September 28

Stayed the night in New Paltz camping in the yard of my hosts, Matt and Amanda.  They live on an organic vegetable farm which was very interesting to tour and learn about.
Here's their home with my tent set up in front:

Matt's parents live next door so I went over and sat on the porch to have a snack for dinner (banana, trail mix, and a protein bar).  Matt's mother brought out and organic pepper, an apple, and a nice cup of tea which was really nice of her.  She and I and her husband then had a long talk about the farm and the organic food industry.

In the morning I packed my bags, rolled up the wet tent, and walked out to the road - only to find my back tire was flat!  I walked back to Matt's house and removed the back wheel but found out that I had left my tire levers (required to change the tube) at home.  Luckily Matt was once a bike mechanic and helped me out and even gave me a spare pair or his tire levers.
With the flat fixed it was back on the road.  The sun came out for about 30 minutes  in the morning so I got this picture just before the clouds rolled in.  Very pretty countryside.  You can see the clouds approaching from the right side of the picture.

I had planned to ride 65 miles today and now had to push because of the delay in fixing the flat.  Decided to stop after about 20 miles to get a cup of coffee and a donut.  The coffee was absolutely atrocious but I was so cold that I would have been happy drinking a cup of hot water!!  Luckily, after about 27 miles I was following the Delaware river, bordering New Jersey and Pennsylvania, so the terrain really leveled out and let me move a little faster.

My plans changed when I decided to go past the 65 miles and try to make it to my friend Bill's house in East Stroudsburg.  Unfortunately the hills came back, the rain came down and I didn't make it.  But after 79 miles of riding Bill came and picked me up and brought me to his home.  Bill was my first roommate in college and is a really great guy.  I will stay at his house the next two nights before moving on.