‍Didn't really intend to leave so early but it was nice to have the roads to myself basically all morning. First item of note was a gravel road heading south towards Talbotton. After crossing highway 36 it was pretty chunky gravel with large exposed rocks and several decent drops. There was evidence of fairly common usage but after a hunting camp with some RVs parked in a small field, the road got really gnarly and then faded away to a long ago abandoned bridge over a creek. The deck had long ago been removed or rotted, revealing only the steel I-beams. Someone had then added some thin decking about 6 feet wide to presumably get an ATV across but even this was mostly rotted away. So I had to hold my hand on the side rail for stabilization while I walked the 6 inch I-beam on the left and rolled my bike on the adjacent one. It was a little tricky due to some encroaching vines but I managed just fine. The other side had a no tresspassing sign but I figured this was a very low risk exploration. The track was grass and pinestraw and narrow but open with no fallen trees blocking the way. There was a clearly defined deer singletrack running through, avoiding all the washouts and trees growing up. After only a half mile I came to the end where it joined a properly maintained gravel road. The gate was very old and didn't say no trespassing. I'd call it still open to bikes and foot traffic then. I rolled through Talbotton and headed south on fast pavement. Then a really nice gravel road and more pavement to Geneva where I stopped for the first time at the Dollar General there. I had a long gap between stores on this route so I really filled up with water here and I had packed plenty of food before I left for this stretch. South of Geneva I was at the Fall Line and in the sand hills so any road that wasn't paved was sandy as hell. The dead end roads off of Bethel road were just sugar sand mostly. Bethel road was scraped pretty good and had some decent clay too so it was pretty rideable. I almost had to walk for the first two but was fortunate to get by with rolling. The third one bordered a WMA. The route plan was to do two dead ends off of the main entrance road but thankfully it was gated and I was saved from having to bother trying to ride all that sand. The way to the gate was extremely deep sand and I don't know how anybody is accessing their properties in even a regular 4x4 truck. I rolled down to the gate but the little steep bit up after turning around I definitely had to walk and it was hard to do even that. Around this time for some reason it began to drizzle and this continued for 30 minutes or so but never wet the ground entirely. I was glad for the cloudy skies as the humidity and temperature were hot by my standards and definitely by March standards. The day began in the mid sixties, dropped to around 60 and peaked at around 80. After Bethany road I turned on Anthony road which was also sandy but passable. Some more paved roads led me east to more sandy dirt roads, including one that I thought was closed upon first examination. I decided to explore it from the other end and it turned out that it wasn't closed after all. No gate or anything, but at one end had all kinds of signs and a stake in the ground with no trespassing signs and a trail camera. When I came by it again upon leaving and turning onto pavement, I flipped it off for good measure. People who lived on the road were using it frequently to come and go that way as well. Very strange. I rolled north on pavement past sand quarrying operations and followed the CSX railroad on an extremely sandy dirt road. I had to walk a lot of this bit. Eventually I rode the adjacent powerline cut which had some low and sparse vegetation and this was very difficult but still easier and faster than walking. This was only a mile though and soon I was on pavement again. I rolled north and a few paved roads later by the time I rolled again on the gravel of Maxwell road I had left the sand behind and was again in the Piedmont. I took the opportunity for a little break to eat and let my feet rest. I also took another nature break here. After this was Pobiddy road which was pretty fast and scenic and low traffic pavement. I turned off and did two really great gravel roads that were super fun and turned back onto Pobiddy again and took it all the way in to Thomaston. I skirted town on the west side and skipped the first little store I went by. I decided I was good enough to wait another 13 or so miles to a proper Dollar General in Sunset Village. I rolled by a very loud argument between a couple outside a house with screaming and cursing and pushing and shoving, but there were lots of adults around. Definitely none of my business. There were kids around too though which was sad. My impression of Thomaston was already that its redneckness goes deep and this was further conformation. On a positive note, I always have kind passings around here which is very nice. After an extremely steep subdivision off Potato Creek and highway 36 which was really fun I headed north and out of Upson county and onto a series of deserted Pike county gravel roads that were a pleasure to ride. Although the fatigue of the ride was definitely wearing on me and I was having to shift positions and clip out my feet to let them rest a bit. But I managed just fine and even did several unplanned dead ends off of Beeks road. Including a brand new one with entirely too large houses, one of which had a stretch limo in the driveway and a dozen or so starry eyed overdressed teens in a sort of awkward conversation huddle. Presumably prom night in Pike county I reasoned. I rode the other dead ends including several new ones that were not on the map yet, and when I rode back by the limo house the limo was still parked but the kids were gone, inside presumably hearing a lecture from the parents about studying and working hard so you too can have granite countertops and walk in closets a hour away from the nearest grocery store. I rolled on Blanton Mill road and noticed that Pike county had recently paved Ward road, another gravel road forever lost. Returned to town long before sunset pushed on by a south tailwind that really helped me along and raised my rather pathetic average considerably the second half. 👍 80.15 new miles 🏘 Completed 25% of Geneva 🏘 Completed 25% of Junction City 🏘 Completed 50% of Thomaston -- From Wandrer