‍I left fairly late in the morning but very well rested and enjoyed very quiet roads till Campbellton. After I crossed the river the traffic picked up a bit, as I got passed at least a couple dozen times including 2 semis on the climb up out of the river valley and up to 92. I rode Riverside Parkway for the first time and it was lovely. Nice wide shoulders that had bike lane paint, and low traffic. The sunrise was very beautiful along this section. I did a couple industrial roads leading to warehouses or data centers, then a pretty tree lined subdivision that had very steep dead ends. I rode two different dead end roads just south of Sweetwater Creek State Park that had a flurry of construction everywhere. It seemed like every new development was a new data center. Amidst the development was a weird old subdivision way out on the end of a long dead end. It had small, old and run down houses strewn about amongst a mature forest that bordered state park property and several of the roads were gravel. Next was more industrial areas off Factory Shoals road that I had intended to do as dead end out and backs that ended very close to one another. But upon arrival the first road dead ended at an old road through to the state park and some warehouses. The road used to go through opposite this to the other road I was to take but had recently been closed with a series of reflective signs sunk into the ground. But this was easy to bypass and ride the deep gravel through to the other road I was to take next. In this way I put myself further in arrears as to my ultimate ride length goal. I had already been conservative with the route at 202 miles because when I go north and do a mostly dead end very long ride i've found that the difficulty is maxed out for me personally so I try to keep the distance down to the lower end of what I need. So as a result along the way I did a bit extra in areas that I knew I had not ridden before, including a fairly large apartment complex that I took very easy and it wasn't too much trouble. But before that I stopped at a Racetrac and got a soda and chips using the self checkout and I filled my bottles at the water fountain again. I interacted with no one at all although it was fairly busy, it was a great stop. The day was cloudy till right before my first stop so I waited and put on sun sleeves and sunscreen. Right before the store I also stopped and gathered some grapes that had fallen on a deserted industrial road. This year has been great for Muscadines and they're falling all over right now. Next I did a bunch of subdivisions in Lithia Springs which were still pretty hilly and not much else to report other than nothing really much going on anywhere on a Sunday morning which is the way I like it. I stopped again at a Dollar General in Powder Springs for another soda and chips, and held off on filling up with water since I had planned a stop on the Silver Comet at a water fountain a few miles later. I then rode a small tight loop with dozens of dead end roads along the way and then creeped my way back south towards the trail again. The main road off which I was doing the dead ends got increaslingly more busy and difficult to cross which required patience for gaps in traffic but wasn't too hard, just time consuming. I stopped at another Dollar General and yet another soda and some gummies. I had plenty of food by this point since I had bought a large bag of chips the previous stop plus I had extra peanuts and such from the beginning. So I wasn't ever going to run out. As it was I ended up making this my last store stop. Mostly what I need from stores is cold soda and even though it wasn't really that hot of a day, it sure is nice. I jumped back on the Silver Comet and then did a couple more dead ends along the way although it wasn't much and I was very glad to be going on a straightforward route with no intersections for a bit. I filled my bottles again at the last bathroom and took the opportunity to take a nature break as well. I rode all the way into Atlanta on the newly finished Silver Comet connector trail all the way across the river and to an existing path that had been built a few years ago. The last time i did this bit I think I had to jump on the highway for a section or two but it's all much better and fully separated with a wall from traffic. I topped off a bottle at Westside Park and had plenty the rest of the ride. The rest of the way through the city was on very quiet streets, becoming more quiet by the hour as the day wore on and evening came with the sun sinking down. I reinstalled my light for the hectic section south of College Park back to Fife. Of course I had to get off and ford the creek on Oakley road again since they are no closer to having the bridge done than last week. Darkness set as I got to Fayette county and in Tyrone I was greeted at the last curve on Swanson road with blinking red railroad crossing lights off in the distance, with a stopped train. Not a good sign. Not wanting to backtrack a bit and try to find the little informal path to the park I decided to just go through right at the tracks, which was harder than it looked as I had to scale an erosion fence and then a small barbed wire fence. I rode through the dark parking lot and was surprised to find several cars there. I rode around the corner and found a group of at least a dozen people walking as a large group and as I rode by they seemed much more perplexed at my presence than I was of theirs. I almost said something about the train but decided against it and just rode off, ready to get home. I stayed on the home side of the tracks by going the back way which is a bit longer than what I had intended but not by much. Great ride. I actually felt pretty good the entire way though and never had a bad spot. 👏 93.84 new miles 🏘 Completed 25% of Hills Park -- From Wandrer