Where did the time go?

So we set off on our first day of the ride today. We managed to cover 75 mile, plus or minus (the GPS failed to perform flawlessly). But it pretty much took us 7-8 hours to do it and that was more time than I expected it to take.

I'm not really sure why. It could be related to stop signs getting out of Vancouver, it could be related to being a slower old guy than I realize, it could have something to do with our directional difficulties. We have 2 GPS equipped bike computers, 1 GPS equipped iPhone, 2 copies of the Adventure Cycling maps, and 1 copy of Lonely Planet's guide to biking the West Coast. That's pretty much 1 resource for every time we were standing by the road not knowing which way we were supposed to go. The lesson for the day seems to be 'rely on the $60 paper map over the $600 bike GPS'. You can't imagine how much it hurts me to say that.

Anyway, it was a nice ride, we got to where we wanted to be, and the body feels good at this point. The mind is still pointing out that the real issue is how the body feels tomorrow when I get back on the bike. The first 10-20 miles will be very instructive.
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