Day 47 to Albany, and 48 to Brattleboro VT

At each hotel, this board is setup, and the line in darkened to show how far we have come. When I took this in Albany, the orange rectangle is the mid point, and all that was left was New England! Less than 200 miles to go.

The ride in to Albany was along the Mohawk River. This shot taken while on a locally led diversion through a park just outside of the city. Thanks Don.

My riding partners for most of the last few weeks, Noreen and Scott at the Vermont border reached early on Wednesday's ride.

In Bennington Vt at the monument to the Battle of Bennington which was actually fought across the border in New York during the revolution beating Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne who would later lose at Saratoga.

Today's ride featured one of the longest climbs of the tour, and only 100 miles from home! The climb out of Bennington was 7.1 miles. Afterwards a decent and then some more moderate climbs to Hogback Mountain. I rode with Mary Ann on the latter climb. The beauty of the climb was only spoiled by the terrifying drivers on this road. I think mountain biking might be a good switch in the future! Take out the bad drivers and bad roads.

The sign on the mountain reports 100 mile views. As we savor the last moments on the road, we are extremely grateful for the views today.

I'm posting this before breakfast on Thursday, and in the background the group is gathering for the complementary breakfast. When we 'feed', it reminds me of a group of teenagers clearing out the refrigerator like locusts! Got to get ready for 87 miles to Burlington MA.

So I sign off with a prayer for a safe and enjoyable ride.

PS Germany 3 - Turkey 2. Achim and Alex are exultant!