Cyclists to take part in ‘The Nature Reach Ride’ today

Dozens of area cyclists will be hoping for clear skies this morning so they can take to the road for a cause.
Called The Nature Reach Ride, it will be a first-ever 10-mile “fun ride” to raise awareness and funding for Pittsburg State University's Nature Reach program. 
Nature Reach is a combined animal rehabilitation/community education program of the PSU Biology Department, serving about 100 to 150 programs every year including classroom programs, assemblies, and Nature Reach tours, according to Director Delia Lister.
Since the beginning of the program in 1985, Nature Reach has served more than 100,000 students K-12 and community members, and serves around 1,000 PSU students annually, Lister said.
That takes money — about $60,000 annually to cover the director's salary, a student worker, and food and caging supplies for all the animals, from raptors to snakes.
“It takes $2 a day to feed just one of our raptors, such as a red-tail hawk,” said Lister.
The magic number today is 10: On May 10, riders who paid $10 to ride will depart at 10 a.m. to ride 10 miles — 5 miles from PSU's Gorilla village out to Nature Reach Reserve via county roads and back again, according to Tailwind Cyclists owner Roger Lomshek, who will have the course marked.
“The idea for the ride came about in a sort of funny way. One of my Nature Reach animal feeders, Lisa Ward, works at the bike shop. I sort of made an off-the-cuff comment to her a couple of weeks ago that we should have a ride for Nature Reach,” said Delia Lister, director of Nature Reach. “The next day or two later she called and said she wanted to do it, and now here we are.”
Ward quickly rounded up sponsors — Langdon Lane Animal Hospital and Broadway Animal Hospital - and got the PSU Bike Club involved.
“We really want to raise awareness of the program to a different crowd,” Lister said.
“Those that participate in the ride will get a chance to see our new raptor cages built by Westar Energy's Green team and HCC contractors. We will have the new raptor building open, which is the first 'green' building owned by the University.”
Lister and Ward both hope that if more people with children, especially in the Pittsburg area, participate and therefore learn more about Nature Reach, that they can in turn encourages their neighborhood schools to schedule Nature Reach for classroom presentations.
“We also want to use the event to encourage parents to get outside with their kids and enjoy a bike ride and nature,” Lister explained.
The money brought in from Saturday's ride also will help Nature Reach's endowment campaign, the goal of which is $500,000.
“We have a long road ahead of us,” Lister said.
A small percentage of Nature Reach funding comes from program fees; the rest is from community members and local businesses who contribute and from PSU.
“The University has stepped up their funding for the program. Dr. (Steve) Scott, Dr. (Lynette) Olson, and Mr. (John) Patterson all have been very supportive of the program - and we appreciate their support,” Lister said. “We also are working on teacher workshop grants for additional funding.”
This year, a local anonymous donor pledged $10,000 toward the start of the Nature Reach Endowment if Nature Reach could match those funds.
“I am very pleased to say we matched that amount,” Lister said.
And today's ride will help, Lister said. “If the event is a success, we'd like to make it an annual event,” she said.