Day One of five days from Troy to Brooklyn went well, with the usual excellent support from Parks & Trails New York and lots of volunteers. I arrived at Troy yesterday afternoon. We camped there, since the first day stats early. More on yesterday: I drove about an hour to Troy from my family's home nearby. I put the gravel bike on the rack with covers on the seat, the handlebars, and the chain, just because it had been raining off and on. Sure enough, on the drive to Troy, I passed through a short but heavy downpour. When I reached Troy, it was hot and humid, but blue sky and some clouds. It cooled off later, so I slept fine in the tent. The forecast is good for the tour. Humid, but dry, except one day has rain forecast. We'll see! Yesterday, I attended safety briefings and a talk on the history of the many Hudson River bridges on the stretch from Troy to Albany since 1804. Interesting. The first bridge was built before the Erie Canal was started. The second bridge after the canal was in operation, which drove the growth of industry. Like detachable collars! After dinner, an operational briefing. Then I locked the bike to a picnic tabl near my tent. I ran out to Starbucks to get coffee in the Zojirushi for the morning and to Stewart's for two bananas. My van is parked on the top of the Hudson Valley Community College parking garage with a long-term pass good until I ride the bus back from Brooklyn on Saturday. Today, I woke up at 5 a.m. and packed up the tent and the gear while enjoying coffee and bananas. I wanted to get to breakfast when it opened at 6 a.m., but I didn't get there until 6:30, when the morning briefing started. After breakfast and briefing, I loaded the bags on the truck to be carried to Hudson, got the bike ready, put on sunblock, and started the ride just before 8 a.m. I'll try to be earlier tomorrow. Today's route started with crossing the Hudson River twice! Right at the start, the Troy-Menands Bridge from South Troy west to join the Mohawk- Hudson Trail south to Albany. The trail passes through Albany's Corning Preserve. If I understand, that's where the Albany Basin was, the eastern terminus of the Erie Canal. Then we climbed up to cross the Dunn Memorial Bridge eastbound to Rensselaer. After a few miles on surface streets, we joined the Albany- Hudson Electric Trail, which carried us the rest of the way to Hudson. The Electric Trail follows the route of the Albany and Hudson Electric Railway, 1900-1929, an amazing story in itself. The trail follows the Valatie Kill for miles, as did the railway. Many riders stopped at the town of Valatie for lunch. (I was underwhelmed.) Valatie is still pronounced as the Dutch words from which it was taken: vah-lay-sha, from "vaal je kill," or little falls stream. After comfortable temperatures in the morning, it got unpleasantly hot around noon, up to 87 on my bike computer. The last few miles included some moderate climbing, so it was a slog into camp. But overall, a fun and relaxed ride. Tomorrow, Hudson to Stone Ridge, 45 miles.