Not a commute, but a tour of my town
02-10-13, 07:17 PM
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Not a commute, but a tour of my town
I took advantage of the heat wave here in Ohio today (got up to 50) and rode my Salsa Vaya into downtown and took some pics of my bike in and around Dayton. As a side note, this was my first ride on my new 700X32 WTB "Slicks". Talk about a fast tire! On the 10 miles into town, I averaged just over 19mph. Not bad on a steel bike with fenders! Not to mention I am totally out of bike shape from the winter.
A monument to the guy who invented the pop-a-top can. Hey, besides the Wright Bros, I think this is one of the most important inventions of our generation.
A view from the Oregon District
Jimi and the Salsa
Entrance to the Oregon District
Canal Street
Minor League Baseball Dayton Dragon's stadium
Canal Street Tavern. Some seriously cool bands have played here over the years.
Over the winter, we got all these new bike racks in Dayton. Dayton is a killer bike town. We have one of the largest connected bike trail networks in the country.
Outdoor ice skating at Riverscape
Forgot my lock, so the bike went to the john with me.
A monument to the guy who invented the pop-a-top can. Hey, besides the Wright Bros, I think this is one of the most important inventions of our generation.
A view from the Oregon District
Jimi and the Salsa
Entrance to the Oregon District
Canal Street
Minor League Baseball Dayton Dragon's stadium
Canal Street Tavern. Some seriously cool bands have played here over the years.
Over the winter, we got all these new bike racks in Dayton. Dayton is a killer bike town. We have one of the largest connected bike trail networks in the country.
Outdoor ice skating at Riverscape
Forgot my lock, so the bike went to the john with me.
02-10-13, 08:24 PM
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Great shots! Looks like you live in an interesting town! 
Course I just KNOW you stopped for coffee and dessert someplace ... where's THAT picture???
Course I just KNOW you stopped for coffee and dessert someplace ... where's THAT picture???
02-10-13, 09:10 PM
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Hope to be there in a week or so for work, hold on to that weather for me!! Oh yeah, and great pictures too!
02-11-13, 08:04 AM
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Great pics, thanks for sharing. Looks and sounds as if Dayton is quite bike friendly. Also nice, quiet, tranquil. Are there very many other folks getting around by bike ? Also, love your Vaya. Good choice.
02-11-13, 08:25 AM
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That is a great way to show off your town - with the bike (a great looking one at that) in each picture. Makes me want to come to Dayton for a ride (in June maybe
). That gives me ideas on how to show off my area like that.
What year Vaya and what color is that? Mine's orange, but I really like that grey color. Do you have any close ups of the frame color?
). That gives me ideas on how to show off my area like that.What year Vaya and what color is that? Mine's orange, but I really like that grey color. Do you have any close ups of the frame color?
02-11-13, 08:39 AM
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Thanks for the pictures of Dayton. I've never been, but this made it quite inviting.
02-11-13, 09:17 AM
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Nice looking town. Bike is not to shabby either.
02-11-13, 09:49 AM
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I love this post! There should be a thread where everyone does this for their own town.
02-11-13, 11:20 AM
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Nice!
The tour is a great idea, I know it always feels different to me when I'm riding on some of my commuting route when I'm not commuting.
The tour is a great idea, I know it always feels different to me when I'm riding on some of my commuting route when I'm not commuting.
02-11-13, 11:58 AM
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I lived in Dayton from 1994-1998. In some ways, some of the worst years of my life, but it was me, not the town. 
Dayton was the last place I rode a bike for real before going on a long hiatus.
More pics! We need downtown, the DAI, the Greek Orthodox, and Grafton.
When I lived in Dayton, white flight had long ago emptied the city proper. Sometimes you had to go out to the burbs to find something to do on a weekend. But the festivals were good times.
I played at Canal Street Tavern many a time. Or at least several a time.
Dayton was the last place I rode a bike for real before going on a long hiatus.
More pics! We need downtown, the DAI, the Greek Orthodox, and Grafton.
