The first of many

Last Thursday I made my way to the bus stop close to home and took the bus into town. From there I was going to walk the first bit of a route that is well over 200 km. The Dutch part is about 90 km, the German part would be the rest. But, I felt I would start with the Dutch part first. Mostly because international travel is not possible for 'just a walk'. 

The walk is called the 'Valley of the Vecht Route' and leads you along the River Vecht (or Vechte in German) and its surrounding area. When I looked at it more closely it was actually amazing how much of the river I would actually get to see. 

St Michael in front of the Great or St Michael's Church

Case in point: the first stretch, in which I did not get to see it at all! I saw other waterways, most notably the one the Vecht is emptying into, but not the river itself. Mind you, I only did about 12,5 km, and I know the next stretch will lead me towards it and along it.

The start point was in the center of town and by the second sign I had already missed a fair few as I was just walking about a bit. Fortunately I know the center and was able to make my way to the part where I needed to come out, but it was still a bit annoying as I might have seen some more nice things along the way. They will have to wait until another day.

The cycle route and the walking route overlap at points

The day itself was windy. Very very windy. But the sun was out for most of the walk, my legs felt fresh (for the first three km anyway) and I went for it. And went for it. And went for it. By the end, I felt myself lagging a bit, as it was further than I had done before.

I had gone for that route for two reasons really: Firstly, I want to do something that does have a particular goal, in this case the source of the River Vecht. My second reason was to test myself and more importantly the knee. How would it fare on a longer stretch? I know the knee will hurt afterward, that is nothing new, but how long will it bother me after that? 

When I started walking again last June, even a short distance would then see me barely move for four to five days, recovering from the pain. As time went on, the recovery period lessened, even though the distances grew. And I am glad to say that this time around it was much the same: only one day of real pain, one day of moderate pain and then I was right as rain again.

As I have very thick/fat knees (can't remember a time when I didn't), wearing braces has proved to be nearly impossible. They just don't fit and if I do get it around, it will tear easily. I tried a brace bandage as well and that was even worse as it kept loosening and falling off!