Today, an opportunity presented itself which made a great deal of sense to me. While heading through Princeton on this Saturday morning, the weather was perfect and there were thousands of people walking the streets. How could I pass up the chance to have this much visibility for The Kindness Bus and The Kindness Bicycle Tour. The decision was quickly made to ride today’s forty miles through the streets of Princeton, talk about the right call. For 7 hours we rode and had conversations with interested parties about The Kindness Bicycle tour’s mission.
Jan and Katie were 2 of the many people we talked with today. Jan was immediately struck by the powerful signs attached to my bike. Jan used to work at a rape crisis center and Katie with helping the homeless. This evening we had the pleasure of having dinner and staying at the home of Jan and her husband, Finn. The generosity and hospitality of this couple was evident in everything they did for us during our stay.

Today was the day to rest from the two hundred twenty miles or so that we have logged since The Kindness Bicycle Tour began. Clearly the bicycle I am using is not the most aerodynamic and the energy expended is about double of a road bike, but I keep telling myself that I am getting some great exercise.
The thank you list grows each day with so many people reaching out to help. Regan and Mary, friends from Vero Beach arranged overnight accommodations and hosted a sit down dinner with 3 generations of their family. Thank you to Father Alex of Saint Alphonsus church in Hopewell NJ. We spent 2 nights, using their laundry and party room as a home base for The Kindness Bus Tour while in their town.
We are meeting some great people with amazing stories of hope and courage. Nathan, who is videotaping this entire trip is getting some amazing footage for a documentary. Sundance, here we come.

The Kindness Bicycle Tour is beginning its push to meet with all parties involved in Domestic Violence and Childhood Sexual Abuse. For the entire 6 month period, we will meet with survivors, support groups, health providers, first responders, etc…
Today we met with the great people at Woman Aware in New Brunswick, NJ.  The staff at this small office tackles all of the issues it is faced with from counseling to providing safe care for those in need. In our half hour meeting, it was easy to see the passion each individual had for providing the service to those seeking help. The hope that is offered with the chance at a safe, fresh start is the type of refuge that most of these women and children haven’t seen in years.

Starting the day at a coffee shop to give me an added boost, I ran into a forty year old woman who told me about her fourteen years of abuse as a very young child and the challenges it has created throughout her life. She agreed that a goal of kindness can help to heal. “You’re on the right track” she said when I told her having a lifetime goal of One Million Acts Of Kindness will end all Domestic Violence and Childhood Sexual Abuse.   Making my way from Rutgers to Elizabeth NJ and back, I got caught in 3 downpours. My rain gear offered very little protection for this type of deluge. I met Matt and Brian at Station 6 in Menlo Park NJ during my ride. They said that far too often they hear of these 2 issues, it is everywhere.
Thank you to Douglas Koko for letting me stay at the Rutgers Football Stadium and Chris Mackin for arranging my stays the past 3 nights.

**The last few sentences of this blog may upset some. Please stop reading at the 2 stars.
A 6 hour lull in the rain after a morning long deluge was all that was needed to make today’s ride almost comfortable. Heading from Hoboken to Elizabeth took me through Kearny, NJ where a stop for a warm lunch was sorely needed. The ride further south through the crowded streets of downtown Newark proved to be a great route to take as I was able to talk to many people waiting along the main bus route. These are two hot button issues for sure.
Thank you to Greg at the Hoboken Business Center for allowing us to park at his building for two nights. Many acts of kindness in this city just across the Hudson from Manhattan.  **Relayed to me after the fact, some sort of joke made at the restaurant about women looking best in black and blue. With that mentality, I have a long road ahead of me.

Just when you think you have left the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn, they call you back. DUMBO is one special place and it is a good place to go back to when called. I received a call from Debbie Egan Chin from the New York Daily News, regarding her doing some filming and photographing One Million Acts Of Kindness and the Kindness Bicycle Tour for an upcoming article. I certainly couldn’t pass up that opportunity.
During the 2 1/2 hour photo shoot, the director and co-director of Imagine Day Care Center in DUMBO stopped by to see if there was any chance of visiting their school, how could I possibly say no, especially when Debbie said it would be something to see me do an act of kindness during the photo shoot; we went to the school together in the middle of the shoot. The children loved meeting Bogart an hearing me read his first children’s book.
Today’s Kindness Bicycle ride was from the George Washington Bridge to Hoboken. The interest level in this mission is much greater than I ever expected.

Day #2 and not a sore bone in my body. What! Forty-four miles on a bike, without training for this 7,400 mile Kindness Bicycle Tour and I feel as fresh as when I started yesterday morning; the bicycle gods are on my side. Today marked the beginning of this 17 state trek and I took the time to look down the Hudson River, perched high above on the George Washington Bridge.
The day started with a visit to Dr. Donna Rohlf’s home to discuss some of the details of dealing with Domestic Violence and Childhood Sexual Abuse survivors. It is always good to get the perspective from an expert in the field, and she was able to impart some interesting observations.
All along my travels today, I was stopped by survivors and health professionals to lend their support. Fortunately and unfortunately, there are far too many of them. We are just beginning to scratch the surface.