Peloton One

President Bush, who used to do a lot of running before his knees started giving him trouble, now mountain bikes for recreation. Here's a reporter's account of a recent ride on the Crawford ranch (from LittleGreenFootballs):

The leader of the free world is now leading a Boomer Generation fitness trend. At age 59, President Bush is ripping around on a mountain bike, beating stress — and his fellow riders — with aplomb.

Bush invited me and a few other reporters for a mountain bike ride on his 1,600-acre Texas ranch Saturday.

His escapades on the bike have been well documented: an over-the-handlebars crash here at the ranch and a wet-pavement wipeout in Scotland that injured a pedestrian policeman.

But the truth about the Biker-in-Chief is that the man can really ride. Over the course of a two-hour Tour de Crawford, Bush humbled every rider in Peloton One with a strong and steady pace over scorching hot paved roads, muddy creek crossings, energy-sapping tall grass and steep climbs on loose and crumbling rock.
“This is not a race,” he insisted at the start of the ride. “This is a chance for me to show you a little slice of heaven, as far as I’m concerned. You know, some guys go on their ranch and ride horses — I like to ride my ranch on a mountain bike.”

But there is one rule: don’t pass the president.

No problem. Keeping up with Bush — whose fitness level was recently rated in his annual physical exam as being in the top 1% of men 55 to 59 — was as difficult as any race I’ve entered.

Bush isn't afraid to ride with the best:

President Bush is getting plenty of bike time during his ranch vacation and next weekend he even gets to hit the trails with seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

Armstrong told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday that he'll travel to Crawford, Texas, next Saturday to ride mountain bikes with the president around Bush's ranch.

"It's a dream scenario for me," Armstrong said. "Now that President Bush doesn't run anymore, he rides his mountain bike fanatically. People wonder why he's stays at the ranch so long, it might be the mountain bike trails."

You won't see the president wearing one of the skin-tight biking suits like Lance wore in the Tour:

Bush said he prefers mountain biking to road biking, where riders often shave their legs and wear Lycra shorts. "There are certain things that age brings with it, and not wearing the formfitting Lycra short is one of them, if you know what I mean," Bush joked with the reporters.

Lance's current main squeeze, Sheryl Crow, has been a very vocal anti-Bush fanatic. Maybe she can hang out at the Wacko Woodstock while the boys ride.