"There's a bit of road construction going on, but a bike should have no problem getting through."

Some of the words in this sentence were even true. However, the person speaking these words either hasn't seen what kind of construction is going on with his own two eyes or he has a very high opinion of what I can get through.

To be fair, the absolute worst patch of mud, the bit where I actually had to lift the bike up at one point so I wouldn't find out what happens if a Rohloff is submerged in mud, that was a spot where the GPS had tried to initially send me up and over instead of along the straight bit at the bottom, but I'd only realized after it had already recalculated and informed me that turning back 100m to the intersection I'd just missed was totally unnecessary.

I rather appreciate the heavy equipment. Having to wait while it does things like load a truck full of boulders that are completely unnecessary to have in this location but which may be useful in another location is a good way to rest. And I need those rest breaks. Forget the uneven ups and downs of the active work sites, there are places which definitely were the road (back before they completely trashed the pavement in a widening process which involves cliff removal) which are 10% and 12% and 15% grade.

Also, the way in which the bucket loaders move out of my way and indicate that I can pass is the sort of thing that makes you understand why little kids are so awestruck by trucks. First they'll use the bucket to sweep the road clear of anything that might be hard to get around (by which I mean everything from small rocks on up to not especially small boulders) and then, they'll put the bucket arm against the ground and lean into it for a sideways hop that brings the treads completely off the ground. When they land, I imagine I feel the ground shake but that could just as easily be from any one of many nearby causes including explosives.

The video I post of how impressed I am by a cement truck backing up in a straight line down a steep slope gets a mixed bag of comments roughly divided into "how the holy fuck did the driver do that?" and various heavy equipment workers going "what exactly is so impressive about this and why are people being impressed?" I suppose, given what cement trucks cost, and given what back up cameras cost, he's probably got a camera but still, it's legit impressive to someone who doesn't drive a cement truck.

I'm actually kind of glad for the day's on and off rain. Even if it gets really rainy near the end and I get unpleasantly wet to go with my already being sticky with mud, the alternative would be doing this road in the heat and by the time I hit pavement, I also get to a nice widened provincial route that's got to be at least ten or twelve years old at this point cause they've gone over the mountain instead of staying down low by the water's edge with a viaduct the way they'd do now¹ for an S Road.

I think I end up one hotel past the one the fruit seller pointed me at but I'm not sure. There's two places kind of close to each other and the first is definitely a check-in down a narrow hall and up some stairs kind of place that doesn't really work with the bike³.

Place I end up with is not somewhere that I want to be staying for two nights (or really even one). The room reeks of cigarette smoke but the bed is acceptable, there's a fan to help dry me off and a large sink outside the room that can be used for some of my mud removal, and I'm honestly too wiped to want to bother with checking anything else.

¹ There's was a mostly not paved Y Road from my 2012 Tour that, as of this Tour, has replaced the original National Road to have the G Road downgraded to a X² because it no longer meets the width and grading standards for that category. 

² The numbered routes go G → S → X → Y  meaning National (Guo 国), Provincial (Sheng 省), County (Xian 县), and Rural (Xiang 乡)

³ Or, for that matter, not with the bike as my not biking travel standards might be too high for that kind.