‍The forecast for the day was yet again to be a hot one with lots of humidity as well so I tried to leave early to at least enjoy the first few hours. The area I was heading over to had gotten a lot of rain the previous night and the temperature was actually pleasant in the lower seventies with clear skies all night. But around the time of sunrise it got cloudy and a little bit foggy, blocking the sun for several hours in the morning. I made very good time southwest to West Point and made a very quick stop for fluids at a gas station on the edge of town. I wound my way through Lanett to do a small loop within the boundaries of Chambers county. I had planned a couple of dead ends but since it was very early and the weather was nice and the area was deserted, I decided to explore a bit more and did several more dead ends here. In Alabama it's a bit more obvious which roads are public because they put up large road signs with a sophisticated numbering system at the beginning of all of them. Much fewer roads unmarked than rural Georgia I would say. They don't however like to name any of the roads really, just numbers. Even the important ones. There wasn't much going on at this early hour of the day and so this little loop was very quiet and still pretty cool due to the fog and clouds. But by the time I made my way back over to the town of Valley the clouds were trying to break up and the day was getting slightly warmer. I stopped again at a Dollar General for more fluids and then wound my way up through the little town grid beside the highway. Traffic had picked up but crossing over wasn't too much of an issue before noon. I have found since this area has like a thousand driveways and streets per mile it's very difficult to cross or take a left off of but it was fine when I went through this time. I stopped in West Point at a gas station for a coke only to help me get over to the next stop at Pine Mountain. This is where the day began to really warm up although there were still lots of clouds to occasionally block the sun. I had enough water with me that I used some of it to douse myself to cool off every now and then. There was a fairly strong southwest wind blowing and so I made good time over. I stoppped at the gas station on the edge of town, packed everything up quick and rode down 354 to the state park for a little break. I needed to use the restroom there and I really like the CCC bathroom at the Liberty Bell pool. The parking lot was full of cars, families enjoying the pool on a hot day. I went and sat under a tree and used the faucet across the street to cool off and sit and eat a snack before I got going again. So I felt really good as I rode on up the climb and down 190 a bit. I enjoyed my time here and the descent off the mountain on Hines Gap road as I headed on north to Durand. In town I met a fast moving intermodal train which I only had to stop for a couple minutes. I focused on making it to Gay for the next stop and kept on using my extra water to pour over me on occasion. These miles went pretty quick as I had a tailwind and the terrain is very flat. In Gay I stopped as planned and prepared for a final push to the end and it was very warm by this point and the clouds had diminished significantly so they rarely blocked the sun anymore. I felt really good the last few miles despite the heat but once I got to the shade of the path in PTC I did take advantage of the water fountain next to Holly Grove road and poured it over my head several times. I rode the remaining miles in the shade of the path and was glad to be out of the heat. 👍 53.48 new miles 🏘 Completed 25% of Lanett -- From Wandrer