When I lived in Dayton, white flight had long ago emptied the city proper. Sometimes you had to go out to the burbs to find something to do on a weekend. But the festivals were good times.
I played at Canal Street Tavern many a time. Or at least several a time.
02-11-13, 08:00 PM
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Groucho...I think you might be pleasantly surprised if you ever come back to Dayton. The Dragons minor league, Riverscape, the Schuster Arts Center, the MetroPark, etc have really given the city new life. There are nice townhouses going in and several of the larger businesses have moved back into Downtown. The Metroparks build a Bike Hub at Riverscape. For like $10 a month membership you can scan into the Hub, lock your bike on one of the wall racks, use the nice showers and put your things in a day locker. Also, I am not sure about the bike trails when you were here, but we are up over 300miles of trails in town! Check out the bike trail link
https://www.miamivalleytrails.org/
Ridefreemc...My Vaya is a 2011. It is the charcoal frame. I bought it as a frame the day they were available back in the fall of 2010. The whole "bike in the picture" thing was something I started doing a little while back. I love exploring on my Vaya, so it just seemed to make sense to include the bike in the picture. It reminds me that not only was I there, I was there on my bike. I started compiling a gallery of pics back in the fall. I still have a ton to go through, but here is what I have so far....
https://www.flickr.com/photos/3428269...7632270014843/
Here is the only closeup of the frame that I have. It doesn't to the metalflake justice though!
https://www.miamivalleytrails.org/
Ridefreemc...My Vaya is a 2011. It is the charcoal frame. I bought it as a frame the day they were available back in the fall of 2010. The whole "bike in the picture" thing was something I started doing a little while back. I love exploring on my Vaya, so it just seemed to make sense to include the bike in the picture. It reminds me that not only was I there, I was there on my bike. I started compiling a gallery of pics back in the fall. I still have a ton to go through, but here is what I have so far....
https://www.flickr.com/photos/3428269...7632270014843/
Here is the only closeup of the frame that I have. It doesn't to the metalflake justice though!
Last edited by Terry66; 02-11-13 at 08:11 PM.
02-11-13, 11:04 PM
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I lived in Dayton from 1994-1998. In some ways, some of the worst years of my life, but it was me, not the town.
Dayton was the last place I rode a bike for real before going on a long hiatus.
More pics! We need downtown, the DAI, the Greek Orthodox, and Grafton.
When I lived in Dayton, white flight had long ago emptied the city proper. Sometimes you had to go out to the burbs to find something to do on a weekend. But the festivals were good times.
I played at Canal Street Tavern many a time. Or at least several a time.
Dayton was the last place I rode a bike for real before going on a long hiatus.
More pics! We need downtown, the DAI, the Greek Orthodox, and Grafton.
When I lived in Dayton, white flight had long ago emptied the city proper. Sometimes you had to go out to the burbs to find something to do on a weekend. But the festivals were good times.
I played at Canal Street Tavern many a time. Or at least several a time.
to be developed. Didn't ride much in Dayton but I rode a
Lot on the rail trail out of Waynesborough. Did the bike trail
around the state ever get done?
02-12-13, 12:44 AM
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After a search I couldn't find anything. Great idea though.
02-12-13, 01:00 AM
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My girlfriend is from Troy and it seems like Dayton has a pretty active bike scene. I always see the Xenia water tower on the way claiming to be the bicycle capital of the midwest. Good stuff! Thanks for sharing.
02-12-13, 07:11 AM
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Great pictures, thanks for posting!
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02-12-13, 08:40 AM
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Is it possible to bike commute to Wright State University now? It would have been pretty thrilling to try when I was there.
02-18-13, 06:31 PM
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I really like this post, so I today I took a few pictures biking around my town: Hopkins, Minnesota. Hopkins is a western suburb of Minneapolis, but it has its own character because it was its own town before Minneapolis grew out to it. Its identity is very tied up in raspberries for some reason-- you can see the raspberry banners in the middle of the street in this picture.
Every summer they have the Hopkins Raspberry Festival, a fun multi-day event that includes a running road race one mile, and a semi-pro bike criterium.
