Over the past year I’ve rediscovered my love of hiking and,
more specifically, walking. Such a
simple activity that formed a large part of formative years became lost over the
years. In a sporting sense, I probably didn’t recognize the benefits of walking
for miles and miles during at the time. It gave me a huge fitness base and,
combined with a relatively low-mileage running regimen, was the key to my
consistency in my younger years.
While at primary school, a few parents thought that it would
be good idea for their children’s birthday parties to be in the form of a hike
to Elephant’s Eye, followed by a picnic. A Saturday morning spent walking up
the mountain followed by hotdogs and cookies was heaven, as well as a great way
to control a bunch of hyperactive kids.
My teenage years also involved a lot of walking, although
much of it was to and from “house parties” in the dark, or playing “tok-tokkie”
around the neighbourhood. But the common theme here is that we grew up living a
truly active lifestyle, something that is definitely on the wane in today’s
society.
During my first two years studying at the then Cape
Technikon, I would estimate that I was walking around 10km per day. Whether it
was to and from Cape Town station, taking long “walks of exploration” around the
city centre between lectures or simply going to the shop, I found it to be
greatly therapeutic and exciting. It must have been my natural inclination to
explore – a characteristic that I inherited from my grandmother - that added to
that “excitement.” I must have walked along every street in the greater City
Bowl Tamboerskloof during 1995 and 1996, including the upper suburbs of Gardens/Vredehoek/Higgovale.
Our Friday lectures were at Surveys and Mapping in Mowbray, just
below UCT. After those lectures, I would walk a winding route through the leafy
suburbs of Rondebosch and Newlands, often extending my journey as far as
Wynberg train station. Besides saving cash on train fares, I would marvel at the
different types of architecture of those suburbs and admire the lush gardens in
every avenue.
I rarely got colds or flu and maintained a high level of running
fitness on 3 runs/week.
Fast forward to 1997/1998, when I got a car and began
working government hours at the Department of Land Affairs for my internship. Suddenly this daily regimen of long, slow
movement was gone. I couldn’t understand why my overall fitness had deteriorated,
not to mention my health. I think I must have spent the whole of 1997
recovering from a cold only to be struck down with fresh bout of the “lurgy” a
few weeks later. The extra 5kg I was carrying was also something I couldn’t
fathom – I suddenly had a monthly student’s stipend, which bought a lot of
fizzy drinks and pies – but ignorance is bliss, as they say. I soon realized
what was going on, and remedied the situation with a few lifestyle adjustments.
Walking is also a great tool for coming back from injury.
After falling “ass over tit” while cycling in July 2011 and suffering the
accompanying broken limbs, walking became my escape. Seeing as I couldn’t drive a car for a few weeks, I ended up walking to and
from work on a daily basis.
The daily journey took me through the back roads and into the lower Tokai forest,
working out to be just over an hour each way. Just me and my little backpack. It felt
like those school days again, watching the stressed out people on their way to
work in their metal boxes. It also felt so simple, free and rhythmic. I also found
that I was in better mood after my walking commute.
It also revived my desire to someday tackle the Pilgrims Trail in Spain, which
runs from the French west coast and ends in Santiago de Compostela, Spain; a hike of some 780km. Walkers take about a month to complete the journey,
staying various hostel and/or homestay accommodation along the route.
 |
| Allan Peiper (photo: http://www.cyclingarchives.com/) |
One of my
favourite pro-cyclists of all time, Allan
Peiper, completed that walk over the Pyrenees back in 2002. He details many of his post-cycling
adventures in his excellent autobiography, A Peiper’s Tale.
Although the book is rather disjointed, it is a great read and sobering account
of the battles many retired pro-cyclists face.
Anyway, this past Saturday saw one of those pristine spring
days in Cape Town; bright, sunny and windless. After hanging out the laundry, I
decided to go hiking in my beloved Tokai forest. Just me and my backpack filled
with dumbbells and a medicine ball, Primal
Walk style.
Medicine ball, my trusty dumbbells from Replay Sports and homemade stretch cords fit nicely into my backpack, complete with a pillow for comfort.
My choice of footwear - the New Balance Minimus, courtesy of buddy John Andrew at NB South Africa.
Lots of tree-felling going on in the Cape Peninsula these days.
One of my favourite trails anywhere. Long may these shady pines last.
Hard to believe that all of this was thick pine forest.
I must have run along this stretch of jeep track close to a thousand times in my life. The first time a ran here was on a Sunday morning in 1990 with Richard Willmore, who was one of the SA's emerging triathletes at that time. Together with a joker/sage named Andrew Buchanan, I got the best education any teenage lad could get, running along listening to their unprintable conversations involving chicks, partying and who they thought was a "doos".
The route itself was aptly nicknamed the "Rollercoaster", starting and finishing at the then Constantia Health and Racquet club (now Virgin Active). It crossed several of the local wine farms in the days when they had no electric fences and security guards, traversed the upper reaches of Tokai forest before returning down a mine shaft of a descent through the Buitenverwachting and Klein Constantia vineyards.
Richard would go on to finish in second place at the SA Triathlon Championships the following year with a broken wrist. He is now an accomplished long distance swimmer with a few Robben Island crossings to his name.
Not sure what happened to Andrew, who used to say things to me like: "Hey Junior! Stop looking at my f%&^ing car" or "Junior, pay attention. A hot woman walked past! Like Winnie in the Wonder Years!"
