Claremore Voted ‘Best Host Town’ by Oklahoma Freewheel

“Claremore was recently named the Best Host Town by 2016 Oklahoma Freewheel,” said Tanya Andrews, director of Claremore Expo & Visit Claremore. “What a great honor to have been chosen the best host town by this group. It was a great privilege to be an overnight stop on their route this year.”

On June 24, bicyclists from all over Oklahoma, surrounding states and some from even farther away, made Claremore an overnight stop on their 2016 route. The group’s overnight venue was the Claremore Expo Center, Expo Hall, Super Recreation Center, and the entire grounds of the Expo. Some chose to camp in tents, and upon arrival, scouted the area for shade. Others camped inside the Expo Hall, known to the group as the ‘inside campers.’

Riders were met at the welcome tent with a cold bottle of water, hosted by Visit Claremore. Each rider was given a visitor’s guide, a map of the area (including a map of the downtown shops), and when they were ready to venture to restaurants, shops and the museums, they were greeted by a free shuttle, also hosted by Visit Claremore. “The shuttle provided them a chance to get out and about while their bikes and property were safe back at the Expo. By offering this free service to the group, we encouraged them to visit our great attractions, shop and eat at the variety of great restaurants we have in town. The end result…it worked. Probably 400 of the riders ventured into town throughout the day and then that evening they went back to participate in Food Truck Thursday downtown. Again, the shuttle ran continuously to get them out and about.”

The next morning before leaving for their day’s journey, they started the day with a home-cooked, Claremore-style breakfast starting at 5 am. “Staff cooked scrambled eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, fruit salad with yogurt, and juice & coffee. It was a lot of fun greeting everyone that early in the morning, and even a greater feeling knowing they had some power food to finish their journey,” said Andrews. “They were the nicest folks and so appreciative of what Claremore had done to make their visit special.”