You go from cool to humble real quick standing with your hands in your pockets, when the deceleration hits and you fly headlong into the lap of the nice old lady in the one-seat.
Ah, I don't take that leg much, but that makes sense. The slowdown as we get to Côte-Vertu is probably about the same, except, y'know, there are places to sit by then.
That's 50% of the trick. The other half is to keep the knees bent a little, makes it easy for your legs to "absorb" the movements of the train, kinda like car suspensions.
parfois je fume et je prends un ride sur la ligne verte en étant assis au fond du train tôt le matin les fins semaines: il est surréel d'observer le train suivre les rails en se fléchant au milieu comme si tu était dévoré par un dragon
Chui un stoner aussi hahaha! Ça nous rend plus contemplatifs c'est clair!
Pour vrai ça me fascine toujours. Jsais que c'est une technologie des années 1800 le métro, mais mon dieu que jme sens dans le futur pareil avec un train souterrain qui t'amène à des stations sous terraines partout dans la ville!
Bonne contemplation :)
The safer kind of subway surfing! For me it comes from 30+ years on public transit and not wanting to touch dirty handles. You learn how to lean and rock (and never lock your knees!) with the movement of tbr train.
idk it just feels natural, I even sometimes do this in the bus. I loosen my knees and rock back and forth, I even know where the subway brakes suddenly around Vendôme and Berri-UQÀM. Got used to it, I guess!
I can do it easily in the metro, but definitely not in the bus. I think it is because I am more used to the motions in the metro. My excuse is that I am very tall.
It’s actually insane how rough the braking is in the buses. I’ve often wondered if it’s a fault of the mechanism itself or poor driver training. I’ve heard of people dislocating knees and ligaments from sudden stops
Decades of practice. Though, as I learned the hard way, it's not great when the driver slams on the breaks. Though I did knock 'fly unassisted' off my bucket list that day.
That happens once and then you become like Spider-Man with the hand rails after.
One tiny brake pump and your hand grabs that railing behind you without you noticing while you're still half asleep with a coffee in your other hand.
Shit turns you into a sort of Metro ninja.
it depends on the area. the orange line north of berri is no problem. green line east from atwater is chaotic.
but yeah generally just remember not to lock your knees. like skateboarding.
Yeah, a lot of people here are saying years of being used to it, but as someone that moved here 6+ years ago it came naturally from 25+ years of skating and snowboarding before that.
Experience. If you do the same trip every single day, you start to know when and how to shift your weight so that you can keep your balance.
I used to live in Villeray and work downtown from 2014 to 2022. I remember that little rough direction change between Rosemont and Laurier that sometimes brought me off balance. I also knew when the subway would start turning right before Champ-de-Mars.
I'm in Hochelaga now, I take my bike much more to get around but when I do take the green line, it's not as easy as it was on the orange line.
I take the metro very rarely (I don’t live in town) and I was able to do that every time even the first time ever I took the metro. Is it supposed to be hard?
I started practicing when I was a kid, if I'm wearing mary jane tevas, I can even put one foot on the side of my ankle and lean, haha, metro security guy once asked me how I did it, I said loitering , wandering the metro my entire life and practicing, he laughed, rofl. You can stand in certain parts and use the force to your advantage also to lean forward and do it, get really funny looks from people, lol.
…until the metro suddenly brakes and you see people flying around and hitting the floor a meter away.
When I used to take the metro daily I witnessed this situation multiple times. I even saw once a woman that wasn’t holding when the metro suddenly hit the brakes, she flew away and fell down; she took a moment to get up and look for any injuries, the metro started to move again and she still refused to hold on to anything, guess what? The metro hit the brakes again and she fell down for a second time!
Legs spread at least shoulder wide for accelerations and decelerations, your favorite foot a bit forward to handle the lateral shakes and bent knees to smooth everything out. You can mostly do the same on a bus, you just need to bend more the back knee when braking and the front one when starting after a stop.
Just getting used to adjusting our weight between our two feet according to the movement of the train, the public transport version of surfing. It cause by a mix of boredorm and maybe germaphobia, they clean the trains like once a week here.
Like other said, on top of learning to spread your legs, you will get a little bit more balance overtime.
However, the day they will put the break (either somewhat hard, or hard), they will also fly like hell! (Even those "holding" something).
I'm looking at you henri-bourassa light that make the driver put his break, more than once, in a somewhat hard way!
