NEVER This Way Again

Today's Killer Route, too few GPS positions to use that mode

I got going earlier than usual this morning, quickly got lost, and wandered around the countryside trying to rely on my iphone map and my Garmin GPS on the trike, with both of them leading me everywhere but where I wanted to go:  Back home.
I started by riding out to Bell Crossing Road, next to the Mountain Grove airport.  I have ridden out in this area before without difficulty but today I made the mistake of turning off Bell Crossing on to Whetstone Road, which I have ridden partially before.  I took this picture while I was still smiling because of the abundance of nice shade in this country:

I made the mistake of trying to ride Whetstone in its entirety instead of turning around.  I soon discovered it turned from a halfway decent  paved road into a very rough gravel road.  I looked at my gps and phone maps and thought they indicated the gravel was only a short distance before turning back into pavement.  Bad Mistake.
I The farther I rode the worse the gravel got, and it wasn't long until I had done several miles of ke it crawling along this nasty stuff and thought I had gone too far to make it worthwhile to turn around.
When I finally got to the other end of Whetstone I had ridden several miles of awful gravel.  With my narrow street tires I worried constantly that such abuse would destroy them, but thankfully they survived.  The map said Cherokee Road would lead me back to Mountain Grove and paved streets but - following GPS directions - when I turned on to Kaylor and then Sunny Slope road, I had to endure more miles of rough gravel.  Try as I might, with several rest stops, I could not find a way to set either of my maps to use pave roads only.  BAH.   About 2/3 of the way along this undesired path, I called Jacque to "report in" and tell her I was OK in spite of being way overtime on my trike ride.  The GPS claimed I had only 5 or 6 miles left to get home, but since so much of it was rough gravel it seemed to take forever.
I had reduced my insulin basal rate for the ride, but the difficulty of pedaling so slowly along in the rough gravel required several snack breaks, and even with this and plenty of water, I was getting really fatigued as well as stiff and sore.  I should have called Jacque to come rescue me but I wasn't sure I could convey my real location accurately enough for her to find me.  So I trudged on.
Eventually I staggered back on to Bell Crossing, which I recognized and was familiar with, AND BLESSEDLY PAVED.  In several more minutes I finally arrived safely home, where I immediately jumped into a lukewarm shower and rinsed the grime & sweat away.

Ride Started: 8:25 AM      Ride Ended:  12:47 PM

Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.0   Ending Battery Voltage:  13.0 Lowest Voltage:  13.0

Beginning Blood Glucose:   120   Ending BG: 110

Lowest Temp:  71 F    Highest Temp:  82 F

Stats from the GPS:  Total Miles:  18:43
Distance Walked: 1/2 mile
Overall Average Speed       Moving Avg          Max Speed
  4.2   MPH                           5.7  MPH              24.8 MPH

Total Trip Time                   Moving Time        Stopped Time
4 hours 22  mins                3 hours 13 mins     1 hour 9 minutes