| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Politix |
| Bush Rides With Lance Armstrong At Crawford Ranch |
| 2005-08-21 |
| Via Drudge. CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President George W. Bush, an avid mountain biker, got a chance to test his mettle against cycling superstar Lance Armstrong on Saturday. Lance does off-road training in the offseason. The seven-time Tour de France champion joined the president for a two-hour, 17-mile trek through the canyons and river-crossings of Bush's 1,600-acre Texas ranch. Armstrong, a fellow Texan and Bush friend who nonetheless disagrees with the president on the Iraq war, called it a "dream scenario" to cycle with the president. While many Americans wonder what attracts Bush to the Prairie Chapel ranch, where is he spending the month of August, Armstrong said he thought the biking opportunities were a big draw. "He rides his mountain bike fanatically," Armstrong said in a recent interview with ABC's This Week. "It might be the mountain bike trails he has there." Armstrong, 33, called Bush "one competitive dude," but said in the ABC interview he had no doubt he could outpace Bush, even though trails can be challenging for road cyclists unaccustomed to rough, rocky terrain. Well, yeah, spot somebody 26 years... "He's a good rider," Bush was said to have remarked about Armstrong after the ride, which featured only one 10-minute break to admire a waterfall on the property. White House spokesman Trent Duffy said Armstrong was careful to respect "the first rule of biking," a hint that he did not overtake the president. Duffy said he did not know whether Bush discussed politics with Armstrong, who has spoken out against the war in Iraq. Armstrong has said he believes the money could be better spent on other things, such as fighting cancer. Which is why, among other things, you have private organizations that help fund these efforts. Oh, wait... Armstrong, a cancer survivor who at one time was given a less than 50-50 chance of beating the disease, sits on the president's panel on cancer research and heads a nonprofit cancer foundation. Armstrong and the Secret Service agents and staff members who rode with Bush were presented T-shirts that said "Tour de Crawford" and "Peloton One" -- a reference to the French word for group -- as well as a pair of riding socks with the presidential seal. Cool swag! Bush, 59, took up mountain biking after a knee injury forced him to give up jogging a couple of years ago. But he has taken a few well-publicized spills, including one in Scotland last month when he collided with a police officer. The president was described by his doctors in his annual physical as being in "superior" condition for a man his age. He takes pride in his six-day-a-week workout regimen and Bush says exercise helps sharpen his thinking. Since this is Reuters, here's the obligatory cheap shot: But some of his critics view his exercise obsession as an indulgence that takes time away from other priorities. Among them is Cindy Sheehan, the Vacaville, California, mother of a soldier killed in Iraq, who until late last week was camped out down the road from Bush's ranch seeking a meeting with him to discuss her opposition to the war. Sheehan, who left her vigil on Thursday to tend to her sick mother, has said she believes Bush should take fewer bike rides to have more time to focus on the "the nation's work." |
| Posted by:Raj |
| #7 JFM: While Lance may have some daft ideas, I don't recall his having any big press conferences or joining some Moronic Convergence. As long as he isn't using his celebrity to push his views on others, I don't really care. I believe Steven King, who holds some rather extreme views, when asked about the war, said "Who cares what my opinion is? I'm a novellist. Why ask me?" |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-08-21 20:41 |
| #6 I expect the men of the Peloton all wore dark glasses. |
| Posted by: Mona Gorilla 2005-08-21 18:33 |
| #5 Armstrong has said he believes the money could be better spent on other things, such as fighting cancer. How about the the money spent on Liberal radios (stolen from ghetto kids) and on Democratic (un)thinkingtanks. |
| Posted by: JFM 2005-08-21 18:21 |
| #4 Of course Clinton made important decision while Mon ica was under his desk giving him a hummer.... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2005-08-21 17:26 |
| #3 Article: But some of his critics view his exercise obsession as an indulgence that takes time away from other priorities. Reuters reporters apparently do. But they have nothing to say about Clinton's fellatio obsession, which may also have taken time from other priorities, not to mention Clinton's long meandering jogs at a snail's pace. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2005-08-21 15:54 |
| #2 Bush, 59, took up mountain biking after a knee injury forced him to give up jogging a couple of years ago. But he has taken a few well-publicized spills, including one in Scotland last month when he collided with a police officer. Lance, of course, has *never* fallen from his bike. The press should be shot. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-08-21 12:17 |
| #1 you just know John Kerry's curled up in his biking spandex in a dark corner, moaning "that should've been me....Mummy T...." |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-08-21 11:44 |