resting and then an easy day on the Little Miami Scenic Trail

September 28, 2019
Xenia and Yellow Springs

Xenia bike racks celebrate the town name. 

These racks are in front of an abandoned factory near the bike hub.

For $1.50 each way there is a local bus that runs from Xenia to Yellow Springs, Ohio.  Since its a rest day, we are taking that bus and going to explore the town of Yellow Springs for the day.   The bus is very uncrowded on the 20 minute ride out of Xenia and Yellow Springs is hopping with visitors when we arrive at noon on a Saturday.  The bike trail is crowded with families and dog walkers and cyclists.  People are browsing the eclectic shops on the main street.

This guy was watching over someone's front yard. He was looking so cool.

Women's Park in Yellow Springs, Ohio.  It is a long narrow park full of native wildflowers and ceramic art pieces.  It is dedicated to all women.  

One very famous woman from Yellow Springs is Virginia Hamilton.  Her books are beloved by many and she is an enormous influence in children's literature.  Kent State University has an annual conference named for her which celebrates multicultural literature.  I attended this conference for years and heard many inspiring authors speak.  

This beautiful hooked rug has characters and scenes from many of Virginia's books.  It is displayed at the tiny Yellow Springs Public Library. 

The People Could Fly is a collection of tales and stories about freedom seekers

The children's room bulletin board celebrates the monarch migration - very relevant topic!

After spending some time in the library we had a very delicious lunch at Winds Cafe.  I recommend it if you are passing through.  Sunrise Cafe gets all the hype, but the food here was fresh and very good.  windscafe.com

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Xenia, Ohio to Milford, Ohio

58.8 miles of shady, scenic rail trail

40th Anniversary of the Little Miami Scenic Trail
volunteers had snack stations and information along the way

the trail is right next to the river where there are people out in kayaks and canoes

Peter's Cartridge Company established in 1887.  He invented the cartridge loading machine that made possible the sales of automatic machine loaded shells.  The building is being converted to condominiums.  It looks like there is a lot of work to be done to achieve that end.

Tom is sitting outside the oldest bike shop in the USA according to Bishop's Bicycles in Milford.

 We found the famous Cincinnati Graeter's ice cream in Loveland, Ohio just off the trail.  Trailside Brewery was good too.  Here we met some fellow touring cyclists and shared a beer together.  Julia and Dean cycled the entire Ohio to Erie trail last year and returned this year to do the segment near the Little Miami because they liked it so much.  It was fun to hear their story and share a beer together.

Fort Ancient is straight up a steep hill from the bike trail.  There are some stone circles and some mounds of earth dating back to 1 AD.  It is an interesting earthworks site, but the scenery is a bit underwhelming.  Read about Fort Ancient here:  http://www.fortancient.org/


Check out the profile below and you can see when we leave the trail for Ft. Ancient and again in the evening to get to our warm showers host's house.