Kathleen Smythe is an avid bicyclist from the Cincinnati region. She is also a historian. Smythe is the co-author of a book about the bicycling topography of her local area: "Bicycling Through Paradise: Historical Tours Around Cincinnati" with Chris Hanlin. An updated and revised edition came out last year.
In this new book, "Bicycling through Dayton: 21 Historical Rides," she takes us for excursions along many of the wonderful bike trails in our Miami Valley region — we have more of them than any other place in the country — and as we are riding along with her she provides us with some substantial history of the places we'll visit as we meet some of the historical figures who lived here, worked here, fought here, invented here, and some who had to flee through here. The history is this book is as amazing as the bike trails we discover. The book is filled with lovely photos and is beautifully designed. And it is not jammed up with maps of the bike trails. Instead you can scan a page in the book with your phones and it will connect you to the maps of all these bike trails. Very cool.
The Book Nook airs Saturdays at 7 a.m. and Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on WYSO 91.3 FM and streams at WYSO.org or wherever you get your podcasts.The Book Nook on WYSO is presented by the Greene County Public Library with additional support from Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, Wright Memorial Public Library, and Tipp City Public Library.
