I woke earlier than I had planned to and decided to get going anyway in an attempt to beat the rain which was forecast for late afternoon or early evening. As a result of this decision I was also able to enjoy completely traffic free roads for the first 2 hours, which was very nice. I made a quick decision about clothing based on my feeling of the air upon stepping outside plus a temperature reading, both of which confirmed much warmer than the low forecast, so I decided to run with a light setup and go with light gloves and no shoe covers. My hands were fine but I really regretted not having shoe covers. I had also worn fairly thin socks, compounding my mistake. So I stopped a couple of times around sunrise to walk around and warm up my toes. The sunrise was pretty well hidden behind the clouds and didn't really emerge till around mid day. Very close to Shady Dale, on a nice gravel road called strangely enough King Plow road, I passed a strange red oval thing that looked kind of like a hollow plastic easter egg. So I decided to turn around and check it out, expecting something broken because another similar but smaller piece was nearby. Instantly upon arrival I realized I had a good find. It was a nice pair of Beats wireless earbuds complete with charging case. The piece off to the side was one of the earbuds. When I put it back in the case it beeped at me like it was detecting too much moisture, I wiped it off, returned it and it didn't beep anymore. I tucked it away in my handlebar pack. (later after charging I would find them to be in good working condition and like new as well) My toes warmed up with the slight rise in temperature by the time I rode into Shady Dale, on a lovely gravel road that was unpaved right up to the edge of the tiny city limits. I grabbed several snacks and a coke at the Dollar General, and then was all ready to go when I realized I forgot to get more fluids for the bike, so I had to go back in. I didn't really want to gamble on passing a church in town with a faucet, and probably could have gotten by with only one powerade given the cold day but I bought two to supplement my remaining liter of water(which I treat kind of like a reserve). After Shady Dale I turned away from the mostly north wind to trend south and west. The forecast called for a shift in wind to east by afternoon and it was right on time to enjoy a tailwind the rest of the way home once I got to around the latitude of Juliette. I explored lots of abandoned houses and there were many great gravel road stretches through the Oconee National Forest, Cedar Creek WMA and Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge. The winter scenes all around me with the overcast skies and well watered landscape were mesmerising. Nature called while I Was out in the woods and I stopped at an old homesite where there were blooming daffodils, but no other traces than the mature trees and flattened terrain to indicate a house. Juliette soon arrived and the skies tried to drizzle some rain, but by the time I got out of the Dollar General it had mostly stopped. I pressed on and soon was on some quiet gravel roads again. Nature called again, and I felt reinvigorated, and pressed on. I felt great but perhaps ate a bit more than I should have in the middle of the day. I backed off a bit with the food and felt better. Had a bit of a scare when crossing a ford over a mossy rock. My front tire washed out in the stream and thankfully I was able to stop my butt from also going down by a quick clip out and foot plant, and i still managed to keep half of my right foot dry. Left foot also excaped dry as well. I stopped again in Milner and grabbed a few final snacks which tided me over till the end. I forgot water but found some at a church around the corner. The remaining miles home were pretty uneventful, not as early as I would have liked but it was dry all the way home. Just in time, about an hour later and the rain came rolling in.