By Clint Talbott (Jour’85)

On a fundraising ride for Children’s Hospital six years ago, Woody Eaton (DistSt’62) and Todd Gleeson, dean of arts and sciences at CU-Boulder, wondered why they couldn’t launch a bicycling event to fund scholarships at CU-Boulder.

Since then, their conception has become the Buffalo Bicycle Classic, which has raised $800,000 for scholarships that go to good students who need the money. It is the single largest source of scholarships within the CU College of Arts and Sciences, which is the largest and oldest college at the university.

These results are impressive but not surprising. Eaton is a retired dentist, real-estate investor and notable philanthropist. Gleeson has been A&S dean for seven years. Such people get things done.

And they know whom to recruit. Eaton and Gleeson enlisted the help of Frank Banta (EPOB’72) and Gail Mock. Banta, of Banta Construction, is an alumnus, and Mock, of Mock Realty, is a longtime university supporter.

In the beginning, the dean’s team asked a professional sporting-event organizer for the cost to have a pro manage the event. The answer, $60,000, made them resolve to do it themselves.

The four borrowed winning strategies from other ride organizers. They sought tips from Steve and Cliff Bosley of the Bolder Boulder. They held early morning meetings to designate the location of aid stations, ponder energy bars and port-o-lets and track their progress in soliciting donors.

The volunteers figured it would lose money the first year. But the first BBC, in 2003, drew 900 riders and raised more than $50,000. Twenty-five students got $2,000 checks that year.

The 2007 BBC attracted nearly 2,500 riders (who pedaled routes ranging from 14 to 100 miles). At the ceremony where 100 students received a total of $225,000 in scholarships this year, BBC organizers saw the gratifying results of their work.

Scholarship recipients – a diverse group ranging from single mothers to siblings of a Longmont family of eight – share two key attributes. Each has a GPA of 3.0 or higher. And each is qualified to receive financial aid.

Students can’t apply for the BBC scholarships directly and don’t even know if they’re being considered.

Many recipients say, “If it weren’t for this, I couldn’t stay in school.” Mock notes that such feedback underscores “the reason we do this.”

Banta concurs, recalling the many recipients who have said, “This has made a difference in my life.”

John Wyatt (Soc’87) began volunteering on the BBC committee four years ago and now serves as its chair. Wyatt, who works for his family’s business, Wyatt Construction, is in the BBC for the long haul.

“I’ve been very fortunate in my life, and to be able to help these students go to school and not work as hard is a great thing,” Wyatt says.

During each year’s scholarship award ceremony, Wyatt notes, Dean Gleeson tells parents that their kids deserve the money and our support. Parents look surprised. Kids look embarrassed. The room looks grateful.

“There’s not a dry eye in the place,” Eaton observes.

For Banta, Eaton, Mock and Wyatt, the BBC’s remarkable growth inspires pride but not complacency. After five years, they still seek more success.

Wyatt would like to give away 100 full scholarships. With support from a couple of private foundations and an increase in riders’ donations, he says, that dream could materialize.

For this year’s BBC, scheduled for Sept. 7, there’s a matching-fund strategy to boost voluntary donations. Wyatt and Eaton emphasize that $85 of a rider’s $85 entry fee goes toward scholarships. The BBC’s sponsors cover the cost of the event. In addition, however, an anonymous donor will match every dollar, up to $100,000, given on top of the $85 fee.

Banta, Eaton, Gleeson, Mock and Wyatt are all cyclists, each logging at least one and as many as eight “century” rides a year. They can chat cheerfully about carbon-fiber bikes, bike-racing legends and the camaraderie that springs from sprockets.

Their love of cycling got the BBC rolling. Their devotion to learning keeps it going.

Clint Talbott (Jour’85) is publications coordinator at the CU College of Arts and Sciences. Alums who wish to support BBC scholarships can help by sending donations to Buffalo Bicycle Classic, University of Colorado, Campus Box 275, Boulder, CO 80309-0275 or see www.buffalobicycleclassic.com.