I'm originally from the Xenia area and went back for a family wedding last weekend. We drove past Young's Dairy and I couldn't believe how huge it is now!

I did a long tour from Ohio to Maine earlier this summer. I started in downtown Cincinnati and took the bike path starting a few miles south of Milford all the way up to Madison County. It was nice and smooth with very low traffic during the week. I had some fast days with good mileage However, it was a bit boring. I'm used to having more stuff to think about and look at, like traffic. Every day on the bike path, around mile 40, everything would start to hurt - lower back, hands, knee, elbows, etc. The minute I got off the trail all of that stuff would disappear. I don't normally ride with headphones, but I wish I had had some for that portion of the trip.

In downtown Xenia, the Little Miami trail goes up on the sidewalk for about 3 or 4 blocks to avoid the very busy intersection of Detroit and Main Streets. Main St. used to be US 35 (recently rerouted) and Detroit is US 68 so traffic is very heavy and even watching for pedestrians and turning cars, the sidewalk is easier right there. The sidewalk has bike lane markings and it's easy to find the trail again. For an alternate, I *think* that, heading north, you could take Creekside trail up to Market St, turn left on Church St, and then turn left on the Little Miami Trail. Market and Church are still busy streets, but not as busy as Detroit.

KatzPajamas, if you go to that area to ride on the trails, I recommend staying somewhere other than Xenia. There are very few local restaurants and not much to do other than riding. John Bryan SP is beautiful and has good hiking. Avoid the campground on the weekends. Farther south, near Morrow, Morgan's Riverside Campground is really nice, and they have basic cabins if the weather looks bad. Yellow Springs is always fun. Good food and they have a farmer's market on Saturday.