I got up a bit earlier than intended but decided to get going to help ensure that I outran the rain in the forecast for the evening. Since I was getting off early I made a couple of last minute changes to do a bit more neighborhoods in Griffin. I fumbled a bit on the first few miles in PTC with my radar as it didn't want to connect right away but I manged to get it recognized without having to stop. The miles through Woolsey and across the river had pretty sparse traffic, and the bridge on Wildwood road that's been under construction for months now has a deck on it at least and was rideable. Although I had to go around all the heavy equipment. The neighborhoods on the north side of Griffin were hit very hard by the recent tornado. Much of this was an old mill area and lots of houses were already in poor condition. Many trees came down and as a result several houses were destroyed. Some had already been removed and there was a bit of new construction in places. Maybe the neighborhood will be built back even better. I just love the style of houses there, they remind me of the house I grew up in. It's a shame that it hit this area as it's right next to the brand new trail system at Quarry Park, which was also devastated. I've been wanting to ride here for awhile, but was afraid that there were just huge trees down everywhere(which was definitely the case). I would have gone to help but it's really far and I usually commute by bike to these things, and only use hand saws so I figured I wouldn't be much help. Anyway it looks like it's seen some love and at least the parts I rode were clear. I didn't even really intend to ride it but I figured why not, it took me to another adjacent neighborhood I was going to anyway. I came out to the street after fording a creek that had a couch in the middle of it the last time I visited a couple of years ago. The remains of the fabric all torn and slowly sinking into the creekbed were still visible. The rest of Griffin was quiet and lovely and came out of the tornado unharmed. The rich side of town was spared. The day was slowly warming up by now and I took off all my extra warm clothes other than my sun sleeves which I use so I don't have to wear so much sunscreen. I stopped at the DG in Milner via crossing the railroad tracks on foot from the road in front of the Baptist church. Rode every bit of one of Milner's only subdivisions, even the alleys since they count in the current map update. Kinda superflous why they put them in, because they still had normal driveways and garages facing the main street. The alley was just for backyard access like in old towns like Rochelle. Rare to see a modern subdivision like that. It's nearly built out but not quite. The countryside over to Barnesville was lovely, and even highway 36 and Barnesville-Jackson road were tolerable. Still had high speed traffic but not nearly as much as I expected. I took a little side detour to check out the (abandoned?) Barnesville animal shelter, which had a nice creek that had been channelled and tapped for water flowing beside. Made it through Barnesville's downtown and admired some murals and old buildings. Just south of town still in Lamar county there was a little subdivision with only two short streets. One led to an open and ungated track that led off into the woods, so of course I explored every branch I could. I bushwacked quite a bit trying in vain to connect a loop, but most of the tracks were in great shape, a narrow ATV trail with at least some evidence that parts are being cleared for more houses, although further back it was definitely more dubious ownership. I eventually turned around and called it quits when I finally ran across a small clearing and a deer stand. Made my way west over across the north part of Upson county. Just beautiful and with some really fun curvy roads, and a tiny bit of gravel. The consistent rains we've been getting all spring has made the wildflower displays spectacular by the roads. All the grass in the fields is green and tall. I stopped at the DG on the north side of Thomaston on US19. Got a couple of cokes in the 16oz can variety, gatorade, and some snacks. Upon crushing the cans and stashing them on my handlebar bag for transport home to recycle, I managed to slice my index finger. Doh! Thankfully I had a paper towel and some good Nexcare bandages with me. I put two on and it held good for the rest of the ride. I tried to be careful with it and elevate it when I could on the remaining miles back home. So i was a bit tired from altering my position constantly to do this. In addition I probably went a bit harder than usual on a long ride because I guess this sorta counts as a short one? The sky clouded up around 2-3pm and the wind completely died. It was pretty light all day and the forecast was for a south wind but it didn't last very long.