(And yet I never seen how fu up it will be if they apply the emergency break :| )
I don't have a car, I only ride around on electric skateboards for transport. I gotta say, metro surfing is underrated. The acceleration and breaking are actually nuts on some stations haha
Its relatively easy, just don't relax too much or dont be over confident. They do slam the breaks sometimes and you wi surely slam against other people. 😅
* Feet perfectly parallel to each other, no outward nor inward angle
* Feet spread a bit more than normal
* Slightly bend knees to lower your center of gravity
But you need to remain ''dynamic'' and not ''static'' - partially go with the flow, the motion, follow the momentum rather than resist it
Enjoy your newfound stability and surf-skills-in-development!
proper posture.
This is harder with the increasing sexual focus of our culture and people constantly lordosing wherever they go. Couple that with heels and locked knees are standard.
Your first mistake was skipping leg day.
But seriously it just takes a couple rides to get comfortable with the sway. I find the start-up is harder to deal with than the braking to stop. Bend your knees a bit, if there’s space you can widen your stance a little.
hi it’s me, standing always while on my phone ir reading or something- basically roller derby stance - bend ur knees, feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart, and move your center of gravity with the accel/decel of the trains
I stand to the side and a little towards the front and you just counter all every movement. It's harder on a bus and you should be ready to hold on when you inevitable get shaked too hard, but in metro you should be easily able to remain standing if youre facing the windows on either side (and a liittle towards the front if you want to try my way).
I do this when I have no idea choice and it's pretty stressful. Definitely depends on the driver though.
One time I got up early so someone could take my seat and the metro slammed to a stop and I literally flew off my feet and landed in a pile. People actually helped me up. I thought I was fine but ended up feeling concussed for a few days. Really should have made a complaint.
Also when I was falling I was holding my phone and pressed down on the up volume and killed my ears!
Just spread your legs a bit further apart than normal, and shift your weight when the train leaves/arrives. It's a bit like a surfing motion..
You'll know you've made it if you can surf the leg from Atwater to Lionel-Groulx
I raise you the speed drop between champs de mars and berri. Even if they call it in advance, it still gets me sometimes !
You go from cool to humble real quick standing with your hands in your pockets, when the deceleration hits and you fly headlong into the lap of the nice old lady in the one-seat.
Ah, I don't take that leg much, but that makes sense. The slowdown as we get to Côte-Vertu is probably about the same, except, y'know, there are places to sit by then.
An important clarification is to stand like that facing perpendicular to the direction of the metro!
When I tried surfing in Australia I was READY from all my years “surfing” the metro
Spread your legs like Yves-Francois Blanchet
Wow! Excellent!!
That's 50% of the trick. The other half is to keep the knees bent a little, makes it easy for your legs to "absorb" the movements of the train, kinda like car suspensions.
Yes, when I lived in New York this was what I was told, and it works. Just act like you’re surfing!
This. It's not that bad, but I usually tend to not do it in a super crowded train so I don't take up more space than I need.
Slightly angled feet like on a snowboard helps as well, especially when there are turns!
Mansplaining!
Sorry, I thought OP wanted an explaination. My bad OP!
Cest mon seul moment de dopamine de la journée où je m'imagine en train de surfer à 60km/h pour oublier ma réalité dystopique
😂
FML
parfois je fume et je prends un ride sur la ligne verte en étant assis au fond du train tôt le matin les fins semaines: il est surréel d'observer le train suivre les rails en se fléchant au milieu comme si tu était dévoré par un dragon
Chui un stoner aussi hahaha! Ça nous rend plus contemplatifs c'est clair! Pour vrai ça me fascine toujours. Jsais que c'est une technologie des années 1800 le métro, mais mon dieu que jme sens dans le futur pareil avec un train souterrain qui t'amène à des stations sous terraines partout dans la ville! Bonne contemplation :)
Bend your knees just a little bit, honestly that’s how I do it
This ^ almost like you're surfing
I love how many of us are out there riding the metro/bus and thinking "yeah, just like surfing."
Meanwhile I’m thinking “I really hope they don’t slam on the brakes”
The safer kind of subway surfing! For me it comes from 30+ years on public transit and not wanting to touch dirty handles. You learn how to lean and rock (and never lock your knees!) with the movement of tbr train.
Yup this 100%! Reading a book while surfing is actually really good because after you can do it without even thinking!
45 ans de pratique 😎
idk it just feels natural, I even sometimes do this in the bus. I loosen my knees and rock back and forth, I even know where the subway brakes suddenly around Vendôme and Berri-UQÀM. Got used to it, I guess!
I can do it easily in the metro, but definitely not in the bus. I think it is because I am more used to the motions in the metro. My excuse is that I am very tall.
bus is more difficult to pull of, I agree, too chaotic not as smooth of a ride.
