[dude1394]

I've always been impressed with bush's devotion to physical fitness. I imagine he's been struggling since he can't job (more like run) like he used to. Looks like mountain biking gives him the same sort of opportunity.

Bush, Kerry even ride their bikes differently

Ken Herman
Sunday, August 1, 2004

CRAWFORD, Texas -- This election cycle, the choice could not be clearer, the polarization more pronounced.

We are a nation divided, torn asunder by presidential candidates on opposite ends of a telling spectrum.

President Bush is a mountain biker. Think knobby tires, hilly climbs, tricky descents, thrills and spills.

Challenger John Kerry is primarily a road biker. Think skinny tires, Lance Armstrong, the hypnotic Zen of pedal cadence and tire hum and mile upon mile upon mile of pavement.

A man can tell you a lot when he tells you what kind of bike he rides.

"A road bike ride generally consists of more of a measured effort over a long time," said Phil Tomlin, service manager at Austin's Freewheeling Bicycles. "Whereas mountain biking is more of a sprint-type activity. It's more visceral in the sense that things happen a lot faster and the type of exertion people are putting out is more in short bursts."

Cancel the debates. What more do you need to know in picking a president?

Bush rides a $3,100 mountain bike, a gift from Trek. Kerry, who also does some mountain biking, always has his $8,000 road bike aboard his campaign plane.

Bush, 58, is a newcomer to cycling, driven to it four months ago after his right knee said it had had enough jogging for this lifetime.

Kerry has been cycling since shortly after his college years.

Both candidates did some riding last week, Bush at his ranch near Crawford and Kerry before his convention speech in Boston.

A ride with Bush is no low-intensity spin. Riding a black Trek Fuel 98, Bush hammers away as he leads, shoulders bobbing alternately as he tops 20 mph on the paved portion of the ride.

On this muggy, windy day, Bush scorched an 18.3-mile route in one hour, 19 minutes.

"146," he said early in the ride, announcing his heart rate as it moved toward the 170 range he covets.

The platoon on this stage included Bush, two Secret Service agents, campaign adviser Mark McKinnon, cinematographer Vance Holmes (at the ranch for campaign filming) and a newspaper reporter, who despite logging 1,800 miles on a road bike this year was not up to the pace set by Bush.

"Little different than a road bike," Bush noted along the way.

It's like any six guys out for a ride -- any six guys followed by two golf carts and four trucks loaded with medical and protective staff as the entourage is waved through gates by Secret Service agents whose communications system crackles with updates throughout the ride.

Bush, who misses running, said exercise is crucial.

"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," he said.