Scholarship ride stokes passion for the road
By Clint Talbott
Carol Dwyer was perfectly happy riding to and from work on a heavy bicycle with squishy tires. Her friend Janeen Jahn was comfortable on her son’s old bike, which was weighed down with fat tires and light shock absorbers.
But a charity ride for scholarships fueled their enthusiasm for good rides on better bikes.
Along with 2,500 other people (who pedaled routes ranging from 14 to 100 miles), Dwyer and Jahn signed up for the 2007 Buffalo Bicycle Classic, which raises funds for scholarships.
Since 2003, the Buffalo Bicycle Classic has raised $1 million for scholarships for good students who need the money. It is the most significant source of scholarships within the CU College of Arts and Sciences, the largest and oldest college at the university.
But the ride does more than widen access to higher education. The event also spreads the joy of cycling. Partly because of their experience with the BBC, Dwyer and Jahn bought new bikes and have spent more time in the saddle.
Before 2007, Dwyer loved riding on unpaved country roads near Longmont. She didn’t want to ride roads or go fast. For her, riding six miles to and from work (on mostly dirt roads) was an efficient way to exercise, and it was good for the environment.
“It was kind of criminal when I lived that close to work to fire up the car.” She added that she didn’t ride as often as she wanted to, “so I was mostly a criminal.”
Jahn invited Dwyer to ride the Buffalo Bicycle Classic, and Dwyer was game. She was also impressed. “I loved it,” she said, adding that the event had a lot of entertainment and was well organized.
There was just one problem: Dwyer and Jahn had trouble keeping up with a mutual friend on a road bike. That friend was “practically riding backwards” waiting for Dwyer and Jahn.
“I thought, ‘Wow, if I had a road bike, I could keep up and go farther, which would be a lot of fun,’” Dwyer said recently.
And Jahn, with her heavy bike, found it hard to keep up with Dwyer, let alone the friend on the road bike. “I kept up with them, but they were always ahead of me,” Jahn said.
The next spring, Jahn bought a new (and lighter) bike, a Rocky Mountain Solo. Jahn rode the BBC again the following year and found it “much easier.” Sometimes, she also rides to work, to the farmers’ market or along the Platte River bike path.
Before Dwyer took the new-bike plunge, she rode a few more times with the faster friend. “I was always struggling to keep up,” Dwyer said. “She was always encouraging me, but I don’t like to hold people back.”
Dwyer bought a custom-fitted Orbea Onix with a carbon-fiber frame and Shimano Ultegra components. “This whole bike is more than what someone in my category should invest in,” Dwyer said. But the new steed and her old Miyata “are the two bikes I’m going to die with.”
Dwyer occasionally rides the 11 miles to and from her home in Lafayette to work, schedule and weather permitting. She’s also fond of taking one- to three-hour rides along the quieter roads of Boulder Valley. She’d like to pedal around Lake Como in Italy, and the next time she signs up for the BBC, she plans to do a longer ride.
That kind of can-do spirit created the Buffalo Bicycle Classic. On a fund-raising ride for Children’s Hospital seven years ago, CU Alumnus Woody Eaton and CU Arts and Sciences Dean Todd Gleeson wondered why they couldn’t launch a bicycling event to fund scholarships. Turns out they could.
With a dedicated core of volunteers, now led by CU Alumnus John Wyatt, that roadside musing has become a source of scholarship support for hundreds of students.
Scholarship recipients—a diverse group ranging from single mothers to siblings from 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 cannot apply for the BBC scholarships directly and don’t even know if they’re being considered.
This year’s Buffalo Bicycle Classic, which Jahn and Dwyer hope to ride, is scheduled for Sept. 13. The 14-mile “family ride” registration fee is $65 for adults and $35 for children. The fee for longer rides is $85. The event’s expenses are covered by its sponsors, the ride’s organizers emphasize, so registration fees go directly to its charitable purpose: scholarships.
All bikes, speeds and distances are welcome. But the fervor for road riding may be infectious.
For more information on or to register for this event, see www.buffalobicycleclassic.com. Those who wish to support BBC scholarships may send donations to: Buffalo Bicycle Classic, University of Colorado, Campus Box 275, Boulder, CO 80309-0275.
