The Mohawk Valley

We had a relatively short day and so were given a sleep-in this morning. That means up at 6:30 and out on the road at 8:00. One of the really good things about that is that the sun has already up and well over the horizon so we are not riding directly into it. "Relatively short" meant 71 miles today with only about 2500 hundred feet of climbing. It was, however, another very hot and humid day and we were all moving to get in to the hotel (in Latham just outside of Albany) before the predicted thunderstorms hit. And I will tell you it is pouring right now but I think everyone did get in pre-storm (I did).
We followed the Mohawk River for most of the route today and riding through the Mohawk valley was a lovely way to spend the day. Similar in some ways to previous days there were lots of farms, a whole series of small towns that at one time depended on the river for their economies and are mostly struggling shells of former prosperity. At the same time the countryside is very pretty and we had lots of lovely view. The roads are, again, in good shape and built with wide shoulders for cyclists. Towards the end of the day we rode through Schnectady, the largest city we have seen in the last few days. All I can say is that it reminded me of downtown Trenton, or maybe a smaller version of Detroit. My riding partner for today was again Don Beherens who lives in Albany and among other things he told me that GE once employed 60,000 people there but that number is now down to 6,000. It shows on the streets and we were happy to get through and out of town.
We did move right along today and so I have only a couple of photos. Tomorrow we move into Vermont and I hear rumors that we will be experiencing the Green Mountains for a couple of days...should be fun.