I left at almost exactly the same time as last Saturday and headed out the exact same route to Lovejoy again. The air was really chilly after a front had pushed through on Friday and shunted out the hot and humid air. I've gotten used to the heat and humidity so the upper fifties were way too cold on my bare arms so I broke out and put on my sun sleeves early. It did feel nice to not be hot for a few hours as this would change very soon after daybreak. It was a clear day and it wasn't long after sunrise before I had to put on sunglasses to protect my eyes heading east. The short bit of Highway 81 I had to be on early wasn't too bad and I was absolutely flying down this bit. For half a second I wished to just do a double century on fast highways and just be able to be done with it after 11-12 hours. But I was on a route that included much exploring and lots and lots of gravel, always more enjoyable. Breezed through the I-75 crossing on GA 155, got lucky with the on and off ramps both on the opposite sides of the road I was on and so I avoided what little turning traffic there was. I rode through a really large industrial park on the east side and found myself in a mini rush before 7am ticked over and a new shift started but this wasn't bad at all. As soon as I was south of the last warehouse I was in proper rural Georgia again. Really didn't see hardly any traffic for a long while after this and had several fun little gravel sectors. Although in the middle of this I rode on the edge of the suburbs of McDonough and a lovely lakeside road that had some really fun steep rollers. Then right back to rural mostly open land. First stop at Snapping Shoals on the South river at the Dollar General there and with more than 50 miles to go till the next one, I bought extra fluids to carry with me. Rode away feeling great as the day began to transition in to real warmth and then heat. I worked my way through south Newton county and then on into the gravel of Jasper county and into some real solitude on the long stretch over to Monticello. I was in good spirits and had plenty of fluids left by the time I rolled into town but I was really wanting a cold drink and some new snacks. Sometimes one just gets a bit bored with what is there in the gas tank and handlebar bag and simply desires a shiny new treat. I bought enough to fill my bottles and then some and also an ice cream cookie sandwich. I was really hungry but my stomach had other ideas than a quick stop for a bit of eating off the bike and stopped. So I pushed off and got going to hopefully get into the woods soon. Shortly upon leaving I transitioned back into gravel and the public lands of the Oconee national forest and I took the opportunity to take a nature break in a very shaded and secluded spot. Felt lots better and got on with the ride, enjoying the secluded gravel roads. The descent to the Ocmulgee river on HWY 83 was so fast and so much fun but all too brief. I pedaled away from the crossroad with US23 skipping the gas station there and the highway traffic was dramatically less on the other side. Not that it was that bad before but I got passed by a couple of 70mph cars. A little shoulder but not enough to really feel far enough away. I zig zagged my way over to High Falls where I had intended to top off my water at the park and then possibly stop at a gas station. I decided I had plenty of snacks and also skipped a brand new Family Dollar-Dollar Tree combo and just rode on. Had plenty of water and enough to eat so I pushed on. Rode some lovely gravel roads in Lamar county with great rollers and had lots of fun but was getting tired. I was looking forward to the next store at US19 in Pike county but completely forgot about going through Milner which of course has a Dollar General. I gladly rode a bit off the route and got a cold drink and lots of chips and rolled on. I probably could have used two sodas because I burned through one really fast but it's just as well, I probably didn't really need it. On into the dry powdery gravel of Pike county. It was a bit loose and somewhat slow but I was glad to be mostly free of cars so I could settle into a rhythm for the rest of the ride back home. There were occasional cars and trucks but they were mostly pretty kind with the dust and at least one even stopped while I passed by. I had another run in with the white dog on Wood Creek road and I thought I might be able to ride by him and this turned out to be a mistake. I put my left foot out to keep him away from my leg and also to get off, and he clamped down on my toes and actually bit a hole in my shoe! Thankfully it didn't break the skin and I was annoyed at what he did to my shoe but after I got off he took off for his house. I settled down soon after and felt pretty good on the run into home. I wasn't really thrilled about the snacks I had but I managed to get enough of them down to get home. The run through the length of PTC was mostly pretty free of golf cart interference and I felt decent enough to ride relatively hard down Hip Pocket and up the length of Wisdom road. But definitely tired at the end and ready for a break.