June 14

On Saturday, Debbie and I rode 100 miles on the Little Miami Scenic Trail, and followed that with a 40 mile ride today. The century ride started out as a planned 70 mile trip - fairly ambitious given that our previous best was 50 miles. Starting at Stubbs Mill Road, the plan was to cycle up to Xenia, have lunch, and return to the car.

Getting underway shortly before 8:00 a.m., we stopped at Corwin for our first break (the restrooms at Morrow were locked) and each ate an apple. As we left, Debbie noticed from the trailside map that it was only 16 miles to Xenia, making it about 31 miles total to our turn around point. She suggested that we could possibly go to Yellow Springs (10 miles further). When planning the trip, I had briefly considered making it to Yellow Springs because it's an interesting small college town (Antioch College) and has restaurants. Debbie and I had hung out there for a day when H & M were small (they stayed with grandma in Cincinnati). There is a trail through the Glen Helen Nature preserve. If I remember correctly, the Little Miami Scenic Trail was under construction at that time.

The weather was very nice (cool, very little wind) and we seemed to be able to keep a 12 mile an hour pace with little effort - a little faster than our normal speed on paved trails. Once in Xenia, we found the closest McDonalds (assisted by a Trail Sentinel) along the Creekside Trail. During lunch at an outside table, we decided to proceed north through Xenia to at least discover how to get through town. This turned out to be easy despite numerous intersections and lack of signage, and the trail surface north of town was very smooth. At the north end of Xenia, we passed another McDonalds.

There was really no discussion about whether to proceed at that point. We just continued on the smooth trail at a decent pace to the outskirts of Yellow Springs where cars were curiously parked in the grass between the road and the trail. It turned out that a street festival was taking place.

Weaving our way among the pedestrians and baby strollers, we navigated to the center of town, rested briefly, and returned to Xenia. It seemed easy because of the smooth pavement, and we stopped at the north side McDonalds for a snack. A couple of people there wanted to talk with us - one guy in a sleveless jersey who looked maybe thirty asked if we had the Mongoose bike (We have Treks). He commented that no bikes are made in the U.S. any more, and went on to describe his morning run and gym stop prior to the bike ride. "I like to get a workout," he said. The other conversationalist was an older man who hobbled over with the aid of a cane. He had been at the street festival in Yellow Springs with his wife. "In 1999, I was in a wheelchair, and my doctor told me I would never get out of it . . . so I fired him. Now I can walk a hundred yards," he said with satisfaction. He and his wife had made a habit out of going to the festival, although last year they "took a break."

A dark cloud passed by outside. When the old man's wife joined him at the table, she said "I hope it doesn't rain" in a tone that conferred that she thought it would. "It'll just cool you off if it does."

On the leg from Xenia to Corwin, we averaged at least 13 miles per hour, which to us feels like flying. I had noticed on the way up that this section was uphill, and now we were able to take advantage of gravity on the return trip. Wonderful gravity! A plan was hatching in my head, and this section was helping to make it possible.

Resting at Corwin, I observed to Debbie that we would have over 80 miles on our bikes by the time we got to our car and that there would be enough daylight to make it to 100. "Not everyone has done a 100 mile ride" I noted. She looked at me like I was off my rocker and said she would see how she felt in Morrow (a rest stop only about 2 miles from the car). There we decided to give it a try despite the fact that we were definitely tired. Stopping briefly at the car to pick up a flashlight, we continued on. I had been thinking we might make it to Loveland and have dinner before returning, but at some point realized this would add about 6 miles above the 100 mile goal. Our pace slowed to 10 mph. The trail was wet where it had evidently rained earlier in the day. We slogged past the huge old Kings Powder (and later Peters Cartridge) factory. Kings water mill was located here at one time, and the nearby amusement park has borrowed from its name (you can hear the screams of roller coaster riders from the trail).

At Foster, we rested at some benches overlooking the Little Miami and munched on almonds. Back on the bikes, we turned when my odometer read 92 miles and headed back upstream. Although not enjoyable at this point, the ride was somehow assisted by the constant presence of the fast running river. 100 miles! Nine hours of biking time tempered with 2 hours and 45 minutes of breaks.

I would say there were several highlights on this trip, but one that stands out was a fawn crossing a stream about 50 feet from the elevated trail. Stoppping to observe us, the length of the young deer in the stream was framed by trees closer to the trail. About 3 seconds of the sight as we cruised along, but not easily forgetable.