Carol Dwyer (left) likes to ride bicycles and even the occasional elephant. Her friend Janeen Jahn (right) is also a longtime rider. Both formerly casual riders have become more enamored of road riding (and smoother bikes) in part because of their experiences at the Buffalo Bicycle Classic.
Carol Dwyer was perfectly happy riding to and from work on a heavy bicycle with squishy tires. Her friend Janeen Jahn was comfortable on her son’s old bike, which was weighed down with fat tires and light shock absorbers.
But a charity ride for scholarships fueled their enthusiasm for good rides on better bikes.
Along with 2,500 other people (who pedaled routes ranging from 14 to 100 miles), Dwyer and Jahn signed up for the 2007 Buffalo Bicycle Classic, which raises funds for scholarships.
Since 2003, the Buffalo Bicycle Classic has raised $1 million for scholarships for good students who need the money. It is the most significant source of scholarships within the CU College of Arts and Sciences, the largest and oldest college at the university.
But the ride does more than widen access to higher education. The event also spreads the joy of cycling. Partly because of their experience with the BBC, Dwyer and Jahn bought new bikes and have spent more time in the saddle.
Before 2007, Dwyer loved riding on unpaved country roads near Longmont. She didn’t want to ride roads or go fast. For her, riding six miles to and from work (on mostly dirt roads) was an efficient way to exercise, and it was good for the environment.
“It was kind of criminal when I lived that close to work to fire up the car.” She added that she didn’t ride as often as she wanted to, “so I was mostly a criminal.”
Jahn invited Dwyer to ride the Buffalo Bicycle Classic, and Dwyer was game. She was also impressed. “I loved it,” she said, adding that the event had a lot of entertainment and was well organized.
There was just one problem: Dwyer and Jahn had trouble keeping up with a mutual friend on a road bike. That friend was “practically riding backwards” waiting for Dwyer and Jahn.
“I thought, ‘Wow, if I had a road bike, I could keep up and go farther, which would be a lot of fun,’” Dwyer said recently.
And Jahn, with her heavy bike, found it hard to keep up with Dwyer, let alone the friend on the road bike. “I kept up with them, but they were always ahead of me,” Jahn said.
The next spring, Jahn bought a new (and lighter) bike, a Rocky Mountain Solo. Jahn rode the BBC again the following year and found it “much easier.” Sometimes, she also rides to work, to the farmers’ market or along the Platte River bike path.
Before Dwyer took the new-bike plunge, she rode a few more times with the faster friend. “I was always struggling to keep up,” Dwyer said. “She was always encouraging me, but I don’t like to hold people back.”
Dwyer bought a custom-fitted Orbea Onix with a carbon-fiber frame and Shimano Ultegra components. “This whole bike is more than what someone in my category should invest in,” Dwyer said. But the new steed and her old Miyata “are the two bikes I’m going to die with.”
Dwyer occasionally rides the 11 miles to and from her home in Lafayette to work, schedule and weather permitting. She’s also fond of taking one- to three-hour rides along the quieter roads of Boulder Valley. She’d like to pedal around Lake Como in Italy, and the next time she signs up for the BBC, she plans to do a longer ride.
That kind of can-do spirit created the Buffalo Bicycle Classic. On a fund-raising ride for Children’s Hospital seven years ago, CU Alumnus Woody Eaton and CU Arts and Sciences Dean Todd Gleeson wondered why they couldn’t launch a bicycling event to fund scholarships. Turns out they could.
With a dedicated core of volunteers, now led by CU Alumnus John Wyatt, that roadside musing has become a source of scholarship support for hundreds of students.
Scholarship recipients—a diverse group ranging from single mothers to siblings from 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 cannot apply for the BBC scholarships directly and don’t even know if they’re being considered.
This year’s Buffalo Bicycle Classic, which Jahn and Dwyer hope to ride, is scheduled for Sept. 13. The 14-mile “family ride” registration fee is $65 for adults and $35 for children. The fee for longer rides is $85. The event’s expenses are covered by its sponsors, the ride’s organizers emphasize, so registration fees go directly to its charitable purpose: scholarships.
All bikes, speeds and distances are welcome. But the fervor for road riding may be infectious.
For more information on or to register for this event, see www.buffalobicycleclassic.com. Those who wish to support BBC scholarships may send donations to: Buffalo Bicycle Classic, University of Colorado, Campus Box 275, Boulder, CO 80309-0275.