Hopkins is easily accessible by bike from the Minneapolis greenway.
It has some stuff for the fancier people: first, Interlachen Country Club, apparently a pretty renowned golf course;
and second, The Blake School, one of Minnesota's best private schools (and it ain't cheap!).
Fortunately, there's some stuff for the rest of us shlubs too. There are two good pit stops on the main bike path through Hopkins. The first is Pizza Luce, one of the best pizza chains in the Twin Cities.
I took this picture from the bike path, a couple seconds before realizing that's where I was having lunch. $4 for a Surly Bender? Don't mind if I do! They always get a lot of bike traffic. Considering it's February in Minnesota and there were only about 15 people in the whole place, four bikes in the rack is pretty impressive! My bike's in the foreground, next to a cool blue LHT.
The second good pit stop is The Depot: a coffee shop with snacks, and often with live music.
It's called The Depot because it's right on the train tracks.
Hopkins has a traditional downtown area, with mainstreet running down the middle.
They have franchises of a few small chains, but it's mostly free from the influence of Fast Food Nation, which is pretty nice. There's a good Indian restaurant, and a great sandwich shop called The Big 10.
Once you get past Hopkins, the main bike paths change to crushed limestone.
They're still quite rideable though, and they keep going at least to Lake Minnetonka (I've never tried to go any farther). So that's Hopkins by bike. I hope you liked it!
Every summer they have the Hopkins Raspberry Festival, a fun multi-day event that includes a running road race one mile, and a semi-pro bike criterium.
Hopkins is easily accessible by bike from the Minneapolis greenway.
It has some stuff for the fancier people: first, Interlachen Country Club, apparently a pretty renowned golf course;
and second, The Blake School, one of Minnesota's best private schools (and it ain't cheap!).
Fortunately, there's some stuff for the rest of us shlubs too. There are two good pit stops on the main bike path through Hopkins. The first is Pizza Luce, one of the best pizza chains in the Twin Cities.
I took this picture from the bike path, a couple seconds before realizing that's where I was having lunch. $4 for a Surly Bender? Don't mind if I do! They always get a lot of bike traffic. Considering it's February in Minnesota and there were only about 15 people in the whole place, four bikes in the rack is pretty impressive! My bike's in the foreground, next to a cool blue LHT.
The second good pit stop is The Depot: a coffee shop with snacks, and often with live music.
It's called The Depot because it's right on the train tracks.
Hopkins has a traditional downtown area, with mainstreet running down the middle.
They have franchises of a few small chains, but it's mostly free from the influence of Fast Food Nation, which is pretty nice. There's a good Indian restaurant, and a great sandwich shop called The Big 10.
Once you get past Hopkins, the main bike paths change to crushed limestone.
They're still quite rideable though, and they keep going at least to Lake Minnetonka (I've never tried to go any farther). So that's Hopkins by bike. I hope you liked it!
Last edited by PennyTheDog; 02-18-13 at 06:49 PM.
02-19-13, 01:02 AM
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02-22-13, 10:35 AM
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What a fantastic idea!! You could do this for any city in the world!! Cool! Are you on Tumblr? I think I've seen these before here! Thank you for the post and pictures and awesome idea!
02-22-13, 01:29 PM
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A twist on a cool thread. I intend to follow up with a 'tour of my town' type pics as well.
These are some pictures taken yesterday of my 3rd grade son's bike commute to his school. Not the whole thing. Camera ran out of battery power.
https://plus.google.com/photos/10869...MmLqJSdo9eciAE
These are some pictures taken yesterday of my 3rd grade son's bike commute to his school. Not the whole thing. Camera ran out of battery power.
https://plus.google.com/photos/10869...MmLqJSdo9eciAE
Last edited by AusTexMurf; 02-22-13 at 01:39 PM.
02-27-13, 12:54 PM
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I love these type of pictures. You can really feel the streets, the atmosphere and everything around. That's what I am trying to do in my videos. I really want people to feel what I felt...