My friend Gregg has expertise in a number of subject areas, perhaps none more so – lived and learned – than coming back from injury. While my recovery to date, mentally and physically, is owed to a number of people and processes I can’t point to a single thing that was as important as our hikes in the forest after I graduated from the oppressive constraints of my walking boot.
Our hikes were brisk, steep, and technical. Building back range of motion, leg strength, and balance. It was much more than just a transition from all the booted walking I was doing, it was the first step in getting back on my mountain bike. Seeing lines and floating my frame up and down them.
Now, this isn’t some forest cure-all bullshit where the trees healed me mentally and physically. When you need help, get help. But rather, the perfect range and ability multiplier for someone whose only real goal was getting back riding with my daughter.
There’s a certain irony in that I did in my right Achilles hike-a-biking and here I am talking about the benefits of doing just that to improve my riding and indeed my everyday power and balance. Heck, if there’s a better way to actively stretch out properly warmed-up legs that is not watching-paint-dry-boring I’d love to hear about it.
Sometimes I hike up the trails I’m going to ride down. Sometimes I hike up other trails. Sometimes I just hike up the fastest and steepest gravel route that gets me the most single-track descending for a given riding time. Usually, I’ll spend most of my climb pedaling, preferably up single-track, and just add a hiking section in the middle somewhere.
It’s different than the hiking-hiking I do, usually with my kid, in that the pace is more similar to the loops that Gregg and I would punch out. The object is to get somewhere. And I focus on mobility – loading and stretching. It’s made a significant contribution to my return to mountain biking and as I continue to get stronger I plan to continue using hike-a-bikes to get places and improve my strength and range of motion.
It might work for you too! And it can’t hurt to add some variety to how you access your favourite trails.