GOBA - Parade

Parade World-Record Attempt

News Release
The Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure Announces World Record Attempt
2008-03-26

Join the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure (GOBA), a world-class bicycle tour, in celebrating its 20th annual event by attempting to break the Guinness World Record TM for the Largest Parade of Bicycles. On Saturday evening, June 14, 2008, the inaugural event of this year's week-long tour will be the GOBA traditional bicycle parade, held in Wellington, Ohio, in Lorain County. The current world record stands at 1,901 bicycles and was set by Volvic in Taiwan, July 21, 2007.

Riding in the parade is open to the general public as well as to all GOBA riders. All parade participants must ride a 2-wheeled bicycle, must be able to ride 2 to 3 miles, and must wear helmets. Sign-in is required and will be open from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm. Participants under the age of 18 must have a parent or guardian sign their application. Registration fee is $1.00 per rider. A drawing for prizes exclusively for those participants from the general public will be held at the Opening Ceremonies, at the conclusion of the parade. Parking for the parade and the sign-in station will be at the Lorain County Fairgrounds in Wellington. Enter through the Main Gate from State Route 18, west of Downtown Wellington. The parade will leave at 6:00 pm from the Fairgrounds and, with the assistance of the Wellington police, will follow a route through town to the Village Hall, where the Opening Ceremonies will take place and preliminary results of the World Record Attempt will be announced. Musical entertainment and food for sale in Wellington, both before and after the parade. Riders may bicycle back to the Fairgrounds at any time before dark.

The 20th Annual Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure will feature the northern section of Ohio on its tour, June 14-21, 2008. The expected 3,000 riders will start gathering for the tour on Saturday, June 14, at the Lorain County Fairgrounds in Wellington. They will begin cycling on Sunday, June 15th, covering an average of 50 miles per day, and will overnight in Galion on Sunday, Mt. Vernon on Monday and Tuesday, Coshocton on Wednesday and Thursday, and Orrville on Friday, and will return to Wellington on Saturday.

The tour is owned and operated by Columbus Outdoor Pursuits, a non-profit organization, for the benefit of bicycle-related projects in Ohio. GOBA's long time sponsor is Bob Evans Restaurants, whose contributions have made the tour possible. In 2007, 2,400 people from 38 states, England, Japan, the Virgin Islands, and Canada took part in the tour. Included in this number were many families: typically, nearly 20% of the participants are children traveling with their parents, making GOBA the largest family-oriented bicycle tour in the world.

The hallmark of the week-long tour is the partnership with each of the host towns. Planning for the bicycle parade as well as the other festivities on the first weekend are the culmination of the cooperation and hard work of local organizations, such as Main Street Wellington, the Village of Wellington, the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, churches and service groups, and many local businesses and individual volunteers.

For details of the world records, visit www.Guinnessworldrecords.com, search: "Largest Parade of Bicycles". For more information on joining in the parade for the World Record Attempt, contact: GOBA, 614-273-0811, or Main Street Wellington, 440-647-3987, info@mainstreetwellington.com.