On June 1, trail adopter Don Mills led a group of eight people from REI, Rails-to-Trails, GE, and Queen City Bike in tackling 0.3 miles of heavily overgrown honeysuckle that had not been sprayed, while Bruce Cortright of FLMSP cut up a downed tree. Six men + two women + one chainsaw + four Kombis = one nicely groomed stretch of trail in Terrace Park.

by Hans Landefeld

I ride the Little Miami Scenic Trail for a variety of reasons, but maintaining fitness has to rank pretty high on my list. When I ride there is lots of time to think. Sometimes I mull over and resolve challenges in my personal life. Sometimes I wonder when I am going to get into good enough shape to pull the next gear higher during my whole ride, or wonder why I agreed to go to the upcoming designer show house event my wife wants me to go to. And then every once in a while something, usually nature, encroaches on my ride.

The intrusion can be the grumble of distant thunder, or the roar of a crop duster overhead as the daredevil pilot swoops to lay down the spray. The sounds of the birds in the thickets beside the trail change through the season. This week I heard the Baltimore Oriole for the first time. The Indigo Bunting I frequently see fly up from the trail in the summer has not arrived yet, but the wrens are out and about now too.

Over the last fifteen years of riding the trail I've seen snakes and swallowed lots of what I call mouth-high-gnats that hover over the trail at just the right height to go right into my mouth and eyes.

Buzzards, hawks and owls have swooped across the trail-usually scaring the daylights out of me. . . Read on

Socializing and a box meal kicked off FLMSP's Annual Meeting on May 19, 2013, at Hisey Park in Corwin. President Steve Murphy presided over the business meeting, which focused on elections for Board officers. Hans Landefeld has resigned from the board, and John Ewalt will resign when a replacement is found for his treasurer position. Simeon Copple, current Vice-President, was re-elected to another 2-year term. Paul Morgan, nominated for a position, respectfully declined, but expressed his interest in serving in the future when he finds a replacement for some of his trail projects. We welcome Maxine Fischer as our new Secretary, and Aaron Rourke, continuing as Adopt-a-Trail Coordinator, both to 2-year terms.

The Friends of Xenia Station has just added a public bicycle repair station to its Bike Hub on the Little Miami Scenic Trail. Xenia Station's fiX-it-Station consists of a heavy-duty, permanently installed bike stand and a dual-valve, gauged air pump. The first of its kind in Ohio, the repair station was installed to aid bicyclists with emergency on-the-go repairs such as broken chains and flat tires. The Xenia Station Bike Hub is located at 150 Miami Ave., three blocks south of downtown Xenia.

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