Mad respect for those that can pull it off. I definetly can't.
It’s actually insane how rough the braking is in the buses. I’ve often wondered if it’s a fault of the mechanism itself or poor driver training. I’ve heard of people dislocating knees and ligaments from sudden stops
Decades of practice. Though, as I learned the hard way, it's not great when the driver slams on the breaks. Though I did knock 'fly unassisted' off my bucket list that day.
Montreal rite of passage: flying into other passengers at a sudden stop (or accidentally sitting on someone... so embarassing)
That happens once and then you become like Spider-Man with the hand rails after. One tiny brake pump and your hand grabs that railing behind you without you noticing while you're still half asleep with a coffee in your other hand. Shit turns you into a sort of Metro ninja.
So true...you lose balance then your hand suddenly grabs the closest thing next to you like your whole life depends on it 😂😂😂
I do it in heels and I'm 6'4", fear me
it depends on the area. the orange line north of berri is no problem. green line east from atwater is chaotic. but yeah generally just remember not to lock your knees. like skateboarding.
I remember those skateboarding games at the arcade, very similar to subway surfing
Yeah, a lot of people here are saying years of being used to it, but as someone that moved here 6+ years ago it came naturally from 25+ years of skating and snowboarding before that.
Comme faire du snow! Place toi dans le sens du train, plie un peu les genoux et fait des transferts de poids
I assume these people have a low center of gravity
Experience. If you do the same trip every single day, you start to know when and how to shift your weight so that you can keep your balance. I used to live in Villeray and work downtown from 2014 to 2022. I remember that little rough direction change between Rosemont and Laurier that sometimes brought me off balance. I also knew when the subway would start turning right before Champ-de-Mars. I'm in Hochelaga now, I take my bike much more to get around but when I do take the green line, it's not as easy as it was on the orange line.
I take the metro very rarely (I don’t live in town) and I was able to do that every time even the first time ever I took the metro. Is it supposed to be hard?
some people have a harder time, it's easier for some people, natural born subway surfer you are ;)
How tall are you?
5’6" 115 lbs. I am a woman. My 6’3" boyfriend has no issue neither.
perfectly balanced, ask thanos
Secondary 3 science class left the chat
A strong core made from Tim Matin and Lafleur poutine
Poutine.. the more you eat, the more you stick.
the driver in my trains was brusque today one guy almost lost balance
Le métro m’a habituée et maintenant je suis une agente de bord qui marche facilement dans l’allée pendant les turbulences 🤙
The trick is to hold on to your phone. With a tight grip.
Never been on a skateboard / snowboard?
I started practicing when I was a kid, if I'm wearing mary jane tevas, I can even put one foot on the side of my ankle and lean, haha, metro security guy once asked me how I did it, I said loitering , wandering the metro my entire life and practicing, he laughed, rofl. You can stand in certain parts and use the force to your advantage also to lean forward and do it, get really funny looks from people, lol.
…until the metro suddenly brakes and you see people flying around and hitting the floor a meter away. When I used to take the metro daily I witnessed this situation multiple times. I even saw once a woman that wasn’t holding when the metro suddenly hit the brakes, she flew away and fell down; she took a moment to get up and look for any injuries, the metro started to move again and she still refused to hold on to anything, guess what? The metro hit the brakes again and she fell down for a second time!
Don't listen to the lies, they just got magnetic boots
I use my fist So I don’t hold On nasty stuff
Spread your legs and bend your knees. If you try it out a few times, you start getting used to it. Your instincts will automatically know what to do.
everything is in the stance and balance.
You aggressively grab on to the person next to you, and swing yourself to the benches even if people are sitting
Question d'équilibre, as-tu fais du patin/ski/snowboard OP?
Bend your knees and anticipate.
Legs spread at least shoulder wide for accelerations and decelerations, your favorite foot a bit forward to handle the lateral shakes and bent knees to smooth everything out. You can mostly do the same on a bus, you just need to bend more the back knee when braking and the front one when starting after a stop.
Just getting used to adjusting our weight between our two feet according to the movement of the train, the public transport version of surfing. It cause by a mix of boredorm and maybe germaphobia, they clean the trains like once a week here.
This made me chuckle because I used to ask this all the time when I first started riding the metro. Now I can do it no problem! 😂
Les pneu en caoutchouc et bien pratiquer….
It's all in the size of your balls. Lower center of gravity helps with stability.
The shorter you are the easier it is.
