Day 2, Waynesville to Xenia, Wednesday June 9

16 miles :: trip total 56 miles

Ramada by Wyndham, 300 Xenia Town Square

Good fortune in our itinerary today; we had planned a short day in order to bike 5 miles off route to visit National African American Museum and Cultural Center in Wilberforce-- a plan put aside by all day rain.

Outfitted with all our rain gear, we took off for the 16 mile trail-shower to Xenia.  

 

Leaving Waynesville, Travis Blaze honked us down and offered his garage as a place to wait out the downpour.  Not expecting any let up for hours, we turned down his kind offer and continued to Xenia. 

At Xenia Station we  greeted for the 3rd time in two days "Los tres amigos" who had forded the stream before us on Tuesday.  Having camped in the night's rain they were happily drinking coffee they had brewed under a shelter. 

Xenia Station is hub for 5 regional rail trails and is a replica of the 1880 rail and telegram station.

It sits in a lovely park, is a local rail museum (not open) and provides, map, water and restroom services for cyclists. As we biked to our lodging, we were impressed by the two-way bike lane on the street into the center,

as well as by the bicycle light signals at intersections and the green islands in the street designating safe haven for cyclists .

 

 

We checked into our lodging early, taking our drippy selves and bikes to our room to dry out. In front of the hotel, we met Jerry who was curious about our bikes and trip. He noticed the map holder on Bob's handlebars and tickled us with his observation: " I just looked at your map holder. It's just like a phone. It tells you where to go. I'm impressed." And he's almost as old as we are!

The rain slowed. We walked to the Acapulco Mexican restaurant for lunch and then a block to the center of downtown. It sits in a sea of unused parking in obviously failed commercial redevelopment of the city center. After a delicious lunch we walked another block to the main downtown intersection. 

 

Instead of a thriving business, the Democratic headquarters sit there diagonally across from the strikingly handsome Greene county courthouse; on the other corners are empty store and office fronts. 

 

At the Coffee Hub we met barista Chrissy, who openly shared her life history, including her pride for her 16 month sobriety. She reminded us of Xenia's 1974 tornado with winds of 300 miles/hr that leveled most of the town, destroyed or damaged 1400 buildings, killed 34  and injured 1100 people. The town rebuilt only to experience other somewhat less destructive tornadoes in 2000 and 2010. 

 

Alas, this history sheds light on the bleak, nearly empty Xenia Town Square commercial area (which includes our hotel and the Acapulco) at what was the center of destruction in 1974. A little Google research reveals that the city , after a long legal battle, has agreed to purchase in 2022 this center for a major revitalization effort to link it to what is left of historic downtown. 

 

In short, we did not get to college today, but we learned a lot. The rain gave us an opportunity to learn more about Xenia's history and resilience.

 

 

Route Notes: We followed Adventure Cycling's Underground Railroad Route along the Ohio Erie Canal Trail, segments of which have additional names. The route worked well.