Originally Posted by HWS
Dayton Ohio area:
Extensive Rails-to-Trails system
Lots of varied terrain.. Want hills? We got em. Flats? Rollers? Yep, got plenty of those too.
You can pretty much design your ride around what you feel like doing.
I work on Wright-Patterson AFB and can ride all over the base on the weekends/after duty hours, with next to no traffic and the roads are smooth as glass.
My LBS has 3 locations. If he doesnt have it at one shop, one of the others surely will.
The weather is funny. There is almost always a wind, it can get up to 60 in January and you gan get rained/snowed on without warning almost anytime of the year.
I spent 10 weeks at WPAFB back in the summer of 1988 and rented a room in a house in Yellow Springs. I had my bike there all summer (and it was a HOT one, even for this Florida guy) and rode it all over the place with memorable round trips to Port Washington and Cinti I went on a century ride out of Oxford, OH called the Ft. Hamilton 100 that was pretty nice. The first 62 miles looped north of Oxford and was close to flat, but the last 38 went south of Oxford and had some short but steep hills. There were lots of people to ride with for the metric century part, but I was pretty much solo for the balance of the ride.
It wasn't too hilly around Yellow Springs, but the were a few short pitches up from the Little Miami River. Bicycle commuting from Yellow Springs to WPAFB would have been suicide back then. I have no idea if it is feasible now. I was up at WPAFB not too long ago, but I didn't have time to poke around as it was a business trip.
The bike trail stuff was just being built when I was there. I think the one up the Little Miami River went as far north as Morrow at the time and I don't remember exactly where it started further south. I know it didn't go as far south as Milford because I had to ride there and then up through Indian Hill to get to my in-law's house.