I got off earlier than intended so I was way ahead of my goal time to make it through Atlanta before sunrise. It was a really unseasonably cool morning in the low sixties and it felt wonderful, almost too cold. But after a few minutes I was used to it and was able to enjoy riding without being hot for the first time in what felt like months. As I rolled along on the little back roads on the way up to the city and through East Point and South Fulton I was glad I had left early so I could take full advantage of the cool night air and lack of traffic of course. It was even more deserted than I have experienced doing such a ride so early. No weird cop behavior at all which is unusual actually. Usually I see something untoward on these early morning rides. I saw a couple but they were all quiet in parking lots. I sailed through the heart of the city with almost deserted roads and it went by fast. I rolled underneath 285 and outside the perimeter before sunrise and began riding dead end subdivision roads and they were instantly quite hilly so my progress slowed considerably. It was so serene and quiet in this time around sunrise, just such a lovely time to ride. I could have ridden every main road in this area with no problem but instead I followed my route which tacked this way and that avoiding main roads. After sunrise I rode into Gwinnett county and saw people out walking in the first 4 very short cul de sacs I rode, along with a house that had at least 6 outdoor cats. Jumped on a path going to Lilburn and dodged walkers and runners and didn't see any other cyclists on the short section of path. I stopped at Lyons Club Park and filled my bottles at the bathroom. I did much better on more efficient water management on this ride. I was trying to not horde so much water all the time and actually let it run out near to each stop and I mostly succeeded. More subdivisions and some unfortunately somewhat busy narrow collector roads between and I crossed over many intersections before I arrived at my first stop of the day at a Dollar General not too far from Yellow River Park. I'm glad I stopped here as it was definitely about to warm up and I timed myself to run low on food and water and in need of a pick me up soda. The bits after the store were on a busy couple of roads and I found myself taking a right in a turn lane I couldn't get out of and then I decided to improvise a way back to the road I needed to be on. But I ended up doing a little P loop in a subdivision confirming that I should have just turned around. So I added miles but got back on track and soon was on an open 4 lane highway that wasn't too bad but in hindsight I probably should have just jumped on the sidewalk. It had a curb and no shoulder and nobody was walking here anyway. I proceeded from dead end road to dead end road and mostly avoided the worst of the traffic. Next I rode into Yellow River park where I expected to see a decent crowd of people but once I got inside and began riding some random trails I was almost totally alone the whole time. I mostly followed what I assumed were the main trails with some old signs marking, a mix of doubletrack and singletrack. Nothing technical at all. Some good views of the river. And the bathrooms had a bottle filling station, only I had already filled up. I felt really good as I rode away from the park and the air was still pretty cool. By now it was pretty clear that the day would be a lot of climbing and I tried to ride as conservatively as I could. Add in the fact that there are two or three hundred(if not more) intersections to stop for, it means a lot of accelerations. Very tiring work for the mileage gained. But I do take a bit of pleasure in working hard for a result. And it was a lovely day. Soon I ran across a new subdivision and was feeling good enough that I figured i'd just ride all of it so I could input all the new roads with the names and such. And then I explored a long gravel road probably part of the future development that went to the river that was pretty cool. Added more miles here but I felt great. Some lovely windy back roads later I crossed I-20 and rode beside it for a stretch, went around a mall on a very nice road beside bare rock and mostly forest and then jumped on the Arabia Mountain path system. I was glad to relax on the path and for the most part it was pretty deserted. Everything looked even more dry than back home. I enjoyed riding this path but it was just as hilly as everywhere else and so it wasn't exactly fast. After the path I rode more pretty quiet roads and some super hilly subdivisions and was beginning to feel a bit tired and in need of a break. I stopped at a park bathroom for water replenishment and then stopped at a gas station not too far further. I managed to get most of my liquids from parks and only got sodas and a couple gatorades from stores. And I managed to not overbuy food and ate most of what I bought each time. The fact that the air was pretty dry and the temperature was under ninety helped greatly. I have trouble eating and drinking properly in super hot weather. Anvil Block road, a long highway that went southwest towards Forest Park was mostly pretty decent riding. The bit through the warehouse area was almost totally devoid of any traffic, although there were some fast moving cars so I had to be vigilant. In Forest Park I crossed a railroad track and ran over a nail and had to search for a spot to stop quickly because air was leaving really fast and I didn't have much time. Thankfully there was a nice little shaded parklike avenue that I was able to stop at and assess the damage. Not only did I have a nail in my rear tire, but it had gone all the way through from the edge of the tread clear through the sidewall! And somehow in the process made another hole nearby. I was tired but remained calm and grabbed my plugs and decided to try to preserve the tubeless and attempt to plug all three. I pumped it up and amazingly it held air wonderfully and after I trimmed the one on the tread I was on my way in quite short order. Held the rest of the way home. Tire was almost bald and it already had two plugs in it from the bikepack to Nashville. Once I was in the grid of Forest Park I didn't really have to get passed by anyone till I was heading out of Jonesboro on the bike lane of 54. Plus I got to enjoy more path on the Jester Creek Greenway. I really was able to move fast on Anvil Block and 54 with an east wind pushing me and a flatter terrain. So I made pretty quick time of the trip home from Jonesboro. I stopped for a bit more fluids at the Fayetteville DG and then enjoyed super familiar roads west to home.