Steve Jones took photos in the 1980s to 1990s documenting the clearing and paving of the Little Miami State Park trail. He was the first Park volunteer, using the van he donated to the park as a traveling visitor center, as well as crafting signs and documenting and preserving trail artifacts. Access his photos below.
Terrace Park, Milford, Camp Denison
Miamiville to south of Loveland
Loveland
Foster to Morrow
North of Morrow to Corwin
Spring Valley to Greene County line
by Phillip Obermiller
While listening to music or podcasts, concentrating on a workout, or chatting with companions, it’s easy to miss some of the trail’s more interesting features. Loren Long, however, keeps an artist’s eye out for striking images while on the trail. He found one in a retired school bus in the corner of a goat paddock. Intrigued, Long kept returning to the scene wondering if there was a story in the bus’s presence.
A professional illustrator living in Madeira, Long uses observation and imagination to develop drawings and stories that include a popular series featuring Otis, the red tractor. His discovery just south of mile marker 48.5 has resulted in another best-selling children’s book, The Yellow Bus. 
The Amazon description calls it “a modern classic about a forgotten school bus that finds happiness and purpose in the most unexpected places--and the journey along the way.”
Long’s book attracted the eye of reporter Elizabeth Egan who noted the role of the Little Miami Scenic Trail in her New York Times article covering his recent work. You can read about it here.
Or maybe get a copy of The Yellow Bus and read it with some three-to-six-year-olds first.
The yellow bus is near the Schoolhouse Restaurant on the far south end of the trail where Phil Obermiller serves as a FLMSP Sentinel.
by Erick Wikum
In grad school, I helped a fellow student move between apartments. He was from Brazil and was new to driving in the U.S. I rode along in the rental truck and his driving made me extremely nervous. I vowed from that day forward always to be cautious around rental trucks. Many people who rent trucks are not familiar with the challenges of handling a much larger vehicle.
Over the past few years, but especially in 2024, users of the Little Miami Scenic Trail have witnessed a phenomenon akin to driving on a roadway full of rental truck drivers. While e-bikes have been around for several years, falling prices and ready availability has meant that the number of e-bike riders on the trail has exploded this year. Many of these riders are new to bicycling and new to the trail. Some are riding types of e-bikes not permitted on the trail (see Did You Know? below). Many are proceeding at high rates of speed, even around other trail users. For these reasons, I have vowed to be cautious around e-bike users on the trail and I urge you to take a similar vow.
The American College of Surgeons issued a July/August 2024 bulletin suggesting that e-bikes are an emerging public health hazard (see this link). The bulletin lists disadvantages of e-bikes including “The higher e-bike speeds reduce reaction time for riders to avoid potential collisions. Attractive styling, naming, and bicycle-like appearance may not convey these risks to younger riders or parents.” The bulletin referenced “A 2018 Dutch Level I trauma study of the 10-year history of bicycle accidents at their institution noted that e-bikes accounted for 2.9% of their accidents but represented 27.6% of the fatal bicycle accidents nationwide in 2017.” Among the bulletin’s calls to action are increasing education and awareness and addressing confusion surrounding types of e-bikes and associated regulation.
Did You Know? |
Source: https://www.wired.com/story/guide-to-ebike-classes/
September 2024
