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Any other Sunday, this group of bikers would be ripping through the mountains or breezing along a frontage road for the pure and simple enjoyment of the sport. But on this particular overcast day, as they glided together through the streets of East Missoula and up the canyon toward Marshall Mountain, this group of bikers rode out of appreciation and respect for a dear friend.

For so many of them, their love for biking was affected in some way - no matter how big or small - to Len LaBuff. The co-owner of Open Road Bicycles was an avid cyclist, bike mechanic, advocate of alternative transportation and racer. LaBuff died Oct. 31 after a six-year battle with cancer. He was 58.

It was a crisp fall Sunday when 75 riders gathered at the bike shop on Orange Street for a commemorative ride to LaBuff's memorial service at Marshall Mountain. It was not a race. It was not workout. It was, however, a celebration.

Driving a vehicle to the service wasn't even a consideration for many of these individuals. LaBuff would want everyone to bike, said Dan Dahlberg, his business partner and friend. One of the last things LaBuff told us before he died was “mountain bike.”

So they did.

“It was fitting,” Dahlberg said. “He'd be honored.”

Despite the six-mile ride with a steep climb to the finish, Dahlberg dressed in slacks, a collared shirt and a sweater. He rode LaBuff's Trek Clyde cruiser and his helmet to the service. In the spokes was a florescent piece of paper that read, “Ride on, Len.”

“I wanted him to be here,” he said.

Dahlberg first met LaBuff in the early '90s at a bike race. The two riders struggled to keep up with the front pack. Dahlberg, afraid of falling too far behind, gave it everything he had. But LaBuff told him to conserve his energy. The two would eventually catch up.

With five miles to the end of the race, the two riders caught back up with the front group.

“It was one of the many wise things Len helped me figure out,” Dahlberg said.

As long as Willy Miller had known LaBuff, he never saw him in a car. At least never on his commute to work. LaBuff always rode his bike, he said.

Wayne Williams, a Missoula smokejumper, bonded with LaBuff over old bike tools. Williams, who likes to restore old three-speed bikes, used to joke with LaBuff that they were both “old school mechanics.” Both riders had tools for bikes that no longer existed. In those days, tools didn't change with the newest bike, he said.

Williams also battled cancer, but his was diagnosed early.

“I got off way easier” than LaBuff, said Williams, amazed at the grace under fire his friend showed during these past six years. The patients LaBuff showed was impeccable. “I don't know if I could do what he could.”

Reporter Chelsi Moy can be reached at 523-5260 or at chelsi.moy@missoulian.com

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