Great Miami River bike trip

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Great Miami River - august 5-7, 2000 bike trip by harv otto

This writing has turned to be particularly verbose.
   The prime aim of this trip was to explore the new bike trails of the Great Miami - those new to me but also those not yet updated on various maps including the internet. Secondarily, there were some other explorations - a portion of bike route 5 which I missed last trip, taking bike route C and bending the route to find an effective way to Brown Reservoir for the start of bike route 1 to Cincinnati, to see if the Wright Brothers terminus now connects with the Air Force Museum and Eastwood Park, to see if the bike route 2 out of Xenia now comes past 675 for connection with the Dayton trail complex, to accomplish the first real two consecutive nights of tenting, and to perhaps to begin a post read sum of the book, "How Proust can change your life". Of course there were more substantial underlying aims - better physical fitness, weight reduction, enjoying heavenly McDonalds', and escaping the home environs only to return with renewed energy and vision.
   Sum. The canal builders of old knew that the last third of the Great Miami valley was too narrow, with no gentle hills for a canal to hug - they avoided the lower portion of the Great Miami but my biking plan did not, thus negotiating too many ups and downs. My top speed for the day usually measures the height of the biggest hill - in this case 33 miles per hour coasting down hill. I walk up many a hill.

   Only several miles west of my Columbus starting point my rear tire picked up a roofing nail in the side wall, missing altogether the extra kevlar strip and easily piercing the kevlar tire.
Off with the baggage, over with the bike, and out with the tools. Interesting that the only tool needed was to remove the valve stem which didn't need removal since the old tube was dead flat and the new tube was rolled tight. The tire came off by hand with ease and the old talc had to make do for the new tube. For the future perhaps the new tube should be powdered in advance.
   Always learning something. And in this case I learned that I was prepared for a flat. That small rotary tool with the cylinder sander does a fine pre patch prep. Also realized that I took three spare tubes along. Overkill or what?

   A successful flat.
   The serenity of Mad River near the heart of Springfield.
   From Columbus headed west on bike route 5 to McDonald's in West Jefferson, then through London on bike route C. Original plan was to breakfast in London but the flat changed that plan.
   Also decided not to head north to Brown Reservoir to begin bike route 1 at its farthest northeast point.
   Instead, lunch became my immediate destination directly from hilly Harmony into Springfield on our national road. Several pix which may have been missed - the Wilson Road Chapel and the old Plattsburg high school - remnants of times past.
   After Springfield McD, got onto bike route 1, went through downtown, and then through the old rail tunnels.
   Then at the south Springfield bike rest stop a most pleasant and unexpected thing happened.
   Wine with the Burkes.

   At first, after this pleasant sight, my ride continued uninterrupted, but with a moment of second thought, here's me riding single and there's that couple back there opening a bottle of wine on their together trip. What a nice scene.
   And since my future can include just that sort of togetherness, I turned back asking permission for taking a pic of that inspirational scene.
   To my pleasure I was invited to share their wine. And the conversation for over an hour was inviting for the future.
   I always did find happiness in anticipation and for the future. Then there's that Poor Richard quote, "The harder I work, the luckier I get." That's the Benjamin Franklin version of Poor Richard, not the modern version. "No," I guess that was Little Richard. No matter.

   My pressing thought was that hopefully the wine would wear off before I had to negotiate the traffic of downtown Fairborn.
   No sweat - found Fairborn to be biker friendly and I knew there was another McDonald's not too far on the Kauffman bikeway.
   Yet another bike trail was under construction at Eastwood Park for future exploration, adding to the already most impressive complex of Dayton trails.
   Taking the Mad River trail linked me with the Great Miami trail, and the GM now has only one several block section for funding, to make the trail contiguous to the Montgomery County line.
   A mile before trail end, my tent was pitched for the night, and the romantic moon deserved a pic from my repose in the tent.

   Serenity comes with the night.
   As usual, sleep does not come quickly even after impressive stats for the day - 97 miles for seven and a quarter hours. Thus my feet went up watching the moon sinking to the horizon.
   Due to the cold this night, some candles were purchased to provide warmth for the next night. And the cold meant moisture everywhere, testing the wetness management techniques of this lone explorer.
   Of course there was that noisy mystery visitor of the night which seemingly nothing chases away - rattle, hiss, nor light. But I just may have discovered something that kept it away.
   Always learning something.

   The morning moisture in the form of super saturated steam hangs above the river water as this second day begins to traverse 90 miles in eight and a half hours. The dry asphalt of the trail lacks any other human visitor this 100% wet early morning.
   Signs of the Miami Erie canal were at hand. I think 1829 is the year of the lock, not the lock number.
   The two niches on each side housed the open doors allowing an unhindered tow or drift in or out of the lock. I assume the boats rotated - one down then one up into their parking lot basins above and below.
   With water came the canals of old.

