No Bike, No Problem

I've been struggling with my knees this year. Ostensibly the usual cycling problem of muscle imbalance, tight IT bands, tight hamstrings, weak gluteus medius, longevity of use (aka old age) but annoyingly persistent even after addressing all of the above issues. Anyway eventually the physio advised / ordered a break from the bike to give things a chance to settle down.

"Can I walk instead?"
"Yes of course, it will help to strengthen glutes and reduce muscle imbalance"
Right then.

I did a lot of hill walking as a youth and as it happens a couple of walks with work colleagues over the last couple of years have re-awoken an urge to head for the hills sans bike in order to go to the places a bike can't reach. So this seemed the perfect opportunity to pound the hills and see places I don't usually get to.

And, as it turns out, its great fun, who knew! Well legions of hill walkers and munro baggers obviously but after having ridden bikes for countless years the simplicity of chucking stuff in a bag and wandering into the wilderness has a massive appeal.

That said its been a learning curve leading to the following observations:-

You can't go very far - a long day = 13miles. After years of mountainbike route planning its easy to totally overestimate how far you can walk comfortably in a notional day out. This has lead to a few epic hikes...

Downhills are rubbish as there is no freewheeling, its a much effort going down as up. Its done me a power of good however as the leg control when descending is just what I've needed to improve overall lower body stability.

No more death marches. Hillwalking types will complain about difficult terrain, bogs, tussocks, bracken etc. etc. but the thing is, your not having to carry 15kgs of unwieldy bicycle whilst crossing such terrain so its actually dead easy.

You can stop for lunch. And eat proper sandwiches, drink tea or coffee out of a flask and generally have a fine time eating whilst checking out the views. After years of bump induced pulverised food, this is a revelation.

Hillwalkers are a strange bunch. I attributed the reticence hillwalkers have to talking to you down to their disdain for mountainbikers. They don't talk to you when your walking either....

Standing on top of a large terrain feature (aka mountain, hill, bump, munro, corbett, graham, marilyn) is great. Suddenly your looking across at stuff rather than up it. On a clear day you can see for miles!



Forget munro bagging, long distance walks, guides, the internet, just start at a likely spot and go, no paths needed.

Walking is good exercise. There is no freewheeling so your on it constantly. Get a bit of a pace on and your right in the fat burning zone from the minute you start to the minute you finish.

You don't have to worry about cold feet. Walking exercises these appendages constantly so they stay warm.

After an intensive programme of hill walking, pushing a bike up a hill is much easier.

I'm now back on the bike albeit with still a few outstanding knee issues to deal with but I'm going to keep the walking up and probably do a few multi-day trips as well. Now that I'm well versed in packing light, this is no-longer the weight lifting schlep it used to be. Just think about wandering around the high tops of the Cairngorms for a few days, no plan, no route and no worries about trail conditions, whether a path goes or if its even there. More reports to come!