Walking is life at 3¼ mph: an end in itself, as in "Going For A Walk." Or a means to an end, a way to get from A to B. If you're going further afield, walking can be the first step on a longer journey. Well known rambler Lao Tzu noted, "A journey of a thousand miles began with a single step."  And he might have added, a journey which starts on foot at 3¼ mph can also lead to quicker things. So this blog will include some things that move at more than 3¼ mph.

Why 3¼ mph? Scottish mountaineer William Naismith devised a rule of thumb in 1892: to time the length of a walk, allow 1 hour for every 3 miles forward, plus ½ hour for every 1000 feet of ascent. Or if you're metric, that's 5km and 300 metres respectively. Naismith's rule is an average; weather and fitness make a difference; bigger cities have faster walkers; lone pedestrians go quicker than groups. I've ignored all this and averaged out male walking speeds of 3½ mph and female at 3 mph to get to 3¼ mph.

Walking is about so much more than the speed of the journey. Walking is a way of seeing the world. And a way of being in the world. Pretentious? Recall that most people on the planet still walk - it's just that many of us in the "developed" world don't, turning our backs on the thousands of years we spent on the savannahs: we evolved to walk, but now we're "learning" not to. Devo, the band from Akron, Ohio say that the human race is in a state of De-evolution. Now it's time to Start Walking.......and Stop De-Evolving.