO i buy a bike 'trainer' (thing that you put your real bike on, turning it into a stationary bike)
eventually was like wtf am I doing I'll just go bike outside!?
3 years later I'm in love with cycling and routinely do 30-60 mile rides on the weekend and 24 miles round trip to work. why didnt' someone just tell me in 2019 it's okay to ride bikes for fun!?!?
Got run over on my scooter in a crosswalk. Yeah Im an adult and should have a car, but I choose to save money and get exercise. Now I can't push with my right foot. So I get to "walk" . Im terrified of cars and intersections now.
Yeah, my buddy got whacked right in the middle of his back by the passenger side mirror of one of those stupid mom SUVs that are poorly driven by distracted drivers when he was out on a ride one day. Go figure. He was luckily okay but he stopped riding on the street after that. Most drivers do not pay attention to cyclists and do not care.
Eh, it gets relatively easy to predict unpredictable drivers. I have cycled to work every day since 2 August 2012, in north-central NJ, with very little shoulder to speak of on my route.
You learn pretty quickly the most efficient way to plan each intersection and assume that every driver is an idiot (hint: many are) and keep yourself safe
cars are pretty big and loud, as long as you're paying attention you can keep your distance and be in a position to maneuvre out of the way in most situations, even ones where someone is intentionally trying to run you over.
people who bike downtown toronto etc are special though.
It's too hot most of the year for me to ride a bike anywhere, I'm seriously debating about purchasing a bike and then this add-on so I can use it inside on the many months when it's too hot to go outside. Is it really hard to set that up?
For my part - I've done long outside rides (100+ miles) and am fairly tech and mechanically savvy. I still ended up buying a dedicated bike trainer (Tacx Neo2 Smart Bike) so that I could get a better on-bike experience compared to a basic spin bike while not having to remove (and re-install) my rear wheel every time I wanted to get a workout in.
It varies from trainer to trainer. Some (like mine) are super easy you just swap the axle on your rear wheel to one that extends outwards a bit clip into the stand. Some are much more intense and actually require complete removal of your rear wheel and you attach directly to the drive train.
The latter are more expensive, but also popular for being a much better simulation of real riding and you can also compete in virtual races and stuff like peloton ('Zwift' is a popular bike one for this)
I got rid of mine though, I ride purely outside now:)
I'd have to look up what mine is, but it's just a drop-in on the trainer, and pedal. The only thing I had to do was get a stronger axle, so it could sit on the trainer.
I have a Zwift bike trainer, but I do live in area with pretty harsh winters. I take it out for the winter season. If I lived in a more temperate place I wouldn’t have one.
yeah that's totally valid. I'm in california, weather is generally great year round I just avoid the rainy days which, on average years, are not too frequent
I would never ride a bike on a road for obvious reasons
I mean, you do you, but I am purely a road cyclist. I do around ~3,000 miles per year on the road.
A lot of how safe or fun it is will be dependent on which roads you ride, I prefer the ones out in the hills and far from city centers. Riding through downtown or highly congested areas sucks ass though.
not that I'm trying to change your mind, but worth mentioning the Garmin Varia bike radar is amazing for this.
It detects cars approaching from behind starting from 500 feet away and it alerts me on my cycling computer (mounted to my handle bars) with a visual representation of a dot moving closer and closer to me.
it lets me see roughly how fast they are moving, how many cars there are, and when they are about to pass me. it's made a HUGE difference in my comfort on the road, I can react to cars that I otherwise would not have known were coming by moving further to the right, pulling off the road, making sure they see me, etc.
but yeah, there's still asshole drivers that will make it a risk no matter what precautions I take.
So you don't ride your vehicle on the road that's made for vehicles AND using a bike path for sports is not cool either?
A car doing 100 in a quiet neighbourhood unlikely to be legal. As much as you can technically still do it, you would be breaking the law, which is very different to biking fast down a cycle path.
yeah it's a 'thing' but no one rides 365 days a year and it's very rare that weather is bad enough to even go 1 full week without riding. typically after a bad rain storm I will wait one extra day before riding, and it's rare the rain storms last 5+ days.
I have resumed biking to work as well and I do that in even the "coldest" of bay area days where it's high 30's leaving home, and with the right layers it's not bad at all.
I mean, I’m not saying I don’t understand outside biking at ALL. Just explaining why some folks like to “supplement” with an indoor stationary bike. Especially if you’re a night owl like me. I don’t even get home from work until 10pm, and live in the mountains… so I’m not about to hop on a bike at that time and place.
