Any BT'ers in Sidney Ohio

Hey guys from (or soon to be from) Sidney. I am brand new to BT, and live in Piqua (Greg, that's one town south). I'm a die hard roadie and am beginning preparations for Ironman Florida for 2009. I haven't run in over 20 years and am starting from the ground up.

I was really confused at the mention of Gearhart and Children's Home and an intersection and fast speeds. Then, I figured it out that you were talking about two different roads with the same names. From where I ride, those are two roads east of Troy. They are about 1 mile from each other, but don't intersect. And there's only short leg-breaker bumps on them, not longer grades. Too funny!

There's good climbing/rolling terrain along the Great Miami River and Loramie Creeks around Lockington to the SW of Sidney. I've got a couple routes that I run but I haven't put them in mapmyride. I'll do that in the near future and share the links. Look for Kuther Rd. for some great technical stuff, E. Lockington up from River Rd., Bunker Hill on Houston Rd. (currently has a bridge out at the bottom), and Patterson-Halpin Rd. south of where it intersects with Houston.

The Tipp City ride you may have been referring to was Fred's Ride, which ended with the retirement of it's leader, aka Fred. However, there are many of us riding around the Miami County area in various spin-off groups and as individuals. My background is roadie, and I only know a couple du/triathletes, but I'm assuming that will change as I make the transition.

I can hook you guys up with some contacts depending on what type of riding you do. Avg. speed, distance, etc. Let me know what you're looking for.

Beginning next year, I'm going to start my own ride from Piqua. 30 miles, hits all the good hills near Lockington. I'll post here when I get the details, dates, times worked out.