Yesterday was very special spending time with Bob and his family. They generously opened up their home to cyclists when a nearby state park’s campground was closed due to continuous flooding causing many of the tree’s root systems to decay. A camper was actually recently killed when a tree fell on a tent and the state immediately closed the campground until further notice.

Bob rode across America on the Adventure Cycling Association’s Northern Tier route years ago and was treated nicely by locals along the way. Allowing cyclists to camp on his property is his way of paying it forward. He just asks all the cyclists visiting to do the same and pay it forward.

A light rain started falling in the early morning hours and stopped long enough for us to pack up our gear and enjoy a little bit of time riding in dry weather.

I thought I saw a lot of deer a few days ago and today proved it is always possible to see even more in a single morning. I am assuming nobody in New Jersey hunts as there has to be an overpopulation of these creatures. The deers are not afraid of humans as we had several pleasant close encounters.

We were in a light to medium rain shower for most of the morning. The only negative point is that I do not take pictures in the rainy conditions as my phone is extremely hard to operate with wrinkled fingers.

We refused to allow the wetness to dampen our spirits as we knew today we would make it to Summit and take the Amtrak into Penn Station. We had a really nice breakfast and coffee stop at a Dunkin’ Donuts. I am a big fan of their frozen coffee and apparently Folker likes the fat pills.

I have to be honest and admit I had a little bit of anxiety about taking our fully loaded bikes on the train. We knew that it was not allowed during the morning commuting hours into the city. This restriction ends at 10:00 am and we arrived exactly at that time.

We excitingly bought our tickets and asked the gentleman at the ticket booth if New York City was ready for us and he just laughed. Folker advised him to phone ahead and let them know we are coming. 10:28 am and we are heading down the tracks to the city that never sleeps.

New York City slaps you in the face as soon as you exit Pennsylvania Station at Madison Square Garden. Sensory overload. We jumped on a bike lane and headed straight to Times Square. We learned quickly that bike riders here do not understand overtaking to the left or follow any traffic signals. Rookie season is now officially over. Let’s Go!

Times Square was awesome to push our bikes through and no one even took a second look at the two adventure cyclists. We slowly made our way to Central Park to set up camp. Folker wasted no time setting his tent up across from 5th Avenue.

Seriously though, we had to dry out our camping gear and there was no better place than the hill with the statue to commemorate the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers on Plymouth Rock on December 21, 1620. Central Park offers so much to us tourists.

It was now time to head to our hotel in Brooklyn. We took the opportunity to ride on Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue and it was an easy ride over the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge. I was further impressed with the easy cycling once in Brooklyn to our nice and modern hotel.

We will be staying in New York City for three nights and will begin our adventure again on Friday. Time to explore!