GOBA riders stranded

High water made this year’s Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure more, well, adventurous than ever, as bicyclists were stranded by high water around Fort Jennings and Middle Point. Pete Weir, who helped oversee local activities for the GOBA trip this year, which began and ended in Van Wert, said the wind, rain and road flooding made Saturday’s return of riders “a day to remember.” Weir thanked GOBA Director Bill Gordon and his staff, as well as County Emergency Management Director Rick McCoy, Van Wert City Superintendent of Schools Ken Amstutz and Fair Director Ann Marshall and fairgrounds workers and a number of local volunteers for helping pick up stranded cyclists in school buses and trucks and pulling vehicles out of the mud at the fairgrounds so riders could get home. Here, luggage awaits riders at the fairgrounds. (Beth Marchek/Van Wert independent)