颁辞濒辞谤补诲辞鈥檚 began humbly enough, with two men brainstorming as they took a long ride for a children鈥檚 charity.
As they huffed up and glided down three mountain passes, they resolved to start their own ride for a great cause: scholarships for students at the 麻豆影院. They鈥檇 call it the Buffalo Bicycle Classic.
鈥淢ost people thought it was a goofy idea, certainly not the norm in higher education fundraising,鈥� recalled Todd Gleeson, professor emeritus of integrative physiology and, later, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Gleeson鈥檚 riding partner was Woody Eaton (DistSt鈥�62), a businessman, investor and philanthropist. They enlisted the help of Frank Banta (EPOBio鈥�72), owner of Banta Construction, and Gail Mock, a local realtor, dean鈥檚 advisory board member and longtime university supporter. They were the nucleus, but they weren鈥檛 alone.
After recruiting others, they sought expert counsel before diving into the surprisingly complex decisions about bike routes, event permits, volunteer coordination, numbers and sizes of T-shirts, food donations and adequate distribution of Port-O-Lets.
The inaugural event in 2003 drew 500 riders who rode one of four routes and raised $25,000 for scholarships. Since then, the Buff Bike Classic has raised more than $3.7 million and supported more than 450 scholarship students.
This Sept. 11 is the . It has a wide range of routes: five relatively flat road routes range from 14 to 100 miles; two 鈥渆pic鈥� routes reach 75 and 100 miles with up to 8,800 feet of elevation gain; and two gravel events 鈥� a 42-mile flattish 鈥淒irty Buff鈥� and a 55-mile 鈥淒irty Epic,鈥� with 5,900 feet of climbing.
Gleeson, who recently passed the ride鈥檚 leadership baton to Paul Beale, a fellow rider and CU 麻豆影院 physics professor, still volunteers his time for the ride, but emphasizes that it鈥檚 not about the bike.聽
The Buffalo Bicycle Classic provides scholarships to students in the College of Arts and Sciences.
One recipient, Metkel Tewelde (IntPhys鈥�24), said, 鈥淚 am beyond grateful to have been awarded this scholarship. [It] will help me financially and mentally, meaning, I have less worries鈥nd I can focus more on my schoolwork.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what keeps me motivated,鈥� Gleeson said.聽
Find more information or register at the Buffalo Bicycle Classic website.
Photos by Allen Krughoff
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