Bicycle riders will have the chance to earn their “cycology” this week during the 27th annual Great Ohio Bike Adventure, which returns to northwest Ohio for the first time since 2009.
The weeklong trek will kick off tonight with an opening ceremony in Van Wert, and will travel through college towns Bluffton, Defiance, and Bowling Green, before heading to Ottawa and looping back to Van Wert.
As part of this year’s “GOBA U” theme, there will be a pep rally in Bowling Green on Wednesday evening, complete with bonfire, cheer squad, and homecoming parade.
First-time director Bill Gordon expects about 2,000 riders to attend the weeklong journey.
At one time, the event drew up to 3,000 riders.
Attendance now hovers around 2,000.
The event draws diversity of age and people from all over the world.
Couples from Switzerland and Japan, as well as a group of New Zealanders, will take part.
Julie Van Winkle, former director and now its assistant director, noted that more people of different ages participate in GOBA now than ever before.
Grandparents, in particular, have started taking their grandchildren on the trip.
Rick and Myra Grove are one such couple. Mr. Grove first did GOBA with his son.
After that, “I kind of got hooked,” said Mr. Grove, who has returned every year since then and averages about 2,000 miles a year on his bicycle.
His wife joined him soon thereafter and, now that their son and daughter have kids of their own, the pair get to ride with their grandchildren.
The two have seen GOBA evolve over the years.
In early years, they said, pay phones dotted the side of one of the trailers. Long lines to wait for the pay phones were common.
Now, most bicyclists communicate with cellphones; some even have GPS devices installed on their handlebars.
The GOBA website (goba. com/wordpress/) contains a full set of GPS files, and detailed maps of the route can also be found at ridewith gps.com/find by searching for “GOBA 2015.”
GOBA offers a range of intensity.
Riders are supposed to travel 50 miles per day on five of the seven days, but a number of “car-campers” who keep their vehicles with them through the week may skip cycling on hot or intemperate days.
Meanwhile, die-hard cyclists can use their days off to go the extra mile(s).
By the end of the week, the riders, in total, will have ridden the length of the world’s circumference 20 times over — and that’s a conservative estimate.
Contact Andrew Koenig at: akoenig@theblade.com or 419-724-6050.
First Published June 20, 2015, 4:00 a.m.