I'd be interested to see the specific road you are referencing? My gut shot would be that it isn't necessarily obvious that it could be used to avoid some part

I'd be interested to see the specific road you are referencing? My gut shot would be that it isn't necessarily obvious that it could be used to avoid some parts of a road? (That is, you almost certainly had to be on the road for other parts of your ride. Not always obvious when there was a path you could do that got you off the road. And, of course, if it is a detour to get to the route...)