Day 20 - May 30, 2023. Newport, KY - Xenia, OH

Pretty much a moving rest day.  The flattest day yet, mostly on bike paths - Ohio River Trail, Ohio to Erie Trail, Little Miami Scenic Trail, Ohio Bicycle Route 1/3.  We had one detour around bike trail construction that took us through some nice, upscale, quiet neighbourhoods.  Total length of the detour was about 5 miles.

The upside of bike trails is - no rumble strips, no cars, no dogs, no big hills.  The downside is that the scenery can be just a lot of trees.  Not complaining today, though.  It was a nice mental (and physical) break from the usual.

We started the day by going back over the Purple People Bridge from Kentucky to Ohio.  Great views of downtown Cincinnati and the Ohio River in the early morning light.





Onto the Ohio River Trail.  Past the statue of the Roman warrior Lucius Cincinnatus, for whom the city was named.



It took us about 5 miles to get out of the city burbs.  Always sad to see a ghost bike.










At about 8 miles we turned onto the Little Miami Scenic Trail.  Crossed the Little Miami River and passed a bit of agriculture (sod farm) in amongst the small towns.






SAG stop in Loveland.  It looked like a lively little town.







Past Butterworth Station - another stop on the UGRR.  



Typical scenery on the bike trail.  Sometimes in sight of the river.



We passed through a number of small towns today - Milford (cheap Nuun tablets!), Loveland (SAG 1), South Lebanon, Morrow (ice cream), Oregonia (SAG 2), Spring Valley.













On the longer days, the tandem stops at the 60-mile or 40-mile SAG.  Carol has usually had enough by then so Lise switches to her single bike and rides in with me.  She's such a strong rider that I really should just attach a bungie to her bike and get pulled along.


Not much to see on the last 20 miles.  Just a few miscellaneous pics.



Great day.  Margaritas tonight!


Xenia, Ohio

Population 25,441 (2020).  The median household income in 2000 was $36,457.  It is the largest city in US beginning with the letter X, and has the nickname "Bicycle Capital of the Midwest".  The Shawnee war chief Tecumseh was born near here in 1768.  Xenia has a history of severe storm activity, including an F5 tornado in April 1974 that killed 34 people, injured 1150, destroyed almost half the city's buildings, and left 10,000 people homeless.  Several railroad lines once served Xenia and the roadbeds of five of Xenia's six rail lines were converted for rail trail use.  


Stats for the day:

Distance:  112.0 km / 69.6 miles

Elevation (Garmin):  349m up / 228m down.  1144' up / 748' down.

Elevation (RWGPS):  688m up / 556m down.  2257' up / 1824' down.

Weather:  20C - 29C.  You know it's going to be hot when it's already 20C at 8 am.  Thankfully it was a flat ride on a bike path, often in the shade.  Wind was not a factor.




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