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Ken Herman of the US-based Cox News Service has uncovered how President Bush was persuaded to ditch running and turn to cycling.
"Trekman John Burke said, ‘Why don’t you try one of these bikes’?" revealed Dubya.
Burke is Trek’s president, son of the founder.
"I love the feeling. I like to get outdoors," said Bush.
"Nothing compares to getting your heart rate up to 170-something, riding hard for an hour-twenty, getting off and not hurting, as opposed to 24 minutes of running, at the end of which I hurt," admitted the president.
"When you ride a bike and you get your heart rate up and you’re out, after 30 or 40 minutes your mind tends to expand; it tends to relax.
"I think it’s important for people to get their minds off their daily worries at some point during the day. I think it makes you a more rounded person. I think it helps you make better decisions."
At this point, it should be noted that Bush has been cycling only since February and if cycling is so mind-clearing and idea-clarifying for President Bush who knows what course he might have taken over Iraq had he been an earlier convert to cycling?
So, well done to John Burke: a fit and relaxed President Bush aboard Mountain Bike One has got to be good for the world. Now, who else could benefit from a bit of biking? Yep, let’s have a whip round and buy Tony Blair a tandem. Dubya to steer, naturally.
KERRY/BUSH BIKE ARTICLE INDEX
Monday 9th February: The next president of the United States is a…cyclist
http://www.bikebiz.co.uk/…/article.php?id=3655
Dubbed ‘JFK the Second’, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry has claimed victory in the latest US state caucus to choose a Democratic challenger to President George W Bush. Kerry is pro-Green and is now far ahead of the other five candidates and could sweep Bush from office in November’s presidential election. The ultra-fit Kerry takes part in lots of sports but has impressed many with his marathon bike rides in tough conditions.
Monday 19th April: Cyclists John Kerry and Lance Armstrong make Time’s influential-100 list
http://www.bikebiz.co.uk/…/article.php?id=3983
Time Magazine’s annual listing of the 100 most influential figures in the world today includes the would-be president, and the cycling-God-in-waiting, as well as notables as far apart as British marathon runner Paula Ratcliffe, sex-texter David Beckham and terrorist leader Osama bin Laden…
Wednesday 5th May: US president-in-waiting falls from bike
http://www.bikebiz.co.uk/…/article.php?id=4057
John Kerry, the Democrat challenger for the US presidency, likes his bicycle, as reported before on BikeBiz.com. So, his latest spill won’t dent his enthusiasm for cycling. Kerry has previously injured his shoulder in a fall from one of his many bicycles. His current favourite mount? It’s a Serotta Ottrott…
Friday 21st May: Nothing but the best for John Kerry
http://www.bikebiz.co.uk/…/article.php?id=4142
When the presumptive Democratic candidate for US president fell from his Serotta Ottrott at the beginning of the month, late-night chat-show hosts went into overdrive. Jay Leno said Kerry was fine because he fell on his wallet (Kerry’s wife is super-rich). It’s likely Kerry’s Serotta is paid for and owned by the Kerry family trust. And no doubt it’s this trust which is insisting the carbon handlebar damaged in the fall is replaced with the exact same super-expensive model: the brand graphics match Kerry’s orange-and-yellow frame and orange-and-yellow Giro helmet…
Sunday 23rd May: Bush proves he’s just as good as Kerry at bike falls
http://www.bikebiz.co.uk/…/article.php?id=4144
What’s this, the US president and the wanna-be president vying to see who has the best bicycle injuries? At the beginning of May, John Kerry fell from his $6000 Serotta Ottrott. Yesterday, President Bush was scuffed following a fall from his MTB. But in the mileage stakes, Kerry wins hands down: he rides long-distance charity rides, Dubya fell while on the 16th of a 17-mile ride…
Tuesday 25th May: Kerry and Bush are butt of bike jokes
http://www.bikebiz.co.uk/…/article.php?id=4155
On last night’s ‘Dead Ringers’ impersonisation comedy on BBC2, President Bush gave his Iraq speech from a Raleigh Chopper, from which he fell. And in the US, late-night chat-show hosts are squeezing as much mileage as possible out of the Bush-and-Kerry bicycle-borne pratfalls.
Wednesday 26th May: Kerry makes off-camera quip about Bush’s bike spill
http://www.bikebiz.co.uk/…/article.php?id=4164
According to the Drudge Report, Democrat presidential hopeful John Kerry made a jokey reference to the recent bicycle fall suffered by President Bush…
Friday 28th May: Lance Armstrong for US president!
http://www.bikebiz.co.uk/…/article.php?id=4174
Late-night chat show hosts in the US really can’t get enough jokes about Kerry and Bush falling from their bikes. Jay Leno’s latest dig is a spoof TV ad…
Wednesday 2nd June: Serotta bikes cross the political divide, argues Ben Serotta
http://www.bikebiz.co.uk/…/article.php?id=4191
Serotta Bikes of the US is getting used to press interest in its $3000+ machines. It helps to have a presidential candidate riding one of your bikes, perhaps even better when the candidate falls off. "We can’t make a fall-proof bike," Ben Serotta told his local newspaper, The Saratogian.
Tuesday 13th July: Kerry is TdF buff
http://www.bikebiz.co.uk/…/article.php?id=4362
John Kerry, the would-be president of the US, famously fell from his Serotta and was soon thereafter copied by Dubya, who skidded on a pretzel and face-planted. But will President Bush go the whole hog, and plug himself into OLN to watch his mate go for a sixth yellow jersey?
Tuesday 27th July: Running is bad for the knees, MTBing is now the US president’s exercise of choice
http://www.bikebiz.co.uk/…/article.php?id=4414
John Kerry may have an $8000 Serotta (sourced for him by a Boston bike shop) but a reporter from the Associated Press reveals that President Bush is a new, and genuine, convert to cycling. His May pratfall from a bicycle was no one-off, Bush rides a $3100 carbon-fibre Trek Fuel, and seems to enjoy falling off it, just like any other MTBer…
Friday 30th July: Are Kerry, Bush and Armstrong pedalling cycling into the American mainstream?
http://www.bikebiz.co.uk/…/article.php?id=4439
A historic sixth yellow jersey has propelled Lance Armstrong into the pantheon of all-time sporting greats. A Seabiscuit-type Hollywood blockbuster is waiting to be signed off. Celluloid sainthood for Lance, good publicity for cycling. Plus, following last week’s Associated Press exclusive on Dubya’s Trek Fuel, John Kerry has upped the ante by cycling before the most important speech of his career, a speech which featured bicycling three times…
Tuesday 3rd August: New York Times compares bike riding styles of Kerry and Bush
http://www.bikebiz.co.uk/…/article.php?id=4453
It’s a clash of cultures, reports NYT. Roadies are "wussies", MTBers are "sensation seekers." However, the International Mountain Bicycling Association has just awarded honorary IMBA memberships to both Kerry and Bush (Kerry is an MTB rider, too), saying: "It’s good to know that both candidates appreciate sweet singletrack."
John Kerry bicycling; Mountain biking George Bush
