August in Ohio: Dayton

Day 3: Mad River Trail 30km

Friday, August 25

Cloudy with increasing sun throughout the day. Hot and humid in the morning, roasting in the afternoon. 32C

Today we got the early start we were looking for. The temperature was 26C overnight and when we unsealed the door in the morning, we were smothered by warm, moist Dayton air. Everybody got their breakfasts in order, sun screen applied, water bottles filled, and snacks packed.

Our route today was heading east along the Mad River Trail to the site where the Wright Brothers honed their skills on their first flyer – the Huffman Prairie Flying Field. Leaving our place, we navigated to the river and down to the trail along the bank pedaling through Dayton’s core. We are getting the hang of when to ride down at the water and when to climb the bank to the upper trail.

Eastwood MetroPark is about halfway, and we stopped there for a water break. We had the wind at our backs again today, and the shade and some passing clouds kept us from completely overheating. We had to climb a switchback up to the Huffman Dam and then there was a nice long downhill towards the flying field. Unfortunately, at the bottom of the hill there was a locked gate, and there was no easy way to get around (When my Mom and I were here in May the gate was wide open). Google said it would be a 7 mile detour to ride around the other way and that wasn’t happening We resigned ourselves to turning around and pedaling back up the hill to start our return trip. We were planning on driving out this way in the afternoon to see the U.S. Air Force Museum, so all was not lost.

After lunch, after cooling off and getting changed out of our sweaty cycling gear, we hopped into the car and typed Huffman Prairie Flying Field into google maps and let Mme Google do the rest. It was a long and convoluted route that culminated with us arriving at an Air Force Base check point, complete with armed guards, where it quickly became clear that we were in the wrong place. The young soldier was polite when he asked to see our credentials, before giving us what sounded like simple directions to get us back on track. Mme Google still wanted us to drive through the check point so we turned her off. We followed the soldiers directions – left at the lights and then another left or was it right? Finally we gave up, and set our sights for the Air Force Museum. Then, out of the blue, we saw a sign for the Huffman Prairie Flying Field! We followed along and eventually made our way to the damn Flying Field. We parked the car and wandered around in the blazing heat reading informational signs, trying to imagine these two brothers, over a hundred years ago, determined to defy gravity. It really was quite interesting, this place being the birthplace of flight as we know it. Getting to the Museum was much easier by comparison.

The U.S Air Force Museum is a big looking place consisting of several huge hangars, and we were looking forward to wandering around there in the lovely air conditioning. Once inside, the enormity of the place became apparent. Giant hangars just filled with hundreds of planes with a generally chronological approach to its layout. We had over 2 hours to spend before it closed at 5pm and we barely made it through. Towards the end we weren’t reading anything, we were just trying to get a look in each of the hangars. We hung on to the last minute, touring J.F.K’s Air Force One, a space shuttle, and a troop carrier. Like all great museums, you could spend weeks there absorbing all of the information layed out throughout the exhibits. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

Tonight was our night to eat out and Don picked the Spaghetti Warehouse downtown on Fifth Street. All of us were looking forward to the meal and we previewed the menu during cocktail hour back at our place. It was just a short drive to get there and there was free parking after 6pm. The food was excellent and everybody left satisfied.

To stretch our legs and settle our stomachs we took a stroll around the downtown. We followed the sounds of live music to the Levitt Pavillion where a 3 piece band was rocking out some blues. We saw an unconventionally decorated truck adorned in bric-a-brac. It had a sign declaring ‘free books’ with a few boxes laid out on the sidewalk. We rooted around while the music played and people milled in the park. It was a nice way to spend our Friday evening. We’re still missing our friends who couldn’t make the trip. They would’ve had a great time too!