100 miles to Amelia

What a great adventure. I started out from Northridge and made my way to the bike path at Red Coach Dr. I headed south to Beatty where I met up with Brian Chapman. We rode south to Xenia Station where we stopped for a quick break. Continuing south down the Little Miami Bike Trail. We passed through Spring Valley and Corwin where we planed to stop for lunch but things are still a little out of season. Restaurant closed. Bummer! Onward to Oreginia- nothing happening there either. NO FOOD. So we pressed on down the path to mile 21 from Xenia Station to Morgans Canoe where we found some soft grass and warm sunshine to sit and eat the food we packed in out jerseys. Stuff like PB&J beagles, Fig Newtons and some terrible Powerbar product that tasted like rubber. After our break and about 40 & 50 miles under our belt, Brian and I parted ways. He went back north to Beatty and I, south to Loveland. I still had 20 miles of bike path to go. I believe the most beautiful part of the Little Miami is Just below Oregonia to Loveland. Brian and I found this awesome hill to train on in Oregonia. It literally looks like it goes straight up, no joke. I remember saying to Brian lets do this for grins and giggles- NOT. Maybe a another day! I finally arrive in Loveland 20 miles later and instantly was greeted by cyclists, runners and people just out enjoying the day. I think everyone in town owns a bicycle. This is bike heaven! Loveland has many wonderful shops and places to eat. I think CCR would love this place. I had lunch at a place called Paxtons Grill. Great food. I had the Tuna salad on wheat toast. DELICIOUS! The sun was feeling warmer but there was still a cool breeze out of the west and I noticed the time was getting late. 1:00 I must press on if I am going to make it to Angie & Mike's by 3:00. I still have 25 miles to go and I know to be 3 big climbs between me and Amelia. I took 48 south out of Loveland to 132. Most of the time I had plenty of shoulder with good pavement and not much traffic. Now I see my first big climb. Wow, I dropped to my lowest gear stood on the pedals and hammered it out. That was a tough one. The down hill portion was even scarier (Terry you would love it) My break pads were screaming and smoking. The next 2 climbs were good ones too. I was in heaven. As I made my descent down one of hills at 40 MPH I noticed something beside me. It was a cyclist passing me on the left going 45 or 50. That dude was flying. I was never to see him again. I noticed there are a lot of cyclist in these parts. I know why, its great riding country. By now, I feeling like I got this ride licked 90 miles down, I didn't get lost, and only 5 miles to Angie and Mike's for a total of 95 miles door to door. So what does one do in this situation. I tack on 5 more mile to get my 100. My first century of 2009 and it felt great! This is why I love riding.
Thanks for reading.
Tracy