023: Day 30: May 8: London OH to Riverside (Dayton) OH. 42 miles today and 925 in total (m327.2)

We left London in high but very cold spirits. Soon we were warming up and we continued to enjoy the beautiful Prairie Grass Trail. 

We saw many rabbits and birds. I was very happy after seeing an Oriole - this was a lifer.

The farming scenery continued to make us stop to take more photos.

Before South Charleston we came accross a section of live rail line. 

On approaching South Charleston, we could see the grain silos and understood the rail lines.

We made very good time to South Charleston and decided to try out the All in Flavor Cafe & Sweets Restaurant at the corner of the building after the church. What good coffee and freshly baked choc chip cookies!!! We had a fun time and chatted with the owner and a farmer who brought his two sons for breakfast in between baseball commitments. A short coffee stop became a looooong and enjoyable morning.

Well, we realised the miles would not fly by without some work. We stopped at the old South Charlestone Station for a photo or two and then we were back on the Prairie Grass Trail again.

The scenery, even in a very flat county, remained beautiful.

Christine also brightened up the flowers even more.

This section of the trail has a power line next to it. The trail is so straight that the power line poles seem to form a wall up front.

We crossed the bridge into Cedarville. This is a photo of the river as it begins to flow through town.

Here we met Steve, a retiree on an exercise run from his home in Leffel OH. He decided to cycle with us and for the next couple of hours we enjoyed the conversation about cycling, local matters, more personal matters and birds. What an enjoyable section of the trail.

The Prairie Grass Trail enters Xenia.

We turned left here to have lunch in the town of Xenia. Such amazing trails.

A photo with Steve after lunch.

Xenia's main street. These buildings were the only ones that survived a massive tornado storm in the late seventies. The rest of the town center and many homes were flattened.

After lunch we continued to Dayton where we wanted to stay this evening.

We cycled past the Kill-Kare Raceway and saw a couple of dragsters do sub-5-second quarter mile sprints. A lot of noise and a lot of speed - wow.

We had to say goodbye to Steve, as he wanted to go home as well. Thanks, Steve, happy cycling until we meet again.

Our last section of cycling today was on the Creekside Trail. It joined with the Prairie Grass Trail at this old flour mill.

I liked the way the Trail is designed to link together numerous walking trails in the area. There were quite a lot of people out.

We passed the Bicycle Beaver with the old Beavercreek Station Building in the background.

The trail runs close to an Interstate for a while and the wildflowers were pretty. 

This is an interesting location for a relatively new church - in the middle of an old graveyard. 

This is what the "Fifth Third Gateway Park" looks like with the trailhead parking on the left of the trail. In the distance Christine is approaching a wide trail bridge across the Interstate.

We cycled along another wooded section and soon turned off the trail to our hotel, the Microtel Inn & Suites, Linden Street Dayton.

The hotel staff is used to having cyclists and we were soon checked into our Queen Suite for a very reasonable price. 

We saw the USA Today on the counter and I asked whether any back copies were still available (the Crosswords and Sudoku's never date). She suggested giving me two sets so that Christine and I can each have a set - I always appreciate such awareness and kindness.

Tomorrow will be a full day of rain and we shall stay in the hotel. We shall also use the time to visit the National museum of the US Air Force. 🤠🥳🤠