What a terrific day for a gravel ride! It was a tad chilly but not bad this morning, but light winds all day and light clouds, and actually it warmed up nicely into the low sixties. I was a bit afraid that all the rain this week(~3 inches) would really render some of the roads into a mudfest, but it wasn't a problem at all. I rode way too hard at the start to stay with the front group that pulled off the front on the first hill, and finally at the first rest stop at around mile 21 I decided that I needed to ride at my own pace. I figured eventually some folks would come up to me and we could form a group. I did get caught by a few people but I still felt like I was going too hard so I had to ride basically the rest of the way in alone, which was fine by me, and I had the benefit of having a clear sight of a good line down all the rocky descents. Boy Randolph county Alabama is chunky. The much advertised creek crossing(ford) wasn't bad at all although it did come up to my bottom bracket. I had enough momentum to roll through with my feet up so I could keep them dry. And after I went through I remembered passing through there on a bikepacking trip, because I remembered the steep rocky hill afterward. Later on there was a route error that had us going down a gated road with tons of no trespassing and surveilance signs. The gate was open though and two riders I had been yoyoing with stopped and ultimately proceeded through. I glanced at the map and saw that there was a relatively easy way around. I was glad I did because the next intersection was the final rest stop. They had just realized that the route was wrong and were in the process of putting up a sign to tell people where to go. I enjoyed a coke here and got going pretty quick. There were other riders that showed up that I would have liked to have as company but they didn't look ready to leave any time soon and I needed to get a move on so I left. It wasn't that long till I got to the finish and there was a nice spread of food, mostly BBQ but they also had chips and soda so I ate a couple bags really quick and then rolled away since I didn't really know anyone there and in any case needed to get moving. In my haste I forgot to fill my bottles which I didn't notice till a couple miles out. I figured i'd stop in Franklin, which wasn't that far and I still had half a liter. Thankfully though I found a church that had a good faucet. So I skipped stopping in Franklin and stopped in Corinth. I felt amazing after this, and as the sun set and darkness set in, I tackled the hills on Coweta Heard road easily and only started to fade heading in to Sharpsburg. I was a bit worried about the right then left on Highway 16 but I waited for a long gap and sprinted and made the turn without any cars. The other usually bad section on Lower Fayetteville wasn't all that bad either. Great ride!