Wednesday, November 1, 2023 – Nearly 24 Miles Traveled for Trail Marking

Hi Babe,
Woke up to a chilly morning, dressed with four layers on. Intended to get out early, but once again, had a few complications that delayed me. The most unexpected was when I was all saddled up and packed and ready to go, stuck my foot in the stirrup, and the stirrup broke! The leather had worked its way through the rivet. At first I tried to find another stirrup that might work, then I decided to see if a Chicago screw would work, and it turned out to be the perfect answer. That killed twenty minutes, so I finally got out a bit after 10:00. I only managed to get a little over six miles done yesterday, so in order to finish it off, I had to do the other nineteen today. Of course, I made a few errors and had to backtrack a couple of times, I just don't have any experience in this forest (I've ridden this side only once before), but I managed to get it done, though it was a long day, made longer by the fact that I also had to take down markers from a previous event that were left behind. How rude and inconsiderate! Unfortunately, they were the same pink ribbons we are using, so I had to remove them as much as I could. I re-purposed some that were on the same trails, had to take a bunch of others done because they were on the wrong side, just a lot of extra hassle, as if I didn't have enough to do today! Oh, well, c'est l'avie! Lola came with us, and for the first time in a long time, she just plopped down in her chair and crashed when we got home, didn't try to bring me her frisbee or anything! It will take a couple of days for her to recover. Flash was his usual brilliant self, mostly patient today with all the stop/starting, and even stood still for me to staple signs on the trees after awhile. It was after 4:30 by the time we got back to camp, but it was a job well finished. Well, almost finished. As I started to coordinate all the information on my mapping program, it seems it might be a tad long (not unusual), but there are a couple of places where I can trim a couple of tenths of a mile, so with Kaleigh bringing her side by side tomorrow, we can fix those in no time. She's having a computer problem she had to fix, so will be later than normal, but no worries, if I have to, I can always go back out on Flash, though I'm sure he would appreciate a day off tomorrow. I would, too, though we'll have to see how late she's going to be. Anyway, that was my day, need to get to bed soon! Good night, darlin'! Love you!