{"id":4378,"date":"2022-02-27T11:12:29","date_gmt":"2022-02-27T10:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wombat.vision\/?p=4378"},"modified":"2022-02-27T11:12:29","modified_gmt":"2022-02-27T10:12:29","slug":"2-week-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wombat.vision\/index.php\/2022\/02\/27\/2-week-update\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Week Update"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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After 2 weeks on the road, I’m sitting in Aracena, writing this update and having a rest day. It feels like I have had a lot of rest days during these 2 weeks but, unfortunately, they have been needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I always knew that my fitness was pretty low, but it seems that my bout with Covid has robbed me of the base fitness I have had most of my life. Even when I have been unfit previously, I have always had a reasonable base to build on and my recovery has always been quick. Not so this time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only is my fitness very low, but my recovery rate is also way below what I’m used to. After just 3 days of cycling, I have no reserves and basically have to walk up every hill and I need a full day of rest to recover. It could be that I’m getting old…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I don’t mean to complain too much, the only way to get my fitness back again is to keep plugging away and hope that I get stronger and stronger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trail so far:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In summary, brilliant! I have to give a gigantic shout out to Andy Cox, @doubletrackfanatic, for putting together this outstanding trail. I have only cycled a tiny little part of it and can only imagine all the hard work that went into making it a reality. Thanks mate!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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That said, I have been thinking a lot about how and even if, I want to continue cycling the trail. Not because I don’t like it, but because I am starting to realize that I may just like walking that much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve always liked bicycles and as I have a strong technical interest, I have always liked fixing, modifying and working on them. But when I get out on the road, I don’t quite find the same satisfaction that I have found when walking and hiking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is an inherent minimalism in walking that is not as present when cycling. I’m not sure if I can explain the difference, but it is there and I seem to gravitate to that simpler means of motion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My last long bike-touring\/bikepacking trip was through Europe in 2019 and totalled almost 10,000 km. But even then, despite planning to continue and explore more of Europe by bike, I decided to head to New Zealand to hike the southern part of the Te Araroa instead. At the time I blamed the weather, but I am starting to realize that it is just that I like walking more…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back at the-walk and the Te Araroa hike, I find that I came closer to the state of mind I was looking for during these walks than when compared to my many bicycle or even kickbike trips. There have been quite a few during the last 10 years and I believe that I can start to see a very obvious pattern. I feel better and enjoy it more when walking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So where does that leave me now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It doesn’t really change anything for the coming weeks. I have at least 2 more weeks to spend on the European Divide trail before I need to head to Barcelona to work for 3 weeks. But what happens after that is something that I will have to think about very seriously. Keep cycling or head home and change to hiking gear, and if so, what will be my next destination?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lots of questions but I have lots of time to think and don’t really have to decide anything before my work period in Barcelona is at an end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exciting times ahead!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After 2 weeks on the road, I’m sitting in Aracena, writing this update and having a rest day. It feels like I have had a lot of rest days during these 2 weeks but, unfortunately, they have been needed. I always knew that my fitness was pretty low, but it seems that my bout with… Continue reading 2 Week Update<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wombat.vision\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wombat.vision\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wombat.vision\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wombat.vision\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wombat.vision\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4378"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/wombat.vision\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4388,"href":"http:\/\/wombat.vision\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4378\/revisions\/4388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wombat.vision\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wombat.vision\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wombat.vision\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}