The trip up GA85 was pleasant with the huge shoulder there, there was some traffic but it was early enough that it wasn't significant. My first worry was the crossing over I-75 on Forest Parkway. This highway is almost built to freeway standards so I was definitely worried about narrow bridges and high speed traffic. But I waited on the side at the entrance to the interstate on a side street fronting a dead end frontage road, but with visibility of the highway. Most cars were simply getting on the interstate, but there was no right turn on red so there was a long line all queued up. Strange too, the light was biased to be green for cars exiting the interstate but there were none so nothing was happening. So I waited till that cleared and then went straight through the deserted intersection and enjoyed a completely traffic free trip over the long approach and bridge. Turned onto the frontage road on the other side with no problem. I wound my way through industrial areas and into Atlanta and then Hapeville where I wound through neighborhoods. I rode through Emory, including a closed street that was open to bikes and pedestrians though, and on through Dekalb subdivisions which were very hilly and kinda pretty with lots of tall trees. The hills were steeper than I would have thought, and I knew this was going to be a very high climbing route. The estimate is usually off on the route versus what I actually experience when riding it when the route has lots of dead ends. As the sun rose higher and the traffic increased gradually I no longer could blow through deserted intersections and began to actually have to wait for cars or lights. I rode into Gwinnett county and experienced pretty pleasant roads even though a lot of them were really wide highway like things with 4 lanes plus a turning lane. Overbuilt. Rode through a few deserted office parks, and even got to ride a bit of path through a park and alongside a highway. I stopped at Graves park and found a really nice water bottle filling station that even fit my bottles inside. I also used the bathroom and put on sunscreen here. Next I began riding subdivisions and they were really hilly and it seemed like every stop sign was at the bottom of a hill. Somewhere around here I began to worry that I had missed my store stop even though I had passed several before(waiting on the store I wanted on my side of the road at an intersection. I glanced at the route on my phone and was reassured that I was close but it was upcoming. Stopped at the CVS at a highway intersection where I saw several road cyclists turning onto the highway opposite me. I loaded up on snacks and soda and it was really expensive here. Even notable in light of the recent inflation we've been experiencing lately. I rode a few more subdivisions on the way to Jones Bridge park, where I topped off my bottles and finished my second coke from the store. I did get to see the river here, it was at a little shoaly area. Looked like you could walk all the way across. Perhaps an adventure for another day, i've always wanted to ford the mighty Chattahoochee somewhere(with the bike). Next I need to make my way southwest and west. I had a raging tailwind from the NE by this point. I made my way down a 2 lane busy road pretty quickly and it was pretty uneventful. I had an issue with a light to take a left off of here from a dead end road(I was going straight) and the light wouldn't cooperate. I pressed the button and everything. After waiting for minutes i ended up just turning right and then checking traffic, U-turn and then a right. Took forever and by now being in the sun was very hot. I used Paces Ferry road to cross the river. The beginning part was busy but was fairly wide so it was no big deal. The road forked after the river and the traffic died almost completely for the climb back up to Vinings. I had stopped at a shell station down in Atlanta not far back but I could've waited for the little CVS in Vinings, oh well. Passed through Vinings and turned onto a office parkway straight uphill to climb Mount Wilkinson. It was really steep and thankfully the road was deserted because of the weekend. At the top I followed the public road down another extremely steep pitch only to have to turn around again at the cul de sac for several aparment complexes on the top of the mountain. I also climbed over the gate leading to the actual summit that was occupied by an old family cemetery. Still couldn't get much of a view because of the trees and an adjacent apartment building. Descending this I rode a few paths through Smyrna and worked my way west through Cobb county on some nice back roads that were pretty deserted. I stopped again at a Texaco in Austell, unplanned but I was needing more salt and soda. I crossed the railroad over the adjoining bridge just as a long intermodal train was slowly sneaking its way through town. I had plenty of water so I didn't stop at the park and continued on. I continued on the same side of the tracks and so I had the train on my left. There was another train on the siding and eventually came up to a crossing where there were lots of cars waiting. I went around all of them since I was keeping to the same side I had been. More lots of hills and fun roads, it was great to be able to freewheel downhill without intersections. I was feeling tired and was pretty suprised that it was getting so late. So many intersections and waiting at lights and lots more total climbing than I thought. But I still pressed on and had a pretty good time riding through sunset and seeing the moon rise up over the horizon. I ended up deciding to try to shortcut some miles and climbing by avoiding the gravel roads through Chattahoochee Hills, by staying on South Fulton Parkway, which has a good shoulder. Only I ran over a big nail. I pulled off quickly and grabbed a plug from my bag, pulled out the nail and quickly plugged the hole with my finger before quickly plugging it, and it didn't lose hardly any air. I didn't even bother pumping it up anymore and it held the rest of the way home.