Day 19
Milford, OH to Cincinnati, OH

Off route for the best cause EVER!!!

Today I woke up early, Cindy works at an elementary school and gets an early start and wanted to catch her before she left. She had to go to work but Dave is retired so he and I went to breakfast across town. The blueberry bread I had with breakfast was delicious. We then went back to Cindy’s so I could pack up my bike and hit the road. Dave drew me a map taking me from Milford into Cincinnati. I putted downtown and of course made a wrong turn right off the bat but quickly got back on track. Rolling through downtown I heard someone yell my name which was odd because who the heck do I know around here?? But it was Dave, “Go Kelly Go!!!!” Ha! I am going to miss Dave and Cindy. 

Leaving Milford I had the luxury of hopping on a bicycle trail for part of the ride, the Little Miami Scenic Trail. Then thru a couple smaller towns and by an airport and the next thing I knew I was in Cincinnati. I rolled to the hotel downtown. When I stay in hotels, it seems to always attract a lot of inquiries. It starts with the person at the front desk asking me where I’m going then the bell boys overhear and come over and then other people checking in also hear and come over to chat. It’s kind of funny. 

After checking in, I went up to the room, dropped all my stuff, cleaned up and headed out to explore Cincinnati. I walked around, went to all the places folks had recommended. Cincinnati is big on 3 ways. I know…huh?!? It’s spaghetti with chili and cheese on top. Or a 5 way is spaghetti with chili with cheese, beans and onions. Its not your normal chili though, more tomato based thin chili. They’re super proud of their 3 ways. I tried that. Went to Graeter’s. I’m a milkshake person but not really an ice cream person but seriously, this may have been the best ice cream I’ve ever had.

Folks had mentioned previously that Cincinnati had come a long way and today compared to 10 years ago it was thriving. 10 years ago it was a ghost town, this was related to the 2001 riots. At the time, these were the largest riots since the ’92 LA riots and completely destroyed downtown both from a material financial perspective as well as destroying people’s sense of security. Folks abandoned downtown and they’ve been working hard to rebuild and it’s come a long way but has a ways to go. These riots were sparked by police shooting death of Timothy Thomas, a 19 year old African American. This happened 15 years ago but sadly, sounds just like many of the news reports of today.

Later that night I went to a Cincinnati Reds baseball game. Stadium was pretty empty but it was a Thursday. Not at all like the Giants or even the Louisville Bats game for that matter. Leaving the stadium Cincinnati seemed pretty quiet. I forget sometimes that many cities I think are major cities are pretty small in comparison to SF. SF has almost 3x the population of Cincinnati and in a much smaller geographic footprint.

I went back to the hotel to do some laundry waiting…waiting for one of my favorite friends to show up!!! My friend Jenica was driving from Chicago to Cincinnati to come cheer me on and hang out for a rest day or two. This was totally a huge highlight!!! We planned this a few days earlier and I had kind of slowed my pace to keep timing to meet up here. I was so excited!!! She unfortunately hit some really bad weather making her already long trip, longer. But around 11 or so she arrived!!! It was so amazing to see a friendly, familiar face!!! And what a good friend, driving all that way to hang out!!