Day 4 - Sugar Hill to Athens GA - 41.8 miles

Jack and Bill at Hog Mountain Store - circa 1985

Day four is 41.8 miles and it's mostly downhill.  (See Video) The day starts at 1,028 ft elevation and ends at 720 ft.. If needed, first thing in the morning, there is a Starbucks located at mile 1.3  where Buford Drive intersects with Gravel Springs Road.  This day's ride will start by taking me within a mile of The Mall of Georgia. Built in 1999, it is currently the largest shopping mall in the state of Georgia, consisting of more than two hundred stores on three levels. I'm sure getting out of the Buford\Mall area will be heavy with traffic. The first five miles will be on six and four lane high traffic roads. There is no bike lane and not much, if any, shoulder. There is a nice wide sidewalk all the way to Mile 5 , so maybe I'll use that.  At mile 5.2, GA Hwys 124 and 324 intersect. In the 80's, we stopped there at the Hog Mountain Store (see picture).  Today, at the same intersection, there is a Walgreen on one corner, a Dollar General on another and a shopping center with a Super Kroger and a Starbucks on the another. Although today's rout is mostly rural, there are plenty of convenience stores and supermarkets along the way. There is a Publix at Mile 8.4, CVS and McDonalds at Mile 11, Ingles at Mile 11.9. I'll pass through Auburn GA around mile 12.5.

Jack and Bill entering Auburn GA - circa 1985

At about the half-way mark, Mile 20, I'll be in Winder Georgia.  Winder was founded in 1793 and the town name was The Jug. In 1803, the name was changed to Jug Tavern and the population was 37.  After the Civil War, in 1894, the name was changed to Winder.  Best bet for lunch will be the Little Italy Pizzeria at 60 N Broad St in Winder.  Leaving Winder, I'll take East Midland Avenue for about 2.5 miles to avoid the busy Old Atlanta Highway (Bus 29) as much as possible.  From Mile 23 to just past Bogart GA at Mile 31, the route runs parallel to one of the main CSXT rail lines. In 1997, CSXT raised the speed of their trains on this section from 40 mph to 55 mph - the fastest in the state. Towards the end of the day's ride, I'll pass a Starbucks at Mile 35.4, CVS Pharmacy at Mile 36, and the Kumquat Mae Bakery at Mile 36.3.

Note to self... I have a 12:00 noon Phone Call Interview with the Chattanooga Office of Social Security scheduled for today - 5/12/16. I have to pull over and make sure I have either cell or wi-fi coverage before noon. If anybody talks to me this morning, please remind me.

My kind of day... downhill all day - except for that little thing on the right side of the graph