A Month of Sundays

I only wish!  Then I would be riding EVERY day!
Nevel and I have had so many stops and starts
But Lady Luck came in the form of a text from K inviting us to saunter along
with her the following day.-I Almost said "no". Im sooo...I dunno?  Shy?
Don't want to impose on anyone with my slowness these days!

But...I said "YES" and was glad that I did.  Major and K waited patiently while Nevel tired me out trying to mount him.  K told me to make him move around me and I felt balanced enough on the mounting block to do so.  Down the road we went heading for the trail.  Mostly Major was in the lead
but at some point early on we decided to let Nevel lead since he is usually quite forward on the trail when we are alone.

Here we go.  I was trialing my new "mountain bike Camelback pack."  The pack has a 3 Liter bladder that is more horizontal then vertical.  Thus the weight is lower on the back and provides better stability/balance when riding mountain bikes...or in this case a mountain pony.  It was rubbing my neck fro the first half of the ride :(

Nevel decided to poke and be frightened to move forward in the lead.  He stopped at the scary rocks and refused to move (other than backwards or swirling around on the narrow trail) K told me to not let him get away with it and if he turned once he can turn again since there was no way for her and Major to pass us.  At this point I was very happy to have a crop handy and had to utilize it, but still he would not continue up the trail through the Giant rocks and stood stock still.

At this point some hikers came along and timidly squeezed past us due to K's encouragement.  As soon as they passed us Nevel immediately started following them with no urging from me.  Once we came to a passing zone we let Major and K take the lead again, and they took off at a nice trot.

It was good to be moving again at a more steady pace although I did have to ask them to "walk PLEASE" through what I call a "funnel" in the trail where the sides are high and the trail narrow with my stirrups brushing on the sidewalls of the trail.

  I barely avoided having my right knee taken out on yet another giant rock.  But after that the trail is mostly pretty good with only a few more "funnels."

Major showed Nevel how to blow bubbles/snorkel in the lake, but Nevel was more interested in getting back on the trail out of the scary driftwood...so onward we went.  All the way to Avery's pond where I dismounted and we led the horses to the river for a drink.  Once again Nevel wasn't interested in drinking, so K shared a sponge with me and I sponged him down a bit.I felt kind of weak at this point and it was warming up.  I had plenty of water but had not brought my Gatorade so I threw some water on myself too.
I also managed to tighten up the rigging on my Camelback and with less water and tighter straps the ride home was much more comfortable with no neck rubbing.

Then back towards home we went, attempting to have Nevel lead again, but he was so inconsistent and it was constant work for me to keep him going. At one point he became very alert, but kept moving, K was able to see a nice big healthy coyote cross behind us...I missed out seeing the coyote and was in no position to take any photos.  At one point we were trotting happily along and K said something was hanging/dragging along from us.  I looked down and it was my CAMERA!  Wow!  Im glad I had it attached and it was happily bouncing along!  It is a small old camera and has a neoprene cover on it...so it STILL WORKS!  WOW!  However, I did not get many pictures this day...albeit some blurry ones and one of Major POOPING just as I took the pic!  THANKS MAJOR!

K thankfully snapped some photos and sent them to me.  When we reached the road home I told K that I had to get off and walk.  I was so hot and Nevel was making me hotter.  I felt sick/nauseated and was starting to chill in 98 degree heat.  Not a good sign!

Nevel was still pulling and trying to eat grass!

I managed to make it to the lane, but kept having to stop and rest every few feet!  AGHA!

Along the lane K spied a HUGE turtle.  I fumbled for my camera but then knew I was too sick to mess with pictures and needed to get to my Gatorade so the pics below were taken on another day when I saw "Mr Big" again.

Mr Big has moss growing on his home!

Hellloooooo?   Anyone home?

Im happy to say that I made it back to my car and drank my whole bottle of Gatorade and soon felt much better.  I had also consumed all 3 L of my water so now doubt needed the electrolytes badly.

That was followed by giving Nevel a shower and some snacks.

It was a good experience and a lesson learned to make sure I have my electrolytes with me ALWAYS.
Much THANKS to K and Major and hope they will take us out again sometime...or maybe Persee and I soon.
In the meantime I continue to try and fit in some 5 mile rides or Arena riding to start building up my endurance.