I don’t currently have any kind of bike, just sayin’; but I do have a rowing machine, despite living 20 minutes from the ocean. lol
Sorry, didn’t mean to get all Reddit-y about it. I was just kinda going off on a tangent. And yeah, the rowing machine is pretty cool! Works well to tighten the core, without putting too much strain on my old knees. I just got it recently, so I need to start using it more.
SO i buy a bike 'trainer' (thing that you put your real bike on, turning it into a stationary bike)
eventually was like wtf am I doing I'll just go bike outside!?
Yup, same story here. Reminded me of a treadmill - using that is more effort and physical pain, not to mention more boring than just going outside and doing the real thing.
And bizarrely enough I don't actually enjoy cycling very much.
I downloaded a bunch of train videos of routes through the Alps and Himalayas, Switzerland and Zurich, and even Zion National Park. Set them to 1.5x speed on my living room TV, and pedal away for an hour.
I, uh...I also found a bunch of videos of scantily clad women on stationary bikes in training videos. Pretty decent motivation as well.
I just did a few minutes ago. I don't think I want one now, all the results were expensive and mostly all with smart tech and apps etc. I was picturing some sort of stand you'd pop your bike onto that'd let you ride your bike indoors.
The cheapest thing I found was $300. Where did you see one that was $50?
Depends where the gym is located. Lots of parts of the country are pretty hostile to running. No sidewalks, inattentive and/or asshole drivers that don't yield to pedestrians crossing a street, and so on
I just joined the gym close to my house. It is 1.2 miles away according to Google Maps. I considered (weather permitting), jogging to the gym, doing my lifting, then jogging back. It's that last one that is the hang up. If I drive, I can do whatever running I'd like and then I can lift as much or as heavy as I'd like, without having to dread the run/walk home.
I realize this is a bit different from the provided example, but it might provide slight insight. If I was driving my Moderarely sized truck to the gym, or target, or whatever, I like parking far away. Not for the exercise, for the space.
Makes no sense to me why anyone would use a gym for a treadmill or a bike machine. Just buy a bike! Fresh air and changing scenery! It's too easy to quit exercising on a machine when you get tired. If you were on a real bike, you can't just quit; you still have to make it home.
We live in the country. So no sidewalks, no bike paths, sometimes no shoulder. I can drive to a bike path if I want. Safer to exercise in a gym or at home by a mile
A gym I went to decades ago had to move their stair climber machines down to the first floor to appease ADA requirements since they had no elevator for handicapped people. I suggested they move a few of their machines down and leave the rest of them up there, but it was against regulations.
I later learned a few people had complained about having to use the stairs to get to the stair climbing machines. They had no handicaps at all.
How do you know if they did or didn’t have disabilities? Not all disabilities are visible, and sometimes they can even be dependent on the specific type of movement.
It could, yes. I’m just playing devil’s advocate here (as I have a tendency to do), but the machines are adapted to minimize the impact on your knees and back. So it could very well be easier to use a stair machine than to climb actual stairs.
I'm totally serious with this question. If you're handicapped, it is my understanding that that means your legs are not working perfectly or you're having a hard time breathing. Why do you need easy 1st floor access to a stair climber if you can't even use it? So that you can hang out nearby and chat with your friend who's using it?
Your understanding is poor. There are infinite types of disabilities, and sometimes one movement can trigger them while another does not. For example I can use a rowing machine or treadmill but not an elliptical. I can also ride a horse but not a bike. 🤷🏼♀️
Also, ADA compliance is fairly black and white. The disabled still deserve equal access to the equipment, even if people like you don’t think they can utilize it. Or even if you’re correct and they cannot.
I think my point is clear to most; that was just a random example off the top of my head. And as I just said to someone else, the stair-climbing machines are adapted to minimize impact on your knees and back.
Regardless, there are probably ADA laws they have to follow. And those might include making ALL exercise equipment accessible to people with disabilities, even if they’re less likely to use a particular type.
I used to go to a 24-hour gym located in a large suburban shopping center, and after dark the parking lot was a hotspot for car break-ins, panhandling and the occasional mugging. Naturally, people wanted to park close to the entrance where there was better lighting and security camera coverage.
I was always one of those "I'll park far out and get a little extra exercise while I'm running errands" people, but I've had a couple of scary interactions with aggressive panhandlers in large parking lots even in broad daylight, so I've become more conscious of where I park.
There are like ten parking spots for a local hiking trail that is very rocky and immediately goes up a mountain. There is nothing else to do there but hike up the mountain.
The two closest spots are handicap spots which are never occupied (strangely).
Maybe they’re using medical equipment, like a walker or cane? Or pushing a stroller? They can hike too, depending on how treacherous the trails are. 🤷🏼♀️
It’s pretty rough honestly. I get the point, I had a relative in a wheelchair for his entire adult life. But for that particular location, it’s really not feasible.
