The Desire Not to Hike

Walking and hiking are integral to my identity. I walk from four and a half to five and a half million steps per year. I walk in heat waves, rare snow and normal conditions. I hike with groups and I walk alone. Recently my desire to hike is much lower.

This isn’t so unusual. I often get tired of going for daily walks so I have to work towards motivating myself to walk on weekdays. The issue is that the walks that were interesting are either dangerous because of cars, or because of dog owners that can’t read when someone is afraid of their dog.

Regular Cycling

The other reason is that I have groups to cycle with on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, and even potentially Sunday.When I go for a bike ride I often have to push myself.

Heat Wave and Exposure

There is also a heat wave at the moment, so if you’re not careful about what hike you organise you can be caught out by a hike in hot conditions with a lack of available water. I have enough containers to carry three litres of water with ease.

Hostile Whatsapp Chats

In the last month or two I have been called hateful, had a post or two deleted and seen ordinary users with admin privileges blocking people from posting. Combine these and the pleasure of organising group hikes for certain groups is lessened. In my eyes deleting posts, and blocking people from posting are hostile acts, especially when they are unwarranted.

Physical Fatigue

I would not ignore the effect of physical fatigue. I have been for two to three bike rides per week, and one or two serious hikes per weekend, and we’re in a heat wave until tomorrow evening. All of these combine to put stress on my body. It could simply be that I am tired and need to rest.

I am tired from physical effort. I am often getting up at five or six in the morning, either to hike or to cycle. My body would enjoy a full night of sleep. In theory as we get to the end of the current heat wave I can cool my apartment naturally, with open windows and fresh air.

And Finally

I am tired, and would love to have a siesta right now. Tomorrow I plan to join group three of TDC to rest, and then Saturday or Sunday I could make a bigger effort.