The Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure includes tent camping at the host sites, and the Port Clinton area is known for its many state park and private campgrounds. This campsite at Kelleys Island State Park welcomes bicycle tent campers and offers scenic views of Lake Erie.

Two-wheeled adventurers will be a common sight in Port Clinton and Ottawa County next week, as the inaugural three-night layover of the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure sets up camp in Port Clinton on Monday, June 17 and departs Thursday morning, June 20. More than a thousand bike riders from around Ohio and the country will camp at Port Clinton High School.

The GOBA tour begins in Bowling Green this Sunday (June 16), heads to Port Clinton for three days, then it’s off to Oregon on Thursday before wrapping the adventure in Bowling Green on Friday.

GOBA Director Jeff Pierron of Columbus Outdoor Pursuits, the nonprofit organizing the bicycle ride, has offered a very basic piece advice to riders: You’ll need every waking minute to experience all that the Lake Erie shores and islands have to offer. While there is plenty for visitors to see and do on their own in the Port Clinton area, the GOBA-hosted events by bike or bus will also promise to be a lot of fun.

The historic Lakeside Chautauqua Community will host the bikers on Tuesday, including lunch. Put-in-Bay and South Bass Island are putting out the welcome mat on Wednesday morning and afternoon. GOBA attendees will gather at Waterworks Park in downtown Port Clinton later on Wednesday to watch a dazzling Lake Erie sunset while enjoying live music, food trucks and a variety of festivities.

With Cedar Point Amusement Park just across Sandusky Bay, GOBA will have a 22-passenger bus ready to take riders to and from the amusement park on Wednesday.

For those who insist on biking adventures, an optional 50-mile loop on Tuesday will take riders to Lakeside, the Marblehead Lighthouse and Johnson’s Island Confederate Cemetery. Wednesday’s program includes a 20-mile loop to the Miller Ferry dock on Catawba Island for a ferry trip to South Bass Island, or traditional 50- and 100-mile loops south of Port Clinton, with a food stop in Fremont.

To make sure riders are fueled and ready to go, Port Clinton High School is serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, with the Rotary Club Perch Wagon offering its famous Lake Erie fried yellow perch. The high school’s media lounge will offer hot and cold beverages and snacks.