A look at the history of Ohio Bike Week

SANDUSKY — Ohio Bike Week began as a relatively small local event. It grew to 10 days, shrank to five days in 2018, and has returned to 10 days this year.Along the way, it has dealt with bad weather that held down crowd sizes. Bike Week even managed to keep roaring down the road in 2009 after the main local sponsor went out of business only days before the festival was set to open.The festival's beginnings go back to 1999, when the state HOG (Harley Owners Group), which moved around Ohio, brought its annual event to Sandusky.The HOG rally went over well, so in 2000, it returned to Erie County.That was followed in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 by the North Coast Thunder Rally.2004 was also the first year Steve Ernst, president of Advantage Entertainment, became involved. Advantage Entertainment has run the event every year since then.In 2005, Roeder Harley-Davidson, then the local dealership on Milan Road (U.S. 250) near Ohio 2, and Advantage Entertainment rebranded the annual event as Ohio Bike Week, signaling it was no longer just a local event."When it was changed to Ohio Bike Week, the commitment was made by Roeder Harley-Davidson to try and make it a national event," Ernst said.The budget went from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars."The intent was to have it grow in a very quick amount of time," Ernst said.It did grow. But in 2009, disaster suddenly loomed.Roeder Harley-Davidson suddenly went out of business.It was not at an opportune time. The doors closed just two weeks before Ohio Bike Week was supposed to begin. Suddenly short of funds, Bike Week missed a deadline to provide a $40,000 letter of credit to guarantee payment for county deputies who would earn overtime providing security at the fairgrounds.According to a 2009 Register article chronicling the rescue of the festival, Ernst confided in a telephone conversation with local car dealer Bryan Kasper that he faced an "insurmountable task" coming up with the money to provide security.Kasper launched a counterattack, finding seven other businessmen who would help him provide a letter of credit. The fairgrounds also helped by lowering the minimum to $25,000."I called seven people and seven people said yes," Kasper told the Register at the time. "Honestly, it's just a neighbor helping neighbor kind of thing."An old ally of the festival, Lake Erie Shores and Islands, also helped. The late Joan Van Offeren, executive director of the tourism agency, paid $20,000 to print up copies of the rally guide.The event went on. A new Harley dealership came to town, Mad River Harley-Davidson, and it supports the festival.The festival has been able to keep going despite disappointing years when too much rain fell. In 2015, rain and gloomy forecasts held down the size of the crowds.A change came in 2018, when the event, which had been held for 10 days, was shortened to five days. Organizers figured they could draw almost as many people while avoiding the expense of keeping the event going on days when the crowds were sparse, Ernst said at the time. Merchandise vendors thought the shorter festival would make the event more sustainable, he said.But local businesses that benefit from Ohio Bike Week, such as local hotels, reported a substantial loss of business as a result of the change.Ernst announced shareholders in the event, including hotels, Lake Erie Shores & Islands, Mad River Harley Davidson, Progressive Insurance and Budweiser, had increased support so the festival could go back to 10 days in 2019.The event has become an important social occasion for many people. Ernst estimated in 2018 almost to 10 to 20 couples have gotten married during the event.But with thousands of people on motorcycles swarming into Erie County, there have been occasional serious accidents.In 2013, for example, Kristina McGraw, 48, Sandusky died during the event while cruising down Ohio 101 in Sandusky when a jeep pulled in front of her. She was ejected from her motorcycle.McGraw was well-known and well-loved in the local biking community and only a short time before the accident had run a fund-raiser at Ohio Bike Week to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network.Troopers told the Register it's important for drivers to be cautious, both during Bike Week and through the summer, watching out for motorcycles and being aware that the people on bikes are vulnerable in an accident.Crowds check out the Ohio Bike Week festivities at Mad River Harley-Davidson and downtown Sandusky on Friday, May 25, 2018. Bryan Kasper hands a hammer to Annette Munafo in 2014 at a fund raiser to fight cancer. Kasper helped save Ohio Bike Week in 2009 when a major sponsor suddenly went out of business.