Day 49 Little Falls to Latham.

The navigation at the start of the ride was pretty straightforward, 'out of the hotel, right, left and then straight for 50 miles.' I led out and after a while Steve took over. Unfortunately at around the 50 mile mark he was in conversation with another cyclist who had been riding all over America for months and was heading for Boston and we all sailed by the next turn without realising it. It was only a mile or two and we quickly got back on course.
The start from the hotel had been a long climb, but after that it was very gently rolling countrside with lots of forests and steeped in history from the French, Indian and Revolutionary wars. We visited Fort Klock (clearly at that time their spelling wasn't up to much) which was a fortified stone house built around 1750 by the British (they would say English). It had its own blacksmith, school house (an attempt to improve the spelling) and its own spring in the cellar. There were other 'forts' nearby and many Historical Markers.
Later went through Amsterdam and Rotterdam, so at least Team Holland (Hetty and Piet) would feel at home. We then got off the road onto a nice bike path that went alongside the Erie Canal for many miles, but confusing directions at the end meant that we ended up in a General Electrics factory car park instead of the SAG. We finally got to the SAG which was at an ice cream and shakes store and it would have been rude not to have sampled their wares, so we did. An ice-cold chocolate shake was virtually mandatory.
After that we got on another well paved bike path that took us to within 4 miles of the hotel. Having checked in we then went off for lunch in a bagel shop. Latham is on the outskirts of Albany, which is the capital of New York State.
Later that evening in the hotel room I discovered that my rear tyre had gone down, so I had to replace that and repair the tube. Only my third puncture and two of them revealed themselves in hotel rooms, I would settle for that. After dinner several of us went for a beer and contemplated the fact that this ride was rapidly coming to an end.
Today's distance was 81.8 miles.