There are four main city and county parks around Wilmington where Janet, her dog Gracie and I frequently go – Smith Creek, Greenfield, Long Leaf and Halyburton. Two have small lakes where Janet and I paddle; Gracie only swims at Smith Creek, because Greenfield has alligators. At all four parks we ride our bikes. I had only hiked at Smith Creek.
In early June I went to Halyburton Park and decided to hike, because some of the trails thorough the woods are made of sand, which makes it somewhat difficult to pedal my bike. I also wanted to train for my next backpacking trip in a few weeks. This foray into the woods was my first time hiking in several months.
The first issue was the heat. I started sweated strongly, but the sweat did its job – it cooled me down some. After feeling uncomfortable for about five minutes, I surprised myself by acclimating fairly well.
The next issue was some of my muscles had not been used in a while. Again, after about 10 minutes, my body got used to the sensations. The soreness did not disappear, but it subsided, and I was able to keep hiking at a decent pace. It actually felt good to stretch some and push some.
The final issue was boredom. I was so used to the scenery whizzing by on my bike that I did not want to watch the trees creep past. It just took some attitude adjustment. I started paying more attention to the details in the forest, and my mind settled into the rhythm of hiking.
I believe that hiking is a better all round exercise than biking. But biking operates at a cooler temperature, and is more fun, so I will keep doing both.
