By Lindsey Rowland
lrowland@wbcowqel.com
Over the weekend, it was likely that any drive through Bucyrus put one in the company of a myriad of bicyclists, and a trip by the Crawford County Fairgrounds yielded a view of a field of tents pitched tightly together. The tents were affectionately dubbed “GOBA-ville” and the bikers were sweeping through the town as a part of the 2014 Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure (GOBA) tour.
Upwards of 2,000 adventurers took part in getting to know Bucyrus, partaking in shuttle tours, shopping, tours of the historical locations in town, taking in the murals, and much more. The Bucyrus Tourism and Visitor’s Bureau, as well as the Bucyrus Chamber of Commerce, rolled out the red carpet to greet the visitors in a warm and organized way. On Saturday morning, many bikers were hanging out in the food court set up for them in the fairground facilities.
Suzanne Johanson came all the way from Oregon to partake in GOBA and absolutely loved visiting Bucyrus.
“The murals were amazing,” Johanson said, “I love the square; the facilities were great. The whole ride has been a great experience. We ride along through these country roads and I’m always surprised when we get to a real town because we don’t ever see any. Most of the time we are riding through the countryside, so it’s beautiful; great people, wonderful hospitality.”
Hank Dekker of Mt. Vernon and Mike Fulton of Wooster really enjoyed the food Bucyrus had to offer. Dekker had a wonderful time hanging out at Baker’s, and Fulton tried a Bucyrus bratwurst.
“They know how to do it here,” Fulton commented.
Also featured in the food court was Chris Cakes, a business that specializes in pancakes and that partnered with the Bucyrus Tourism and Visitor’s Bureau for fundraising. The Columbus based company have been working with GOBA since its inception.
“We love GOBA,” Hal Epler of Chris Cakes said, “We always love coming to any town that GOBA’s in and we love trying to help raise funds, it’s what we do.”
For more information on the activities of the Bucyrus Tourism and Visitor’s Bureau, call 419-562-0720 or visit www.bucyrus.org.
A photo gallery of GOBA riders in Bucyrus can be seen on the Photos page.