Today was a conflicted day. In the morning two members of the group indicated that they could not maintain the pace that I was taking. Maybe it was the mileage, maybe it was the hills, maybe it was the humidity, or maybe they had not found their cycling legs. That morning Sue and I said goodbye to Greg and Bill and off we went.
On this day the roads were confusing. They were confusing because a new US 30 was completed and signage for the bike route for those going west was not updated. We followed the signs for US 30 but did not realize we were on the new US 30 and not the old US 30. At one point we were supposed to turn right off of US 30 but did not see an intersection. This is because the new US 30 was on a bridge that was over the old US 30, a deep depression, and over a stream. We were off the track. After approximately 2 miles of uphill we figured it out and had to back track. On this back tracking route we rain into Bill and Greg again and they were about to make the same mistake we were correcting. We got everyone straightened out and on the proper route.
When we got back on route I had a deja vu moment because I remember the bridge from last year when I rode under the bridge while it was still under construction. Now it was opened, the roads were renamed, or renumbered, but the signage was not correct. The maps were definitely not up to date.
We all carried onto to Berea with a fantastic downhill just before entering the town. Once in Berea we stopped in a lawn of Berea College across from the the historic Boone Hotel for some cool drinks that we had acquired. Interestingly, as we were stopped and contemplating where to go from there a guy approached us. He said he was passing by, identified himself as a cyclists and asked if we needed any assistance. We did not need any, but it was great to see the friendship from another cyclist. Moments after the cyclist left later a deacon was walking by and chatted with us for a bit. Turns out he was originally from Laurel, MD, which is not far from where I live.
Our goal was to make it a cyclists rest stop about 20 miles west of Berea. However we stopped at the Berea Artesian and Cultural Center on the west side of town to explore the crafts from local artists. By the time we got out of the Center it was too late to continue to the cyclists rest stop. We found a place to stay on the west side of town.
Today’s stats: total mileage 53.9 miles, average speed 10.6 mph, elevation gain 3724 feet, elevation descent 3514 feet, maximum speed 36.9 mph.