President rides hard, shrugs off crash

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Wnghs2007
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President rides hard, shrugs off crash

#1 Postby Wnghs2007 » Tue Jul 27, 2004 2:52 pm

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/election/0704nation/27bushcrash.html

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.

Image
President Bush in his bike ride Monday in Crawford, Texas



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?"

===============================================
Nice. LOL


:lol: :lol: :lol:
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#2 Postby Kiko » Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:07 pm

How old is that guy? 55, 56?

You'd think he'd have a little more sense by now.
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#3 Postby Lindaloo » Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:08 pm

Kiko wrote:How old is that guy? 55, 56?

You'd think he'd have a little more sense by now.



How old is Kerry? 75? 80? What does that have to do with anything? Herman windsails and everything else.
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#4 Postby GalvestonDuck » Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:10 pm

A little more sense?

Dude falls off bike, gets back on, starts riding again. Makes sense to me, regardless of a person's age.

Isn't that something we all learned in kindergarten? Ya fall off...ya get back on.
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#5 Postby Lindaloo » Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:11 pm

GalvestonDuck wrote:A little more sense?

Dude falls off bike, gets back on, starts riding again. Makes sense to me, regardless of a person's age.

Isn't that something we all learned in kindergarten? Ya fall off...ya get back on.


Well said Duckie!!!
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#6 Postby Kiko » Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:33 pm

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.


They say 'warily', but sounds more like wrecklessly to me.

The article I saw the other day was more detailed about the cardio-vascular workout:

Over an 18-mile ride that lasted an hour and 20 minutes, he burns about 1,200 calories and his heart rate reaches 168 beats per minute. That's about four times his resting rate and in the same range as Lance Armstrong's when the six-time Tour de France winner is pedaling hard.

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,141 ... 27,00.html


That's really pushing it. He's over his max, and needs to slow down:

Your Exercising Heart Rate Zone ....

Hi shrub, Your Age is 55

Your Maximum Heart Rate is:165 (in case you want to make note of this) shrub,

Your Exercising Heart Rate Zone is between 107.25 and 140.25

When fat burning, as your fitness increases, you will want to work towards getting your heart rate further towards 140.25

If you are unfit and just starting out with a new exericise program just try and keep between the 107.25 and 140.25.

http://www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com/co ... e_Zone.htm


I was being generous, how old is he?
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#7 Postby Wnghs2007 » Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:33 pm

But what I was laughing about was that kerry spent 8 grand on a bicycle. LOL. Really regular peoples person now isnt it. :wink: :lol:


Atleast Bushes was more reasonable at 3 grand.
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#8 Postby Wnghs2007 » Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:35 pm

Kiko wrote:
I was being generous, how old is he?


58
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#9 Postby chadtm80 » Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:40 pm

Kiko you are totally ridiculous and you show it with each one of your posts.. Bashing the guy for just falling off his bike for crying out loud.. PATHETIC.. Prob one of the classless posts I have seen here. Do me a favor and don't make any comments about ANYONE being partisan.. Because you need to look in the mirror girl.. Sad Sad Sad
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#10 Postby Kiko » Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:43 pm

Wnghs2007 wrote:At least Bushes was more reasonable at 3 grand.


Hope he chains it down! :D
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#11 Postby Kiko » Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:44 pm

chadtm80 wrote:Kiko you are totally ridiculous and you show it with each one of your posts.. Bashing the guy for just falling off his bike for crying out loud.. PATHETIC.. Prob one of the classless posts I have seen here. Do me a favor and don't make any comments about ANYONE being partisan.. Because you need to look in the mirror girl.. Sad Sad Sad


There you go again, Chad. I'm concerned with the man's HEALTH and you accuse me of being partisan?

Well excuse me.
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#12 Postby GalvestonDuck » Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:52 pm

You say you're concerned about his health, but it sounds like you're telling us he's too OLD to exercise? I'd better call my grandparents! They're almost 90.
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#13 Postby Lindaloo » Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:52 pm

Kiko wrote:You'd think he'd have a little more sense by now.


Nice try Kiko! LOL!! You were not concerned with his health. You used this to take yet another jab at the President of the United States.
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#14 Postby Guest » Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:53 pm

Wnghs2007 wrote:But what I was laughing about was that kerry spent 8 grand on a bicycle. LOL. Really regular peoples person now isnt it. :wink: :lol:


Atleast Bushes was more reasonable at 3 grand.


Poor point KC....Neither Bush or Kerry are regular people...They are both uber-rich and come from privilege.

Also...Kiko's point is weak as well....

Although I am sure that if Kerry fell off his bike there would be a thread up immediately making fun of him.
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#15 Postby Kiko » Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:55 pm

For the man who has the best advisers in the land, you'd think that he's been told already what the limits are?

I googled the fitness heartrate calculator in a few seconds, I'm sure his personal physician knows how to find one too.
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#16 Postby Lindaloo » Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:55 pm

I would not participate in bashing anyone that has fallen or broken anything, including Kerry.
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#17 Postby Lindaloo » Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:56 pm

Kiko wrote:For the man who has the best advisers in the land, you'd think that he's been told already what the limits are?

I googled the fitness heartrate calculator in a few seconds, I'm sure his personal physician knows how to find one too.


Do the same thing for Kerry then. :roll:
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#18 Postby GalvestonDuck » Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:58 pm

When Kerry did fall off his snowboard, he threw a fit and tried to blame someone else. At least W was able to laugh about his accident and then carry on.
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#19 Postby Lindaloo » Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:58 pm

GalvestonDuck wrote:When Kerry did fell off his snowboard, he threw a fit and tried to blame someone else. At least W was able to laugh about his accident and then carry on.



:roflmao:
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#20 Postby Guest » Tue Jul 27, 2004 5:00 pm

Kiko wrote:For the man who has the best advisers in the land, you'd think that he's been told already what the limits are?

I googled the fitness heartrate calculator in a few seconds, I'm sure his personal physician knows how to find one too.


Your arguments are mildly humorous in this thread, but are generally undermining of future legitimate Bush bashing, IMO.
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