As I was just going southwest through Coweta and to the Meriwether county gravel straight away I decided to leave at the leisurely time of 5:42am. I prepared for temperatures of around freezing so I dressed quite warmly and in addition used toe warmers and had hand warmers inside my gloves. But the temperature stayed right at 38 which is quite warm for such clothing. It dipped to to 35 briefly but then warmed up pretty fast to the mid fifties and then low sixties. Cloudy pretty much all day. I did a few dead end roads in Greenville and then set off south for Warm Springs. First I rolled through the little town area around the rehabilitation center which was pretty neat. There was an old golf course and a deserted summer camp beside a lake. And a little street grid that as I went east climbed up the mountain. I followed a street underneath the access road for Roosevelt's Little White house that led up to a cottage for the center and then at the end, an apparently abandoned house. Some really lovely stone work beside the road that looked really old and perhaps was installed by CCC workers. I followed the main road over to Manchester and this was mostly pretty light traffic. Did a little dead end gravel road here that followed right beside a long ago abandoned railroad that I did some brief exploration of. Next I rode all the entrances and exits of a new roundabout with Judson Bulloch road to put it on the map later and then some subdivisions in Manchester. Finally stopped for the first time at the Dollar General next to the old mill and then got rolling quickly. I ate my snacks on the go east towards Talbot county. Ellison Pound road was paved the first half and then there was a collapsed road over the top of a still intact culvert that had the road closed but it was still rideable on both a bike and an ATV. After that going east the road was gravel. This section was so pretty and so devoid of traffic it was almost eerie. Highway 36 was just a joy to ride and it's hard to believe i'd never ridden it in all these years of criss crossing these parts. The river crossing was beautiful and I took a moment to check out the public boat ramp and sit for a minute beside the still river in between shoals. After the river in Upson county I did a series off a long dead end road that was a bit confusing and of dubious public access. It never said it wasn't public but some side roads were not up to the standards of the rest of the county roads. But these went by without issue and I followed the long dead end road to the end at a gate on very loose and fairly sharp gravel. On a little descent I felt one of the rocks just barely touch my rear rim so I stopped to put a couple more pounds of air in. Next I rode around the little subdivisions of Sunset Village, picked up some stale found fries from a bag in the middle of a street from Wendy's next to a church, and stopped for what turned out to be the last time at the Dollar General there. I was very efficient on water this ride and had a lot of food with me at all times. I stayed on top of both eating and drinking and felt really good the whole ride as a result. Never really felt bad the whole ride. Did a few more country dead end roads, fought off or avoided a bunch more stray yard dogs and then enjoyed some good gravel roads in Pike county as I worked my way north to Zebulon. I had hoped to make it there before sunset but I missed it by almost an hour. It didn't really matter as US19 was really deserted and no problem at all. Just before I jumped on the first time I saw several huge flocks of red winged blackbirds that were so beautiful set against the fading light in the sky in the trees. The sun set and I did an industrial park and a brand new subdivision not on the map. I decided to cut off another subdivision that I was going to have to snap pictures of the street signs which I didn't want to do in the dark. This brought mileage down more closely to 206 which suited me just fine. I was feeling good but it being late on a Sunday I was keen to get back at a reasonable hour. Zebulon went by swimmingly and soon I was onto gravel solitude. It's been very dry here this summer and fall and so the roads were a bit dry and washboarded but that's typically the case in Pike I have found. On Blanton mill road in Pike I found a headlamp that was still on in the road, in good condition but without the other parts that attach it to one's head. I turned it off and put it in my frame bag. Further down on Blanton Mill road near the crest of the hill where Line Creek road comes in, I saw an upright brown fast food bag beside the road. I was interested since I figured it might have something inside so I stopped to check it out. I was elated to find that there was some sort of meat free bean based tortilla thing with cheese and tomatoes. I ate it quickly and got back going, glad for the calories. It probably wasn't there long but I honestly was hungry enough that I wasn't much concerned. On the way back home I was pleasantly surprised to find less traffic than normal and so I enjoyed a very stress free last few miles home. The clouds tried to sprinkle the last few hours but never really could squeeze anything out. Wind was from the southwest and was pretty light all day. Temperature cooled to low fifties by the end and I ended up putting on my arm and ear warmers for the post sunset hours.