Event Details

Expo, Presentations, Competitions, Fitness, and More Feb. 21, 2026 FREE

Kickoff Event Feb. 20 TICKETED

WSU Student Union

The Bicycle Nomad: Retracing the Bicycle Route of the Buffalo Soldiers

Erick Cedeño

"
^

Erick Cedeño, known as the Bicycle Nomad, is more than a cyclist—he is an explorer and historian. Recently inducted into the 2022 class of The Explorers Club 50, Cedeño is recognized as one of the year’s 50 explorers changing the world who the world needs to know about.

In 2022, Cedeño honored the 125th anniversary of an epic bicycle ride few have heard of in their history lessons. In 1897, the Buffalo Soldiers, an all-Black regiment of U.S. soldiers, rode 1,900 miles from Montana to Missouri on bicycles. The goal of the 41-day journey was to test the feasibility of replacing horses with bikes in military operations. The regiment biked more than 50 miles each day, pedaling through rain, snow and difficult terrain. After diligent historical research, Cedeño retraced their route in summer of 2022.

Links of interest

For a local road trip to learn more about the Buffalo Soldiers, head to Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument Address: 1120 US-42, Wilberforce, OH 45384 (20 minutes from Dayton).
Charles Young (1864–1922), an escaped slave who rose to become a Buffalo Soldier in the United States Army and its first African-American colonel. The National Monument is in a house purchased by Young in 1907 that was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1974.