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Distributed for University of Cincinnati Press

Bicycling Through Dayton

Twenty-One Historical Tours

Revised

A guide to twenty-one bicycle tours of Dayton, Ohio. 

Dayton boasts the largest contiguous bike trail network in the United States, and this guide for cycling enthusiasts and armchair travelers includes introductions to the city’s innovative cycling past and present, beautiful country roads, and vibrant urban landscapes.

Bicycling Through Dayton is divided into three themes: “Sacred Ground,” “Changing the World,” and “Flying on a Bicycle.” In “Sacred Ground,” riders pass through many areas and structures such as Ft. Ancient, originally inhabited and cultivated by Native American people, the gravesite of Shawnee Chief Catecahassa, better known as Black Hoof, and the now vanished African American settlement, Randolph Colony, where freed African American men and women in the 1840s were met with hostility upon arrival. Also included in this section are rides through majestic parks, colorful caves, and beautiful buildings, including Weaver Chapel at Wittenburg University. In “Changing the World,” tours focus on rides that highlight the richness of Ohio as a home of our nation's educators, activists, engineers, innovators, and writers. “Flying on a Bicycle” pays homage to Ohio’s central role in the history of aviation and space exploration, featuring the birthplace of Orville and Wilbur Wright, the National Museum of the United States Air Force, and the home of Neil Armstrong.

Readers can plan and export rides ahead of time using the QR code in the book to view turn-by-turn directions, detailed route maps, and photos of route sites. Bicycling Through Dayton helps cyclists and readers form a more intimate relationship with Ohio’s landscape by learning the history of Ohio and the people who came before us, all while enjoying a ride.

350 pages | 5 x 8 | © 2025

Thinking About Ohio

History: Urban History

Travel and Tourism: Tourism and History, Travel Writing and Guides


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Table of Contents

Sacred Ground Up, through 18th C

- Landscapes of Loss

- The Middle Ground

- Lines on the Ground

- Public Parks Past and Present

- Dayton’s Public Sculptures

- Intimate Environments

- Fantastic Fens

Changing the World, 19th, and 20th C

- Flight From Bondage

- Speaking Out 1: Helen Hooven Santmeyer, Eleanor G. Brown, Erma Bombeck and Phil Donahue

- Speaking Out 2: Paul Laurence Dunbar, Natalie Clifford Barney

- Dammed Water

- Dammed Water and Great Trails

- Education and Freedom 1

- Education and Freedom 2

Flying on a Bicycle 20th and 21st C

- The Flying Merkel

- The Aeronaut: Warren Rasor, Balloonist

- Other Detroit

- Taking Flight

- Atonic City and Other Energy Experiments

- From the Monkey House to the UFO House

- Shoot the Moon

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