   Lost my instinctual bearings this morning thus missing breakfast at McDonald's in Middletown where there's a canal museum and a short bike trail on the river.
   Then my continuing mistake was to take bike route A into the bluffs to the west of the Great Miami, not that the bluffs are great but it's my abhorrence of hills. Although my stand up pedaling has developed nicely on this trip. I was fighting learning my fogginess thus I rode a while looking at the map quite often to replan my next path.
   I must have looked tired since a train stopped to let me traverse the crossing, then started again after I crossed. Will wonders ever cease?
   Things cleared up when I decided to go back to the east side of the river into Hamilton. Hamilton has a length of river bike path which invited me to dry my baggage and obtain directions to the McD in Fairfield. From Fairfield the old canal builders went east but I went west following the river.
   And I even negotiated one of those old grating bridges which our modern day has delimited to assumedly non slip vehicles.
The lower river was a scenic hilly trial.

   Scenery was pleasant along the river, discovering Proctor and Gamble, and a drag strip all revved for that Saturday evening.
    Then I got word of the rain moving in that night thus I was in no mood to explore the 600 yard canal tunnel which I was standing over. I also refused the invitation to explore the burial site of some president nearby.
    Met a real biker, that's real as in he's going to take a trip across the United States for 10 days at $125 per day. I think he also mentioned 2000 miles and at least a half hour passed when it dawned on me that's 200 miles each day. Well, there's always someone better out there and I did learn some things from our rolling chat.
    Now it was on to the tent site helped by the directness of highway 50, only detouring for Pete Rose Way, the waterfront park, and the East Side.
   Past Mariemont I found my evening McD and talked to a sheriff, deciding to back tract for a motel to escape the rain threat. Sorry for me, all reachable motels were sold out. Meanwhile there was this guy in the lobby complaining that he was short a hand towel for his room. I smiled.
   The darkness and rain began as I strained the last miles to fulfill my original tenting plan.

   This was my original trail side plan, but I didn't intent to share the night with all my baggage.
   The rain lessened as I snacked on peanuts and diet coke. I guess I should have gotten a diet 7 up but that $0.99 price was irresistible. Thrifty would be a kindly description, and perhaps lucky since all those other travelers took the $75 accommodation for which even I was ready to sign up.
   I was dozing when awakened by this couple trail walking their dog in the rain after being rained out of their Red's game. The rain mattered little to them or me. Their weather report was promising which made the evening even more enjoyable for me..
   The night was uneventful, warmer thus not requiring candles, and the deet kept the bugs off, thus I had an enjoyable open air night.
   Suddenly I was awaken at seven by a biker and then a jogger who also had an optimistic weather forecast.
   I proficiently packed my baggage and was "On the road again".    Second consecutive night enjoyably actualized.

   This third day combined the Little Miami Scenic Trail, bike route four out of Xenia, and highways 42 and 40 which mounted to 113 miles for nine hours. One rain delay was an hour, and the easterly tail wind was significant.
   Stats. First day - 97 miles, 7:19 hours, 13.3 mph average, and 27 mph top speed. Second day - 90 miles, 8:33 hours, 10.5 mph average, and 33 mph top speed. Third day - 113 miles, 9:05 hours, 12.4 mph average, and 22 mph top speed.
   So what do I think of me taking these bike trips? One of my daughter's peers called me eccentric but I don't agree.

