The Fall 2022 Graves Lecture Series at Chadron State College wraps up tonight at 7:00 in the Sandoz Center with a program by 3 professors and one student about their 70-day coast-to-coast bike ride this summer.
History professor and ride organizer Dr Kurt Kinbacher says the ride grew out of his own longtime love affair with cycling and a coast-to-coast trip he took alone 35 years ago..
When the final plans were put together, there was only one student left – Jace Demaranville of Scottsbluff – along with the husband and wife English professor duo of Markus and Mary Clai Jones.
He says they got ready primarily by just riding and by taking what was essentially a bicycle maintenance class last fall that left them well prepared for the road.
Kinbacher says the trip itself was actually taken in 2 parts, bicycling from Chadron to Washington D.C., taking a train from there to Seattle, and riding the rest of the way back to Chadron.
There’s a good chance this year’s ride won’t be the only one receiving CSC class credit. Kinbacher says Senior Vice President of Academics Dr Jim Powell is very interested in a slightly shorter version in 2 years.
Kinbacher has named tonight’s presentation Crossing the Continent on Two Wheels: The Speed Goat Chronicles. Again, it’s free and begins at 7:00 in the Sandoz Center Chicoine Atrium.