Losing my ice legs?

[shootingstar]

:( Well, I thought I would never do this but I bought a pair of YakTrax, wire ice grips to strap onto the undersole of my boots. They are in serious demand in Vancouver. Managed to snatch a pair after phoning 4 different places.

To deal with icy, unshovelled parts of our city when I walk. It will be a problem where I have to walk to work out in the 'burbs where definitely there is less snow shovelling.

Thought I would never do this since I was born and lived through snow in Ontario for lst 43 years of life! But being a balmier climate like Vancouver where we get less snow plus no city bylaw to force people in single family dwellings to shovel snow, I seem to be losing a bit of my ice legs.

I used to take pride, stomping confidently for many winters across rocky ice snow patches!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

We wear YakTrax and Get-a-Grip ice crampons all the time when it's slippery and icey out and we are walking....it just makes sense. Walking on icy/slushy asphalt roads and cement sidewalks seems to be more slippery than walking on the same ice and slush over rough natural surfaces like grass or trails.

My husband was very resistant about putting them on, but last month a friend of ours slipped on the icy sidewalk in town and broke both his hip and his wrist. He's been in the hospital and in rehab now for weeks.
After that my husband has been very good about putting on the trax or grip-pin thingys. Why not be safer?

[shootingstar]

Guess it's my pride/awareness that I might not be as "tough"..at my age.

Thinking back, I realized that even living in Toronto, during the last 5 years there, I lived across from a subway station. Not much of a walk, only a 3 min. walk before I got into subway station. And upon reaching the downtown area by subway in winter, where I worked, after getting off subway I used the underground network of interconnected malls, and office highrises to get to my workplace. So very gradually without realizing, I was losing my ice legs already.

Once I walking out of my home there, I slipped on sheer ice and fell on a gradual driveway slope and slid right out into the road.

By the way, I was never much of an ice skater as a child.

[badger]

where did you get them? I never knew those things existed until I visited my parents last week and I shoveled their driveway. My dad lent me his that he got on the Shopping Channel. He said Zellers sold them, too, but I doubt they still have them.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I actually like these even better than the YakTrax. Plus they are cheaper and last longer. They work better on ice than YT. I use both though, they are both good products.
http://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Snow-Ice-Grip-XL/dp/B000Y00D0S/ref=pd_sim_sg_2

[mudmucker]

I have a pair of these (http://cozywinters.com/shop/dg-go.html).
I actually bought and use these for running when there is ice on the roads and I just have to get out and move. These work just fine for me. I don't run at a full tilt but go slower when there's the ice. When I looked for the link for these I saw that there are a whole bunch of other choices with more drastic cleating. Mine are pretty minimal so if I can run in these and feel pretty safe, then any of the others should be even better.

[shootingstar]

Badger I got my pair at 3 Vets on Yukon. It's an outdoor equipment store at lower prices. However they were flying off the shelf when I was there. Store has been doing repeat orders with their distributors within the last 48 hrs.

It's pretty shocking how greedy the retailers can be for pricing an item that is momentarily hotcake. 3Vets has abit lower prices.

I figure, I can't go wrong...if still living in Canada for probably rest of my life. :D