‍Once again like the last time I rode a route like this through the 85 corridor I left very early, this time almost at midnight. This simplifies things greatly and makes all the intersections safer, easier and faster. In addition I took advantage of the deserted roads so I used a large highway for a very long stretch in the beginning, running through Dekalb and Gwinnett to Lawrenceville. I thought the way up to Tyrone and Fairburn might be a bit busy since it was still early in the night on a Friday night but everything was deserted. I barely saw any cars till I got to Highway 29, which I rode to College Park and got off at Virginia ave. I rode through the main hotel and commercial area there and while there were still a couple bars and such still packed along the way, the road itself was deserted and so I sailed over 285 without having to stop, I caught every light green on a huge deserted highway. Atlanta was a breeze and in Dekalb county I jumped on Lavista road which started out 2 lane but very quickly became a 4 lane highway. I hit this around 3 and this was a great time as there was almost no activity in either direction. The road was also very fast and I made really good time here. After I rode through Lawrenceville I used side roads to stay off the main ones as traffic would begin to increase and I had planned to begin heading north at that point to head up closer to the 985 corridor. I rode a couple of subdivisions along this section mostly because I noticed upon planning the route that they were mapped wrong. I was trying to gather data by taking pictures of the street signs but since it was dark and I don't have the best camera I had to stop and really try to get a good shot so this ate up some time. I also did a few extra unplanned miles in new small subdivision roads that were unmapped. I was feeling good, the roads were deserted and it was still before sunrise. There's a feeling I get when it's dark and early that I just have infinite energy and can do all this extra exploring with no cost to later in the ride. Of course these extra miles do have a cost later on but I talk myself into it. I stopped pretty early on considering how I plan normally at just before mile 80 at a Quik Trip by 85. I grabbed more than usual as I planned to do a long mid section and not stop for another 57ish miles. So I got 2 cokes, some pickles in a little bag, and dill pickle chips. Even though I wasn't really craving the salt right away I knew I would want it for later. I filled my bottles at the sink in the bathroom(I guessed correctly and parked my bike right by the side entrance with the bathroom). The remaining few miles in Hall county as the sun came up were painless and pretty easy. I rode to Lula and decided to check out their city park mostly to put on sunscreen. But they actually had a little bathroom which was unlocked(imagine that) and had a sink with a flush toilet. No soap though. Anyways I decided to take advantage and take a nature break here as well as top off my bottles and put on sunscreen. I skipped riding by the store in town and shortcutted through the grid. Since I was feeling great I did a couple of extra dead ends on my way away from town. I rode some pretty fast roads skirting Cornelia to the north that went by quickly and soon I was in Demorest where I stopped at a brand new Dollar General. This was on old 441 which I remembered as being an unusually busy road from the last time I rode here many years ago. I found it to be exactly as I remembered it and it was probably overall the most unpleasant of the whole ride. I was only on it for 2 miles but that was more than enough and I was very relieved to turn off. The next section was much more deserted and I finally noticed that I had done a lot of miles and still had a lot of miles left to go, plus the heat of the day began to set in. But I powered through it and climbed up Low Gap road slowly but steadily, and as I did I noticed a small thunderhead cloud ahead of me although I was bathed in sunlight the whole climb(which is very open with no shade). As soon as I crested the top and began to head down the steep and curvy descent I noticed the road was wet and the storm in front of me gathered more steam and although it was moving away from me I was gradually catching up to it. As I rode along Lake Rabun the rain lightly fell. I soon turned off for the big highway 441 to use it for a few miles and take advantage of its generous shoulder. But the storm had dropped a lot of rain ahead of me so the road was soaked and since I was in the shoulder I was getting all the runoff. So I had to stop to position my garmin in a bag since it gets really finicky when it gets a bit wet. As I rode the storm ahead of me raged on and kept growing and it just seemed like at any minute it would swallow me but this went on for miles. I stopped for the 3rd and final time at the new Racetrac in Clayton. I felt pretty good and was looking forward to being on familiar back roads beside the Little Tennessee river. But first of course I had to contend with riding directly on the main highway north of Clayton and then north of Mountain City, this time without a shoulder. I had to wait for a long time for gaps in traffic as well. But soon I was in North Carolina and the storm just kept on gathering strength and expanding. I made the decision to not ride the roads on the left side of the highway and just stay on the right side and only pavement plus I figured it might be a bit of a shortcut as well. I turned onto Riverside road and crossed the river for the last time and the wind was really picking up and the clouds were finally expanding to block the sun. I rode north on Clarks Chapel and fought the wind which at this point was a headwind. The wind for the day was supposed to be east or southeast and honestly it was so calm all day I barely even noticed it before this storm. Just when I had written off the storm as being too far away to affect me and would probably miss me especially since I was about to turn away from it east in a few miles, it started to rain really hard very suddenly. I had already protected all my electronics with bags and continued on. It felt really cold after having ridden in the heat just before and was so heavy it felt like I was swimming in it. Thankfully there was almost no traffic on Clarks Chapel and It let up a bit after a few miles and faded away once I turned off onto Wells Grove road. So I figured that was it and I began to focus on the hardest obstacle of the whole ride, the climb up Goldmine road. All ride long my rear hub had been skipping occasionally. No big deal, something it's done very infrequently for awhile now. But it definitely was doing it more often even at the beginning of the ride. I figured it was something i'd have to worry about when I got home, mostly annoying. But while riding up the steep pitches on Goldmine it began to skip more until I couldn't ride it anymore. So I walked up the rest of the climb. I could barely even pedal the bike on the mostly flat sections so this took awhile. And in addition it began to rain at the bottom and increased in intensity as I climbed. I was very glad that my hub made it this far and walking up Goldmine is only a bit slower than riding it. (note from the following day at home: I took the freehub off and swapped the springs and pawls from a barely used Hydra XD freehub that I already had and it works fine) So the lesson is change out your hub springs and pawls occasionally? 👏 143.46 new miles 🏘 Completed 25% of Candler Park 🏘 Completed 25% of Browns Mill Park 🗺 Completed 25% of All of ITP 12 🏘 Completed 50% of Dillard -- From Wandrer