Bush goes over the bars. (How nice would it be to have medics on all of your rides?)

[truth]

AP: Bush cuts knee in biking mishap
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By SCOTT LINDLAW
Associated Press Writer

July 27, 2004, 6:42 AM CDT

CRAWFORD, Texas -- Running hurt his knees. Swimming cramped his style. So President Bush took up mountain biking, a sport that gets him outdoors, pumps up his heart rate and, every so often, sends him crashing to the ground.

Bush offered a glimpse of his new pastime to an Associated Press reporter Monday, roaming the dirt roads and far-flung pastures of his 1,600-acre ranch. About halfway through, he sailed over the handlebars during a dangerous descent, but dusted himself off, picked up his $3,100 bicycle and kept riding.

Bush, who was wearing a helmet and a mouth guard, escaped injury other than a small cut on his knee. But he conceded he was a little shaken up, riding tentatively as he descended the rest of the downhill.

Crashing is a routine part of mountain biking, a sport in which riders roll over loose dirt, rocks and other obstacles. Nevertheless, the president said, it's easier on his body than jogging, which was grinding his knees.

"This is like running except I don't feel bad afterward," he said Monday after burning about 1,200 calories over an 18-mile ride that lasted an hour and 20 minutes.

"You can cover a lot more, and you can go very fast on a bike," Bush said. Most important, he gets his heart rate up. "At my age, you're more concerned about the cardiovascular" benefits of a workout, the 58-year-old president said.

Bush has only been riding the knobby-tired mountain bikes since February, yet he takes on dangerous sections that would give veterans pause. He keeps a cramp-inducing pace on long uphill sections, pouring it on to reach each peak, backing off a little to recover and then attacking the next hill.

He pants hard, emitting low "hrrr, hrrr, hrrr" grunts with each stroke of the pedals, his shoulders bobbing up and down.

Bush's new bike is one of the best in the business: a Trek Fuel 98 made of high-tech carbon fiber. The frame is adorned with top-shelf components that Bush professes to know little about, including a motorcycle-style front and rear suspension that soaks up big bumps.

He had it specially fitted by a Washington bicycle retailer.

"I was looking for a different way to get outside and get exercise," Bush said. "Swimming is outside exercise, but you don't get the feeling of the wind rushing by you, nor can you swim your favorite piece of property."

But mountain biking is inherently dangerous, as the president has learned firsthand.

On May 22, he lost traction on a dirt road, scraping his chin, upper lip, nose, right hand and both knees. The next day, a Secret Service agent riding behind him slammed onto the ground at high speed on a paved section, breaking his collarbone and three ribs.

Bush approaches steep downhills warily.

In the minutes before Monday's crash, he warned his riding party of a sharp drop and a hard left turn ahead. "I'm gonna show you a hill that would choke a mule," he said.

He hit the brakes and steadily advanced downhill when his front tire lost its grip on the loose rocks. His foot got stuck in a strap that keeps it on the pedal.

In the blink of an eye, his rear wheel was in the air and Bush flew high over the handlebars, landing on his back with the bike on top of him.

He lay motionless for a few moments. The reporter hoisted the bike off him just as medics arrived.

There were trees and a drop-off nearby and a road littered with rocks, but Bush was largely unscathed.

A reflector snapped off the bike and was left as a warning marker for next time. Bush straightened the handlebars, threw a leg over the bike and kept rolling.

"We've got thrills, spills -- you name it," he said.

Bush is unwinding on his ranch during the Democratic National Convention and before the home stretch of his re-election campaign. He has spent the morning in meetings, some of them concerning the recommendations of the independent Sept. 11 commission.

But out on the trail, it's officially a politics-free zone. When the reporter points out that Democratic challenger John Kerry has a $8,000 road bicycle, Bush replied: "Who?"
Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press

[Viva]

Didn't this a$$-clown go over the bars on the same ride, like, a couple of months ago? Come on Georgie-boy, you're biking in friken Texas! How hard can that be?!

Oooops, I missed this the first time around:

On May 22, he lost traction on a dirt road, scraping his chin, upper lip, nose, right hand and both knees.