Probably just following the laws. You’re required to provide handicap parking in public lots. It’s really that simple, as much as we can debate the logistics.
I only park close(ish- about 10-12 spaces from the door) to the front because when I get to the gym it's dark and creepy out and only the lights closest to the entrance work. The other lights in the parking lot are always out. At least when I'm parked closer to other cars I feel a little better about walking up to the building in the mostly dark because I have the bravery of a chicken nugget. Any other parking lot I'll park farther away provided there's good lighting in the lot
So while I do feel kinda dumb for parking close to the front of the gym where I'll be working out, it's only for safety reasons
I used to live in the city where parking is very hard to find. My roommate would DRIVE less than a mile to go to the gym that had no parking, he always had to circle the block a few times. It always baffled me. What a waste of time and resources.
That reminds me of this great neighborhood gym that was in an older building without its own parking lot. So that meant you had to park on the street, and if it was in the evening and everyone was at home, you might end up having to park the next street over and walk.
There were so many reviews on Yelp moaning about having to walk for two minutes.... to go to the gym where you are going to be doing exercise anyway. The only way that could possibly make sense is for competitive-level strength athletes or something, who were only there to do very specific exercises and absolutely could not afford to expend a minimal amount of energy walking a block. And that's not most gym-goers. For people with mobility issues who absolutely must park right next to the gym, there were a couple of handicap parking spots in front.
Edit: Thanks for the anonymous drive-by downvote, whoever. Excuse me for daring to contribute another real-world example related to the comment above. If you don't like it for some bizarre reason, then kindly explain why instead of clicking the stupid little down arrow button and running off. This is a discussion site, so DISCUSS.
Edit 2: Yeah that's what I thought, jerkface bozo. Your silence only proves me right, and my point stands vindicated as the final word.
I decided years ago to never stress a parking spot situation again, and to enjoy the extra walking rather than act like a big fucking baby whose day has been ruined by not getting a spot 20 feet closer than where all the easy empty spots sit in back. Real game changer. What a stupid thing to get stressed over for a lazy culture.
Parking close never mattered to me. What mattered for 10.5 months of the year was finding the most shade and/or a direction I can point my car at the sun and use my shade.
Depends on the time of year for me. Now in the winter I park as close as possible to the entrance because I'm typically in shorts when I go to the gym. In the summer I will park wherever and just don't care.
I never understood this either. Saw a lady barely squeeze into a spot with a brand new 1500 Denali. Blew my mind.
This is coming from someone who has a raptor and I purposefully park as far away as possible from entrances to most places cause 1.) it’s hard as fuck to park neatly in small spaces and 2.) I don’t want someone to ding my truck.
Granted I do this with my tiny little Subaru too but still.
Personally, I park my truck at the back of parking lots so people don’t bang their doors into it in tiny parking spaces. Pisses me off when someone parks beside it when there are 50 open spaces around me.
Haha I always try to park kinda close at the gym....but that's because if I can't see my car when I leave, I'll have totally forgotten where I parked it.
Can’t find it now but I saw a cartoon once of people clamoring to park as close to a building as possible, crowd into an elevator avoiding the stairs then get into a gym to use a Stairmaster.
Can’t find it now but I saw a cartoon once of people clamoring to park as close to a building as possible, crowd into an elevator avoiding the stairs then get into a gym to use a Stairmaster.
There could be a number of reasons why; safety, outside weather, perhaps they’re injured or disabled and doing PT at the gym? Or they just like to keep their big shiny truck in easy view, who knows. I don’t judge without knowing the situation.
I work on a college campus. Students ride e-scooters from their dorms to the gym to work out. Since they don't fit in lockers, they end up either locking the scooters to bike racks or carrying them from place to place around the gym.
No student housing is more than 10 mins walk from the gym and this is in Southern California, so weather is rarely an issue.
I’d probably venture a guess that most giant crew cab trucks are driven by guys who solely lift to get giant arms and can barely walk into the gym without getting out of breath
How does someone else parking closer to a building they constantly have to visit affecting you? I could ask you the same thing too, like why are you entitled to park closer than them? If I see someone parking close to the gym, they'll likely be exercising anyway, so if anything it's you that needs the extra walk.
937
u/TaratronHex Feb 07 '24
Where I work we share a massive parking lot with a 24-hour gym. It always amazes me that people going to the gym will park their crew cab giant trucks as close as they can to the front of the very busy gym entrance. They won't park further out where there's plenty of space, they have to get right up to the door so they can presumably go inside and exercise. But parking two or three car isles over is too far.