Earlier today, it was time for two-wheeled treking, this time from Vandalia to Xenia, Ohio, a distance of about 30 miles. I spent the night at Randy's place on the couch so we could leave as early as possible, but his wife woke up at 4 AM, which woke me up. Since I have a hard time going back to sleep, I only got about 4-5 hours.
The night earlier was pouring rain from some thunderstorms, leaving it a little damp, but rather humid. The day wasn't supposed to rain and we didn't see a drop, so we picked the right day to go. We travelled along the road to where we could access the long uninterrupted bike path at Sinclair Park, but accidentally found it before we got to the park. We first passed through Wegerzyn Gardens and took a bathroom break and picked up some maps. We happened along a group of cyclists-in-training and followed them for a bit.
The path ran right by the Great Miami River through Triangle Park, Island Park in Downtown Dayton and went right through Deeds Point. I'd never been here before, so I was surprised to see there was a historic aviation timeline with kiosks for Wright-Patt AFB, John Glenn, and other local historic people and places. There was also a monument commemorating the Dayton Peace Accords and a brass statue of Orville and Wilbur Wright.
We crossed a cool bike bridge and turned left and made our way north-east along Mad River and ended up in Eastwood Park. This park had some cool foot bridges and I wish I had my camera to take some shots there. After a short break, where we ate a protein bar and used the restroom, we went south out to Springfield St. and joined back up on the bike path along N. Smithville Rd. This area was heavily wooded and cool.
The path wound its way south until it turned and ran parallel with US-35 and was flat and relatively level. This made it somewhat boring, though until we crossed a huge pedestrian bridge that crossed I-675. The straight continued for a long time going past Kilkare Raceway, which had a lot of activity and loud cars. Not long after, we came upon Xenia Station, which was the designated end of our journey.
It only took us 4 hours total and we didn't really take any breaks, but my friend wanted to make the return trip, which I politely dismissed. I needed a shower and could have fallen asleep right there. It was a long trip, but it didn't seem to take very long. Up until the long straight, there was lots of interesting things to see (especially throught Downtown Dayton).
We ate at a local Wendy's and were already discussing plans for our next bike outing. :D
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