The lone rider: A passion for riding bicycles saves Buzz Larsen’s life

Posted 12/14/18

As the new year approaches and those in need of change begin considering resolutions, Buzz Larsen has advice for those looking to get into shape.

“Just do it,” he said, sounding like a …

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The lone rider: A passion for riding bicycles saves Buzz Larsen’s life

Posted

As the new year approaches and those in need of change begin considering resolutions, Buzz Larsen has advice for those looking to get into shape.

“Just do it,” he said, sounding like a certain shoe ad.

But Larsen speaks from experience: Exercise saved his life.

Larsen was in the intensive care unit in Billings, having gone septic after a bout with pancreatitis. Buzz’s wife, Pat, thought she was going to lose her husband.

“I was in the room when the doctor hollered out ‘everybody quiet,’” Pat recalled. “Buzz was awake and the doctor said, ‘Buzz, I need to ask you, do you have a DNR?’”

A DNR is a Do Not Resuscitate order. The doctor told Buzz he was doing everything he could, but he might not make it.

“Later he told us if [Buzz] was not in such good shape, he would have been gone,” Pat said.

Very few people are in as good of shape as Buzz. The 85-year-old Powell resident rides his bike almost every day. Last week, he missed three days of riding while in the hospital for more pancreatitis treatments. But he was on his bike soon after getting home.

Recently he had knee replacement — he missed a couple days then, but was on a stationary bike before he left the hospital. And there was a stint in the Army, serving overseas in Korea. There wasn’t much time for riding then. Now, even if he can’t ride outside, he heads to the sun room and works out on his stationary bike. Then he moves to his rowing machine.

His best advice: “Exercise is just like smoking — do it every day for a while and soon it’ll be a habit.”

Larsen’s addiction to biking started long ago. He had a bike in the 1950s while studying at the University of Wyoming, being one of few students with a bike back then.

“I didn’t even bother to lock it,” he said. “I’d just put up the kickstand and leave it out front. Nobody was going to steal it.”

Larsen loved bikes so much he started his own bike sales and repair shop in 1973. His name is still on the store on East Second Street — now owned by noted marathon biker Nick Coy.

Larsen’s exercise suffered at times, as he showed up to work at 7:30 a.m. and returned home around 9 p.m.

“The only time I could go was before work,” Buzz said.

Yet he always found a way to get out.

On days off, he liked to ride to Red Lodge for a bite to eat and a beer. It wasn’t until after retiring in 1998 that he found time to ride to his heart’s content. Years later, he can still be seen riding the OGL (Old Guy Loop): He’ll ride his bike west on Avenue E to Wyo. Highway 294, take a left to U.S. Highway 14-A and then head back to Powell. He’d go further, but his doctor told him he’d wear out his knee if he continued to ride close to 30 miles a day, so he cut his trips in half.

Pat rides, too, but she likes to ride at her own speed. They rarely ride together.

“I can’t ride that slow,” Buzz said, jokingly.

Interestingly, Buzz isn’t even the oldest daily rider in Powell. Leroy Davey, 89, has been a riding buddy of Buzz’s for decades. But they don’t ride together, either, preferring to ride opposite directions on the OGL. For Buzz, exercise is mostly a personal thing. He keeps an exercise journal and rides alone.

And he has no plans to quit anytime soon.

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