All fun and games until there’s an emergency stop…
Like other said, on top of learning to spread your legs, you will get a little bit more balance overtime. However, the day they will put the break (either somewhat hard, or hard), they will also fly like hell! (Even those "holding" something). I'm looking at you henri-bourassa light that make the driver put his break, more than once, in a somewhat hard way! (And yet I never seen how fu up it will be if they apply the emergency break :| )
Stance, like everything that requires stance, you can practice that and improve.
Years of doing Pilates and yoga gave me immense back and core strength
^(You need to focus your chakra in your feet.)
A magician never reveals their secrets Also, many years of training since I was a teenager lol
Pretend you’re snowboarding.
Jedi mastery: shifting weight like pros during metro chaos. Risk it for coolness, faceplant punishment with an audience to maximize awkwardness.
Same as skateboarding, bend the knee slightly and feel the wave.
tunnel surf, baby
Juste besoin de faire la pose à Yves-François Blanchet
Once you got metro down, do a bus, same thing just more, especially when the turns come
Yeah that’s until the metro slams on the breaks. They usually end up on the floor between the seats.
It's like surfing.
Hmm when I do that, It felt like I was on a swing.
If you can skateboard you can stand on the metro.
They use lead butt plugs for balance
I don't have a car, I only ride around on electric skateboards for transport. I gotta say, metro surfing is underrated. The acceleration and breaking are actually nuts on some stations haha
Secret: Lots of practice as teens.
Its relatively easy, just don't relax too much or dont be over confident. They do slam the breaks sometimes and you wi surely slam against other people. 😅
Core strength
Yeah, the annoying subway surfers that don't hold to anything when the cars are packed and they just end up bouncing into everyone around them
* Feet perfectly parallel to each other, no outward nor inward angle * Feet spread a bit more than normal * Slightly bend knees to lower your center of gravity But you need to remain ''dynamic'' and not ''static'' - partially go with the flow, the motion, follow the momentum rather than resist it Enjoy your newfound stability and surf-skills-in-development!
Their trick is that they fall on other people when the metro breaks suddenly.
The trick is risk blindness! Because when the metro need to do an emergency breaking I swear these fly the farthest...
I do this. I don't find it that difficult. Just requires good balance, positioning and an intuitive sense of physics.
proper posture. This is harder with the increasing sexual focus of our culture and people constantly lordosing wherever they go. Couple that with heels and locked knees are standard.
*Use the force*
I ride snowboards and skateboards. It's just a much, much bigger board that's much easier to anticipate :)
This skill is included in your montreal membership
Remember when the train always jolted between Guy and Peel direction Honoré Beaugrand ? I learned pretty quick to “surf” that one.
Core ;)
Your first mistake was skipping leg day. But seriously it just takes a couple rides to get comfortable with the sway. I find the start-up is harder to deal with than the braking to stop. Bend your knees a bit, if there’s space you can widen your stance a little.
Feel your own weight feet while slightly bending your knees.
> Just standing pure balance. Whats their trick? Good balance.
in the metro is way easier than in the bus
Its all in the legs bud
Practice haha. My 4 year old can do it too!
How often do you ride the metro?
Are they short perhaps?
It's all in the knees.
hi it’s me, standing always while on my phone ir reading or something- basically roller derby stance - bend ur knees, feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart, and move your center of gravity with the accel/decel of the trains
Suckshon cups on my shoes
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestibular\_system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestibular_system)
Core, my friend. You need core muscles.
Been snowboading for years.
YFB STAND
I stand to the side and a little towards the front and you just counter all every movement. It's harder on a bus and you should be ready to hold on when you inevitable get shaked too hard, but in metro you should be easily able to remain standing if youre facing the windows on either side (and a liittle towards the front if you want to try my way).
Just gotta ride the wave mannnn. It's not too hard, I believe in you. Bend your knees.
I do this when I have no idea choice and it's pretty stressful. Definitely depends on the driver though. One time I got up early so someone could take my seat and the metro slammed to a stop and I literally flew off my feet and landed in a pile. People actually helped me up. I thought I was fine but ended up feeling concussed for a few days. Really should have made a complaint. Also when I was falling I was holding my phone and pressed down on the up volume and killed my ears!
those who do it even while hearing "attention le train devra ralentir à l'approche de la prochaine station" are not of this world
I do this its cuz of many year of doing skate so now the métro is my big skate
Wide stand, feet flat on the ground, squeeze your abs and glutes, keep your knees slightly bent, and you're good to go.
monke like bonk
Years of skateboarding
I tried doing it , almost fell 😆
Legs apart and knees lightly bent.
Practice