64.3 miles
4.32.45 st
14.1 avg
TTD-3287.88
Once again, because there were afternoon thunderstorms forecast, we were up early and on the road at 7:20 in the fog.
The first five miles were newly paved with a 10' shoulder so we were able to roll along nicely along the Mohawk River, even with the commuter traffic into Albany. The only thing that marred that stretch was the YIM (Young Immature Male) that yelled obscenities at us as he and his buddies passed in their company truck. Sheesh. It's not like we were impeding traffic or anything. But, he was only one out of the many thousands of very courteous New York drivers that have passed us.
We nearly had a fatality on our hands near Scotia. A squirrel came scurrying across the road from the opposite side and ran right alongside us. Gerry was saying, "Don't do it, buddy! Don't do it!" Zip! he turned and darted right between our wheels! I instantly braced myself for a thump and possible wreck, but he made it unscathed.
As we went through downtown Schenectady, we started having issues with the chain jumping rings at start ups. After a couple more miles of that, we stopped at an auto parts store to find where the nearest bike shop was. "Just down the street about three blocks." Wow, thanks Lord!
To shorten the story, we had to replace the rear chain and the middle ring. Too many miles and too much stress had stretched the chain and worn the teeth so much that the chain just couldn't stay on. We had no complaints because we're at almost 3300 miles. (I did end up with a goose egg and bruise on my shin from one of our start ups.)
While we were waiting for the repair, the little gal in the shop helped us plan our route over to Bennington with some detailed maps. This was a huge help because the maps we were using didn't cover that area.
Out of Schenectady, we dropped right down to the Hudson River at Troy, then we had to climb right back up from the river on the other side. 
But it wasn't so bad, only about two miles. From there, it was up and down to Bennington but the grades weren't too bad.
A sign at a church summed up our day and was a good encouragement for us: With God, setbacks are setup for comebacks." It made me think of Romans 8 -"For we know that all things work together for good..." 
We got to the outskirts of Bennington and I was wondering where the city was. We circled around a cemetery on a hill, then, whoosh, down we dropped right into the city. Oh, there it is.
A nice little motel, a shower, then a walk downtown completed the day. This is a church in Bennington that's having some restoration work done to it.
Tomorrow....hmmm, a little bit of apprehension for the mountains we're heading into. 
Yeah, I know - what's up with that?
Montana Mama and her Mountain Man,
Gerry and Pat
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