Only several miles west of my Columbus starting point my rear tire picked up a roofing nail in the side wall, missing altogether the extra kevlar strip and easily piercing the kevlar tire. Off with the baggage, over with the bike, and out with the tools. Interesting that the only tool needed was to remove the valve stem which didn't need removal since the old tube was dead flat and the new tube was rolled tight. The tire came off by hand with ease and the old talc had to make do for the new tube. For the future perhaps the new tube should be powdered in advance. Always learning something. And in this case I learned that I was prepared for a flat. That small rotary tool with the cylinder sander does a fine pre patch prep. Also realized that I took three spare tubes along. Overkill or what?
	A successful flat. The serenity of Mad River near the heart of Springfield. From Columbus headed west on bike route 5 to McDonald's in West Jefferson, then through London on bike route C. Original plan was to breakfast in London but the flat changed that plan. Also decided not to head north to Brown Reservoir to begin bike route 1 at its farthest northeast point. Instead, lunch became my immediate destination directly from hilly Harmony into Springfield on our national road. Several pix which may have been missed - the Wilson Road Chapel and the old Plattsburg high school - remnants of times past. After Springfield McD, got onto bike route 1, went through downtown, and then through the old rail tunnels. Then at the south Springfield bike rest stop a most pleasant and unexpected thing happened. Wine with the Burkes.
At first, after this pleasant sight, my ride continued uninterrupted, but with a moment of second thought, here's me riding single and there's that couple back there opening a bottle of wine on their together trip. What a nice scene. And since my future can include just that sort of togetherness, I turned back asking permission for taking a pic of that inspirational scene. To my pleasure I was invited to share their wine. And the conversation for over an hour was inviting for the future. I always did find happiness in anticipation and for the future. Then there's that Poor Richard quote, "The harder I work, the luckier I get." That's the Benjamin Franklin version of Poor Richard, not the modern version. "No," I guess that was Little Richard. No matter.
	My pressing thought was that hopefully the wine would wear off before I had to negotiate the traffic of downtown Fairborn. No sweat - found Fairborn to be biker friendly and I knew there was another McDonald's not too far on the Kauffman bikeway. Yet another bike trail was under construction at Eastwood Park for future exploration, adding to the already most impressive complex of Dayton trails. Taking the Mad River trail linked me with the Great Miami trail, and the GM now has only one several block section for funding, to make the trail contiguous to the Montgomery County line. A mile before trail end, my tent was pitched for the night, and the romantic moon deserved a pic from my repose in the tent.
Serenity comes with the night. As usual, sleep does not come quickly even after impressive stats for the day - 97 miles for seven and a quarter hours. Thus my feet went up watching the moon sinking to the horizon. Due to the cold this night, some candles were purchased to provide warmth for the next night. And the cold meant moisture everywhere, testing the wetness management techniques of this lone explorer. Of course there was that noisy mystery visitor of the night which seemingly nothing chases away - rattle, hiss, nor light. But I just may have discovered something that kept it away. Always learning something.
	The morning moisture in the form of super saturated steam hangs above the river water as this second day begins to traverse 90 miles in eight and a half hours. The dry asphalt of the trail lacks any other human visitor this 100% wet early morning. Signs of the Miami Erie canal were at hand. I think 1829 is the year of the lock, not the lock number. The two niches on each side housed the open doors allowing an unhindered tow or drift in or out of the lock. I assume the boats rotated - one down then one up into their parking lot basins above and below. With water came the canals of old.

Lost my instinctual bearings this morning thus missing breakfast at McDonald's in Middletown where there's a canal museum and a short bike trail on the river. Then my continuing mistake was to take bike route A into the bluffs to the west of the Great Miami, not that the bluffs are great but it's my abhorrence of hills. Although my stand up pedaling has developed nicely on this trip. I was fighting learning my fogginess thus I rode a while looking at the map quite often to replan my next path. I must have looked tired since a train stopped to let me traverse the crossing, then started again after I crossed. Will wonders ever cease? Things cleared up when I decided to go back to the east side of the river into Hamilton. Hamilton has a length of river bike path which invited me to dry my baggage and obtain directions to the McD in Fairfield. From Fairfield the old canal builders went east but I went west following the river. And I even negotiated one of those old grating bridges which our modern day has delimited to assumedly non slip vehicles. The lower river was a scenic hilly trial.
	Scenery was pleasant along the river, discovering Proctor and Gamble, and a drag strip all revved for that Saturday evening. Then I got word of the rain moving in that night thus I was in no mood to explore the 600 yard canal tunnel which I was standing over. I also refused the invitation to explore the burial site of some president nearby. Met a real biker, that's real as in he's going to take a trip across the United States for 10 days at $125 per day. I think he also mentioned 2000 miles and at least a half hour passed when it dawned on me that's 200 miles each day. Well, there's always someone better out there and I did learn some things from our rolling chat. Now it was on to the tent site helped by the directness of highway 50, only detouring for Pete Rose Way, the waterfront park, and the East Side. Past Mariemont I found my evening McD and talked to a sheriff, deciding to back tract for a motel to escape the rain threat. Sorry for me, all reachable motels were sold out. Meanwhile there was this guy in the lobby complaining that he was short a hand towel for his room. I smiled. The darkness and rain began as I strained the last miles to fulfill my original tenting plan.
This was my original trail side plan, but I didn't intent to share the night with all my baggage. The rain lessened as I snacked on peanuts and diet coke. I guess I should have gotten a diet 7 up but that $0.99 price was irresistible. Thrifty would be a kindly description, and perhaps lucky since all those other travelers took the $75 accommodation for which even I was ready to sign up. I was dozing when awakened by this couple trail walking their dog in the rain after being rained out of their Red's game. The rain mattered little to them or me. Their weather report was promising which made the evening even more enjoyable for me.. The night was uneventful, warmer thus not requiring candles, and the deet kept the bugs off, thus I had an enjoyable open air night. Suddenly I was awaken at seven by a biker and then a jogger who also had an optimistic weather forecast. I proficiently packed my baggage and was "On the road again".	Second consecutive night enjoyably actualized.