‍The summer solstice fell on a Saturday morning this year, at 2:42 am. I decided to try and leave around then and ended up waking up a bit early and so I left around 2:30. The air was actually pretty cool and pleasant. I spent the several hours of darkness before sunrise riding subdivisions and streets in McDonough without much fanfare. I again rode my commuter cross bike because of speed concerns to limit my exposure on a hot day. Didn't have to take fenders as there was little chance of rain. There were some clouds around as the sun rose and I was making my way south towards my first stop at Jenkinsburg. As a result mercifully the sun was blocked for part of the morning. I filled everything up and rolled away south from Jenkinsburg and noticed two full boxes of cheerios in a random grassy ditch beside the road. If I were bikepacking these would have been fantastic finds but as it was I couldn't even convince myself to turn around for a picture. The morning stayed pleasant and really didn't get hot till after noon near the time of my second stop. I rode a new connector for a large park beside the interstate leading into Forsyth that allowed me to avoid highway 42. I rode several miles of 42 just before this and it was very unpleasant. Rumble strips, narrow road and lots of holes near the rumble strips. Not a crazy amount of cars but far more than a good quiet deserted state highway. At the park I filled my bottles and used the facilities and then stopped at a gas station by the interstate for a soda and some snacks. I was feeling pretty good but the day was getting hotter and I was really not wanting to do any more hills or dead ends. I really should install some lower gears because anything steep is a real slog on this bike. And there were some hilly roads especially near the Towaliga river. And I actually had several dead ends spread out throughout the first 2 thirds of the ride and wasn't really done until after Milner. I stopped for the last time in Milner and cooled off while eating my snacks and drank a coke under some trees behind the store next to the tracks. I felt lots better and resolved to try and make it to the end without stopping again. Soon I made it to Bethany road which I was glad to see to leave the traffic behind but it was exposed and very hot and the gravel was like riding on marbles with my more road friendly tires on this bike(35s). Hard to believe all my gravel riding used to be on tires like this. After a while I was in need of a little rest and so I decided to stop at the Flint river and cool off. The river was pretty high from all the rain we've had for the past several weeks and was quite muddy. I decided not to dunk myself in but did wet my arms and jersey. I sat and ate a bag of chips and drank some fluids underneath the bridge in the shade and felt a lot better after only a few minutes. This propelled me till the end of the ride and I didn't have to stop again although I was definitely out of water at the end. In the end the temperature on the day only got to around 90 but it felt much worse. I'm glad I left early to minimize my time in the heat. 👍 79.69 new miles Completed 75% of Lamar County -- From Wandrer