Fire Mountain having been barely a month before, and Twenty Mule Team coming up in 2 short weeks, meant Demon and I would do Limited Distance rides, just to help make sure everything was working right.
Shortly after Fire Mountain, my wristwatch died. I sighed and considered what I might do about this. Then, I was thinking about a friend who is using a heart rate monitor and really likes it. I'd used one years ago, and found it difficult and inaccurate. So I had long since given up. My friend assured me the Polar heart rate monitors work much different from the V-Max I'd used so long ago. So I looked into it, and it was in the back of my head as I thought about what I might do about my watch.
This led to looking at smartwatches which could pair with the Polar HRM. It became one of those things of well, I have to get a new watch, so I might as well get one of these newfangled smartwatch thingamajiggers. Then, if I'm gonna have a smart watch, I might just as well get the HRM, too.... Ultimately, I ended up with a Garmin Instinct watch (which I can use to share my location as I'm riding, which others who worry about such things really appreciate) and a Polar HRM.
Before Fire Mountain, I had added studs to Demon's shoes. I knew this had the potential to not work over time, and the only way to see what would happen was to ride him. And at Fire Mountain, one of the vets thought he saw something in Demon's right front foot. Which made me worry about that time he'd tripped on the first day of the ride, and had seemed really sore for a few steps. So I wanted another outing in the same area to continue to check out the studs.
We arrived in camp as the sun sank in the West. I quickly got everything set up, unhooked the truck and leveled the trailer, got food and water. Demon was quite happy to be at another ride, munching happily and watching the world go by from his Hi-Tie.
While setting up, I went through the processes of turning on the appliances. Punched the button for the refrigerator, flipped the switch for the water pump. The water pump, though, it just kept running. And running. And running. I turned on the tap, no water. Uh oh. Shut off the pump, went around outside and discovered the water line had come free of the tank. All 27 gallons I'd carefully stored up had been spread all over the highway somewhere.
Not one to be easily dissuaded by adversity, I fell back and punted. I found an empty gallon water jug and filled it from the 55 gallon drum in the truck. This would make flush water. I had plenty of bottled water for drinking and cooking. I could use the 55 gallon drum for wash water and such, plus, if I managed to get the fitting back in the water tank, I could put a little water in it and have enough running water to get by the for the couple of days we were there.
We got vetted in and settled in for the night.
Day 1, 25 miles
I've gotten to where I really like to let the hotshoes get out of camp before I hit the trail. I figured we'd be middle to back of the pack speed. Still aiming for around 6-6.5mph average speed, but nowhere near the 7-8 the leaders are usually pulling.
I had to fiddle with the HRM and watch and figure out how to get them to "talk" to each other, but managed it handily enough once I got the hang of it. To my surprise and pleasure, they worked well all day.
About 5 minutes after the start, Demon and I ambled out of camp. It was the quietest start Demon has done yet, walking out on a loose rein.
For the most part, things were very good. Demon did very well over the even ground, uphills and downhills weren't challenging. But when there was rock, or particularly uneven terrain, he'd slow way down and pick his way gingerly over the trail. I had a suspicion those studs in his toes weren't doing him any favors.
I was really surprised when we hit the vet check and it turned out we were leading. That's not usual. But, as I said to another rider who was equally surprised to find herself out in front, where you place depends a lot on who shows up. Evidently everyone else was going a good bit slower to that point!
Most of the rest of the riders came in about 10 minutes after. Once our hold was over, and I'd allowed Demon to sample my egg salad sandwich (not a fan), we vetted and headed on down the hill toward camp.
It took a little while to find a bit of dirt high enough to get me back on. We walked down the hill until the trail got more even. Another pair of riders passed us jogging down the hill, but Demon was happy enough to go ahead and walk.
Once I got back on, we trotted smartly on and passed the other two riders. We were just trotting at a sedate pace when another rider, Tammy Simpson, came barreling up and passed us like we were standing still. They continued on at a solid canter until they were out of sight somewhere ahead, finishing some 20 minutes ahead of us.
Like I said, where you place depends on who else shows up.
We finished in 2nd place, with a solid 4 hour 25 miles. Which is typically not fast enough to top ten, but was this day.
After we'd finished, I took the time to crawl under the trailer and fiddle with the water fitting. It took some doing, but I was able to reattach it well enough to put some water back in the tank. It wasn't enough for showering or washing dishes, but enough to flush the toilet so I didn't have hike all the way to the porta-john in the night.
Day 2, 25 Miles
After the first day went as well as it did, I was happy enough to set out for a second day and let it be a bit more sedate. We were, after all, only riding to make sure we had all our gear working right. No need to race for that.
I again left well after the start so we could set a quiet pace. On the road, Demon took a couple of bad steps, enough other riders commented on it. I slowed him down on the paved road, electing to let him make time on soft trail instead. By now I was convinced I had a problem with the toe studs.
The first loop was 17ish miles, so it was a long morning back to camp. We kept a decent but not fast pace, aiming to finish the loop sound. I had plans to remove the toe studs when we got in for lunch.
At the lunch stop back at camp, I applied my multi-tool to the task of removing as many of the toe studs in Demon's shoes as I could. It wasn't as many as I'd hoped. I did, however, get out the ones I thought were causing the most problem, so between that and knowing the last 8 mile loop was relatively flat and sandy, I was feeling good about finishing the ride.
The last 8 miles went quickly enough and we finished our second day.
After we finished, I was feeling pretty dirty and like I really could use a shower. But, I didn't have enough water on the trailer. But I *did* have enough water in the truck. And I just so happen to have a portable pump shower head. So I put the pump on the solar panel to charge up. Once it was done, I heated water on the stove, and, using one of Demon's buckets, took a shower in the horse box. I hadn't used that water pump in a long time, and I'm really glad I thought of it again. It's also good for giving the horse a bit of a bath on a hot day, too.
Day 3, 25 Miles
I was feeling pretty good about getting a third day finished, but it was not to be. I got the HRM set up and we started on out on trail. Demon was trotting clean but not with much enthusiasm. When we turned up on to rockier trail and passed behind the gun range, he spooked hard at a gun shot, tripping on a rock. After that, he was not quite right. By the time we got to Dave, parked out on trail to watch the horses go by, he definitely felt like we needed to not do this.
Dave allowed as he thought Demon could manage, but I decided it wasn't worth it. We headed back to camp. I did get off and lead past the gun range, since whatever boomstick they were firing off was making me flinch, too.
