Today was going to be a short day. That sometimes happens when putting together a trip like this. The average day is 50 miles, but cities with places to stay don't always space them out that consistently. It worked out nicely for us today, because the weather forecast was for rain after 1 PM. The group decided on an early start so we could reach our destination before the rain. We started to get a few sprinkles in the last 30 minutes, and one of the riders stopped to put on some rain gear. 10 minutes later I thanked her, because the sun came out! I'm sure she caused it by getting protected.
The route today was mostly on trails, which is the main reason we came. Unfortunately, less than 10 miles out, this is what we saw:
So much for planning. It turns out they were converting the highway next to the trail from 2 lanes to 4, and they managed to mess up the trail at every intersection:
Some of the more experienced and skilled riders managed to weave around the concrete obstacles and gravel while riding.
Some others decided it was safer to walk:
There were at least 5 such obstacles to navigate, which slowed us down. We did come up on an area where they were obviously mining the gravel to complete the roadway.
After that we did get into a trail area that provided a variety delightful vegetation. I'm not smart enough to identify everything, so I will just show the pictures:
Since every day needs to have some adventure, we had a navigational challenge to overcome. With 10 riders, we don't all just line up and follow each other. Some ride faster than others, some stop to take more pictures than others. The tour coordinator (for lack of a better title) spends a lot of time putting together these routes. The computer application allows him to print out a page for every day, telling each rider how to get to the destination. There are also computer files that can be loaded onto a bike computer which allows the riders to have an electronic assistant.
I have such a device, and used it to cross the USA in 2019 with not a single failure. This morning, when I tried to load today's route, the file wasn't there. That made me very conscious of not being left out there by myself, because I am not very good at reading the paper route sheet. I was riding in sight of 4 other riders, when one of them said that another rider had not turned when he was supposed to. I looked at the route sheet, and it did say to take a slight left, but the turn being suggested seemed to me to be more than a "slight" left. Since my bike computer was nonfunctional, I just stayed out of the discussion.
It was decided that a couple riders would chase the supposed errant rider, and the others would head toward the hotel. I was in the group to go toward the hotel. The chasers took off, and after they were gone another rider spoke up and said he thought making that turn would be a mistake. His bike computer said to go straight, the same direction the chasers went. He verified that with the GPS on his phone. So we continued on in the same direction as the chasers, but at a slower pace.
It turned out that the original rider was correct, and the chasers were on a wild goose chase. In fact, the original rider arrived at the hotel, and the chasers went right past. Good thing this was already a light day. The chasers ended up going an extra 5 miles by the time they were contacted about their mistake.
Everyone arrived before any real precipitation. I spent some time this afternoon in the hotel hot tub along with some others. We had a nice dinner gathering tonight, and will be ready for a hopefully more normal day tomorrow.
I also spent about an hour trying to figure out what happened to my bike computer. I think I have it solved, but I won't know for sure until tomorrow.
Total of 35.7 miles for me today.