I didn't really leave all that early so I expected a slog through Riverdale and its stroads but I guess I left early enough as it wasn't bad at all. Forest Park was even more painless and I rolled up to Southside Park to find it pretty much empty which was surprising. I rode all the trails, even the alternates which were super rocky. Reminded me of some of the trails at Coldwater Mountain in Alabama. Most of the trails were similar to Cochran Mill, and I still managed to have fun on a gravel bike, although it would be a lot more fun with a mountain bike. Looks like they get a lot of use, but I only saw one other rider there. Between the proximity to the interstate and all the planes flying overhead, it was a little noisy to say the least, but the beautiful mature forest made you forget all that. I even saw a turtle. From the park even the few supposedly busy roads were not at all, so getting through to East Point was a breeze. I rode through a lot of quiet neighborhoods, stopped at a Kroger for a snack and eventually made my way to Sikes park. Sikes park is smaller than Southside, and it needs some TLC. It was covered with fresh leaves and no small amount of trash and the ivy is trying desperately to reclaim the trail. So much english ivy. Still though it had some fun parts, but here especially needs a mountain bike to really enjoy. It was steep and quite rocky in some parts. I rode on through more quiet neighborhoods, and while cycling beside a small lake with woods surrounding, I spied a little path to the shore, so I decided to sit a spell and eat a snack, and was rewarded with a lovely view of dense woods, boulders on the opposite shoreline, and a giant hornets nest on the tree right in front of me. The site was strange in that there were no dire warnings of no trespassing. While on my way out I saw a piece of white paper under some leaves. I picked it up and it was a pamphlet for the Southeastern Climbers Coalition, and I remembered that my route takes me near Boat Rock, a large boulder field that was saved by the group a few years ago when development threatened it. Boat Rock is on the other side of the lake from where I was. https://www.seclimbers.org/project/boat-rock/ I continued on with no issue to Campbellton Creek Nature Area which had some brand new trails. They were very fast and smooth, and set amid a mature white oak forest with some very old trees. By this point I was getting really thirsty and hungry and really needed a stop. I stopped at the nearby Publix, which had a self checkout that I was glad to see. A few more neighborhoods and then I bushwacked to Jones road where it came close. I followed an old and faint but useful social trail to get around the silly fence and down to the road. I had not really been hydrating properly as the day was pretty hot and humid by November standards. It tried to rain a few times but never got me all that wet, and on the way home I stopped in Tyrone because I was completely out of water yet again. This perked me back up and I rode the rest of the way feeling pretty good. Narrowly avoided some pretty heavy rain that left lots of standing water on all the roads from Tyrone south.