Kinda the story of his life at the momment- losing traction in Iraq, losing traction with the international community, losing traction with the American voters...

[watersnowdirt]

Originally posted by truth


His foot got stuck in a strap that keeps it on the pedal.

His $3100 bike has STRAPS?

[PNWbrit]

Originally posted by truth
He pants hard, emitting low "hrrr, hrrr, hrrr" grunts with each stroke

?????

[CantDog]

Retard paid 600 bucks more than he should have on that bike.

[Cornholio]

Originally posted by truth
...Democratic challenger John Kerry has a $8,000 road bicycle...

I knew I liked that guy for a reason....

[Crinkle]

He keeps a cramp-inducing pace on long uphill sections, pouring it on to reach each peak, backing off a little to recover and then attacking the next hill.

In Texas??? WTF. Peaks?? Give me a break.

His foot got stuck in a strap that keeps it on the pedal.

now that's a problem in and of itself. He is MTB JONG.

"I'm gonna show you a dick that would choke a mule," he said

[schuss]

Seriously. Some of the stuff we do around here would likely make him cry like a baby, and I'm not even good at biking. Mouth Guard? Scraping his chin? Come on now, if you mountain bike and haven't learned the tuck and roll, you haven't biked much at all.

[Ripzalot]

Originally posted by CantDog
Retard paid 600 bucks more than he should have on that bike.

he didn't pay anything. lance got him a free one.

don'tcha just hate him even more now?

[girlski0912]

Give me a fucking break! I think someone said it best in an earlier post...Shrub is a fucking MTB JONG! Jesus! With any luck, he'll manage to endo as he is climbing one of the many ascents that Texas is known for, smash his jaw and never be able to speak again sparing the rest of the world from his mindless chatter.

[Ubersheist]

Originally posted by Crinkle
In Texas??? WTF. Peaks?? Give me a break.

Well, there are some mountains in Texas.... in the southwestern part of the state.

Guadalupe Natl. Park:


Big Bend Natl. Park:


Crawford ain't near any of them, though. There's definately some topography in and near Crawford, however - more on the order of a 2 or 3 hundred vertical feet.

[Ripzalot]

Originally posted by Ubersheist
Well, there are some mountains in Texas.... in the southwestern part of the state.

Crawford ain't near any of them, though. There's definately some topography in and near Crawford, however - more on the order of a 2 or 3 hundred vertical feet.

quite true. my uncle had a ranch near there and i used to spend many summers there. the lampasas river runs nearby there if not thru it, and there are many large lakes. the countryside is rolling hills and in the summer it would probably reduce any of us to down to jongness.

[hev]

[homerjay]

You don't need big vertical relief to have challenging mt. biking, think short steep grunts over and over again.

Knowing he rides mountain bikes bring the total of things I like about Dubya to: 1.

[InspectorGadget]

[/B]

Stunt double

[Spats]

I'm not going to bag on Jr. for being a JONG: you've got to start somewhere and sometime. I hope this will set an example for his constituency and get more of them to consider riding. That is good.

What's not good is that Jr. is doing his best to log, mine, and give away public lands. When you inherit the family fortune, you can ride entirely on your own 1600-acre ranch -- but the rest of us are dependent on public lands to ride, hike, and ski.

How many miles of singletrack would the $90 BILLION we spent in Iraq build? How much irreplaceable watershed would $90 BILLION protect? Think about that next time you flag-wave for the war.

[ak_powder_monkey]

Originally posted by watersnowdirt
His $3100 bike has STRAPS?

I'd say the pres got royally ripped off, damn

[lph]

Originally posted by homerjay
You don't need big vertical relief to have challenging mt. biking, think short steep grunts over and over again.

Knowing he rides mountain bikes bring the total of things I like about Dubya to: 1.

Ditto, my count is now at 1 also.

To the rest of you, I don't like the guy either, but come on, he is out there mountain biking for crying out loud, give the guy some props. He goes down, gets back on his bike and keeps going. Not to mention he is 58 years old and doing 18 mile loops in 80 minutes!!!