TheSouth2011

Day 11

Monday, 6 June 2011
Dallas, GA to Stone Mountain, GA
56.6 miles, 5h24m, 10.5 mph
Elapsed Time: 7h45m, Max speed: 31.6mph
Total Climbing: 1924ft, Max elevation: 1153ft
Total mileage: 720.8

A slow day. Not too strenuous, but wearying in its own way.

The breakfast at the Days Inn was feeble, but I opted against stopping at the nearby Waffle House. I wanted to get moving. It would be a fairly short day miles-wise, but I expected slow going in getting through Atlanta.

So, I worked my way back to the trail by riding back down the road with the ridiculous rumble strips all the way across the four-foot shoulder. I grabbed some fluids at a gas station and then back east down the trail. I got a little later start than I wanted because of the time change. There was a time change, you know. For me, anyway. Time change. Yeah.

I spent the last 20 miles of the Silver Comet listening to podcasts. There were quite a few people out on the trail considering it was a Monday morning. I guess a lot of people work at night--or not at all--or have Mondays off. I talked to a fireman during a break at one of the parks along the way, and he said he ran a drill yesterday and his guys were dropping like flies from the heat. I've been out in the heat so long I don't even notice it anymore. It's been over 90 degrees for my last nine days of riding. No biggie. As long as I keep moving fast enough.

The Silver Comet ended after 20 miles. And the Silver Comet Connector began. But that
dumped me out on the mean streets of suburban Atlanta.

I expected getting into Atlanta to be harrowing. It was a little sketchy, but not nearly as scary as I expected. Not pleasant, though.

And not very inspiring.

That's a little better, but not much.

I stopped for lunch across from "The World of Coke."
I assume they mean Coca-Cola.

And I walked through the Centennial Olympic Park.
If those kids weren't there I so would have ridden through those fountains.

I rode down to the site of the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. They've got the original infield
layed out in bricks in a Turner Field parking lot. I rode around the bases to
commemorate Hank Aaron's 715th home run. Could be the coolest thing I've done all year.

They've also preserved the part of the outfield fence that Hank's blast went over.
The Braves are a class organization.
(You can just see the nose of the cop car parked behind the wall).

The Olympic torch was just outside the old ballpark.

The Georgia capitol happened to be on my way back to downtown.

I started heading east toward Stone Mountain, and I stumbled across the Atlanta/Stone Mountain Bike Route. So I followed it. It was mostly high-quality off road path, with some on-road sections.

Mostly it looked like this.

I took a slight detour to get a picture of this historic site: Waffle House #1, This is
where it all began. It's a museum now, and it's open by appointment only. Otherwise, you
know I would have gone in.

Eventually I made it to Stone Mountain: a big rock with images of Confederate heroes (or
Union traitors) carved into it.

I had way too much dinner at the Outback. This is why I can't lose weight on these trips. Oy.

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