Champion Commuter

Mark Buescher, PA-C - Northwest Orthopaedic Specialists

Mark is a Physician Assistant for NWOS. Mark has been an avid cyclist since he was a young kid. Mark moved to Spokane in 1989 but didn’t work at a site that made cycling an option for him. Mark began working at NWOS in 2009 and was excited to commute by bike once again with his 15-mile round trip commute.

He began logging his trips on his commute calendar in April of 2010. Mark rides almost every day, if possible, from March until November. In the last 13 years, he’s cycled over 1500 times and saved nearly 23,000 miles from being driven on our Spokane County roads!

Mark doesn’t feel he has any challenges to overcome by riding his bike to work. He does draw the line at riding his bike in icy conditions. He says, “I really like my collarbones intact”. Over the years Mark has collected quite a lot of storm related cycling gear. He has a lot of gear that has wind block and that refills water. This has allowed him to ride more often. Mark says, “There’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes”.

Mark was the driving force behind an installation of a bike cage in their parking garage. It can house 40-50 bicycles. The most they’ve had parked in the cage was 12, but they have about 5-6 cyclists who ride their bike on a regular basis, and they enjoy the fact that their bikes are safely secured.

Mark admits he’s a bit of a number’s nerd. He lives on the South Hill, and it is not a straight downhill shot to work so the terrain has a bit of vertical and ascent going to and from work. He averages 671 feet per day. His total vertical for the 14 years so far is 1,040,000 give or take a few. This is close to 200 miles of climbing.

ETC, Joanne England, states “Mark Buescher, PA-C is such an inspiration to all employees here at NWOS. Rain or shine Mark bikes to work not just for health benefits but also for the benefits to the environment”.

Congratulations Mark!!