Buford

When I got home from work today, Iz was at gym and Sophie was fully absorbed watching Planet 51. They barely noticed when I jumped out on the road for a few hours. I've headed northwest out into the country for so many years, it never really occurred to me to go any other direction, except to get to work, until a few weeks ago. Today it occurred to me though, so I headed down Buford Dam Road to Buford, with it's cute little main street, just off the railroad tracks.



Apparently there was a War of the Worlds fighting machine wandering around to the southwest. I didn't notice it at the time.

There were a couple of riders wandering around too. A girl in a jeep asked me if I knew about a group ride that led out of the church. I didn't, but there must have been something going on. From there, I wandered around further east, recognized Hamilton Mill Road and tried to follow it out to Hwy 85. I was overbudget on time though, and I had to turn back a few miles short.

They're doing construction in Buford and it was a little confusing. I had ridden in earlier though, so there must be a way back out. It took patience and persistence, but I found it.

At Peachtree Industrial, there were a bunch of riders ahead, stopped at the light. Maybe that's the group ride the girl was looking for earlier. One of the riders didn't make it through, so I caught up with him. He had an Addictive jersey on and he looked like Matt Smith from behind, but it turned out to be a guy named Robbie that I've ridden with before, but for the life of me, I can't remember where. We rode together for a few blocks, and he confirmed that it was, in fact, the group ride out of the church.

My father and law and uncle in law were set to be back by 7, so I had to get going.

Buford Dam Road was all wavy and washboardy. It was like that on the way out too. I thought my wheel might have gotten wopped or something, but no, it was just the road.

The sun was getting low, but there was still enough light to make Lanier look good.



I love that time of day. One hour before sunset.

A truck with a bike rack passed me on the dam. A block or two past the dam, it was parked on the side of the road. Brad!

It was Brad Birney. He would have been in that group ride earlier, but he had some boat work to do out my way. We talked for a bit. It was cool to see him. So random.

I ran out of water and the last hill between the lake and Nuckolls Drive is just ridiculous. I seriously considered walking the last hundred feet. Great ride though. I hope I can make a habit out of it.