WINDSOR TOWNSHIP — Almost every Tuesday night, Kathy and Jerry Hornung put on their helmets and take off riding their bicycles around Ashtabula County country roads.
Since 1985, when Jerry biked in an Ashtabula County YMCA Corporate Challenge, the cycling fever has captured the couple’s recreation time together.
“It’s great aerobic exercise. We are recreation riders. We’ve traveled thousands of miles in the last 20 years,” said Kathy.
The couple last month were among 2,500 riders in the Great Ohio Bicycling Adventure. This was their fifth GOBA tour, taking more than seven days and riding 265 miles in central Ohio, she said.
The GOBA tour took the couple through Wayne, Holmes, Lorain and Knox counties to quaint towns of Wellington, Galion, Mt. Vernon and Coshocton. They spent part of a day at Roscoe Village historic site. During their trip Jerry celebrated his 57th birthday.
“It was different. We celebrated at a restaurant called Jerry’s Café with other GOBA riders. They sang Happy Birthday greetings for Jerry and a couple other people also celebrating,” Kathy said.
The cyclists spent seven nights camping and five days of riding to make the circle tour. Four tractor trailers carry all the luggage for the GOBA participants.
“We had riders from age two to 81 who we met. There are even shower trucks, but you have to be patient and usually wait in line. It’s a lot of fun and we’ve met so many nice people,” Kathy said.
“The first 60 miles was up hill with lots of hills the first day of the trip. We had head winds and the temperature was 89. It was tough riding,” Jerry said.
The GOBA planning committee plans the routes on less traveled roads. A lot of this year‘s tour was in open country, lots of farmland and very scenic, Kathy said.
Just in case of a breakdown along the way, Jerry said he brings along a small repair kit include inner tubes in case a tire blows. “The GOBA committee has a few mechanics along in case you do have problems,” he said.
“In 2007 the GOBA tour included a cruise on Grand Lake St. Mary in Celina. It was wonderful and relaxing after riding. Ohio has so many nice towns. One of our favorites is Troy, Ohio, down south.” Kathy said.
Among the memorable sites they’ve visited on the GOBA tours are the old Mansfield Reformatory, the Wright Brothers Museum and Wright Patterson Air Force Museum in Dayton and the famous Lehman Hardware Store in Kidron.
“We also like to shop at the towns we stop in. I found a beautiful handmade quilt in the little town of Elmore near Sandusky. We bought a metal harp holder for the old farm bell we kept from my dad’s farm. The harp holder came from Lehman’s Store,” Kathy said.
Next is the fourth annual World of Wildlife Bicycle Tour on Aug. 10. The WOW tour starts in Warren and takes riders on the Trumbull County portion of the Western Reserve Greenway Trail. Kathy said they often ride the Greenway Trail portion in Ashtabula County and hope they don’t encounter any bears. A black bear was recently seen by riders on the trail in Ashtabula County.
“The WOW tour is fun and a great family ride. It’s a cakewalk compared to our GOBA trips,” Jerry joked.
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