Leg 09 - Athens, Ga to Rockmart, Ga

Today was a harsh reminder of how sweet I had it the last two days. Got a start at 4:30 to drive back out to Athens and began riding again at 7:30am. I think traffic was light due to the holiday, which was a big worry around Atlanta - massive population around here. Worked our way into Stone Mountain and that's what you see in the photo. Its a giant mountain of granite (apparently the largest exposed in the world with 583 acres) and has a tribute carved into it's face to Confederate heroes Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. I remember visiting it when I was really young (5?) as my grandparents lived nearby. Due to my apprehension about navigating some of Atlanta's downtown streets and not so nice neighborhoods - decided to car hop over to Smyrna and pick up the Silver Comet Trail for second half of the day. The trail is an old railway bed - 8ft wide concrete with a painted dividing line, shaded for about 1/2, only rises and falls at max 2% grade thanks to the railroad requirements, and runs for over 40 miles - it was great. Today's ride was 88 miles total. Tomorrow I'll continue on the trail for a few miles to the Alabama border and pick up the Chief Ladiga Trail - a similar dedicated bike/jogging path that runs down to Anniston, AL.