Bush Bashes Bike

He was probably drinking again and fell and this is a story
that was conjured up. I would be drinking to, if I sent all
those soldiers to their graves, just so we could put people
in power in a country to get better deals on oil and so
Halliburton could make some cash to boot. Nice to see [censored]
bringing down almost a mill a year, while he serves as VP.
lol What a bunch. They sure are a powerful bunch that do as
they please, not to mention how much they spend of the
taxpayers money.

Sorry, had to vent, Curt

"Garrison Hilliard" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bush Suffers Cuts, Bruises While Biking

By DEB RIECHMANN Associated Press Writer

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) -- President Bush suffered cuts and
bruises early

Saturday afternoon when he fell while mountain biking on his
ranch, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said.

Quoted message said:

Bush was on the 16th mile of a 17-mile ride when he fell,
Duffy said. He

was riding with a military aide, members of the Secret
Service and his personal physician, Dr. Richard Tubb.

Quoted message said:

"He had minor abrasions and scratches on his chin, upper
lip, nose, right

hand and both knees," Duffy said. "Dr. Tubb, who was with
him, cleaned his scratches, said he was fine. The Secret
Service offered to drive him back to the house. He declined
and finished his ride."

Quoted message said:

Bush was wearing his bike helmet and a mouth guard when
the mishap

occurred. Duffy said he didn't know exactly how the
accident happened.

Quoted message said:

"It's been raining a lot and the topsoil is loose," the
spokesman said.

"You know this president. He likes to go all out. Suffice it
to say he wasn't whistling show tunes."

Quoted message said:

Bush left Crawford shortly after the bike mishap for
Austin, where he was

attending a private party of his daughter, Jenna, who
graduated from the University of Texas earlier in the day.

Quoted message said:

As he departed from the presidential helicopter with his
wife, scrapes

were visible on the president's right temple and on his
chin. Close-up shots taken by photographers revealed other
scrapes above his lip and on the end of his nose. When he
waved to the crowd greeting him at the airport, a small
bandage could be seen on his right palm.

Quoted message said:

News From the Bush Administration

Bush Suffers Cuts, Bruises While Biking Bush Says Key
Election States Are Hiring

Bush Twin Daughters Graduate From College

Bush Grants Pardons, Commutes Sentences

Bush Marks Cuban Independence Day

Interactives Bush's 2004 State of the Union Address State
of the Union

Earlier this month, Democratic presidential candidate John
Kerry took a

spill from his bicycle while riding with Secret Service
agents through Concord, Mass., about 18 miles north of
Boston. Kerry fell when his bike hit a patch of sand. He was
not injured.

Quoted message said:

Told about Bush's mishap, Kerry said, "I hope he's OK. I
didn't know the

president rode a bike."

"Garrison Hilliard" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bush Suffers Cuts, Bruises While Biking

By DEB RIECHMANN Associated Press Writer

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) -- President Bush suffered cuts and
bruises early

Saturday afternoon when he fell while mountain biking on his
ranch, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said.

He must have forgotten his training wheels.

| Bush was wearing his bike helmet and a mouth guard when
| the mishap occurred.

=v= That's the media for you. Gotta report about the helmet.
But what's this about a mouth guard? We can speculate ...

=1= Scenario #1: The "mountain bike" was actually of the
fossil-fueled variety, like everything else The Shrub uses
or supports. A helmet with mouth guard is far more common
for one of those. Also, he fell over because he forgot to
turn it on (_op_cit_ his Segway tumble).

=2= Scenario #2: The Secret Service insisted on a mouth
guard just in case he pretzeled something. <_Jym_

araby' from said:

"Garrison Hilliard" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bush Suffers Cuts, Bruises While Biking

By DEB RIECHMANN Associated Press Writer

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) -- President Bush suffered cuts
and bruises early

Saturday afternoon when he fell while mountain biking on
his ranch, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said.

He must have forgotten his training wheels.

He's trying to woo the cycling vote away from Kerry.

Mountain or road?

Hmmm .... I'm going road.

Bush is a Fred.

--
Kevan Smith
[email hidden]

| ''It's been raining a lot and the topsoil is loose,'' ...

=v= Someone on the New York City bikes list looked up the
weather reports on weather.com for Crawford, Texas:

May 22: 0" May 21: 0" May 20: 0" May 19: 0" May 18: 0"
May 17: 0"

<_Jym_

Jym Dyer said:

=v= Someone on the New York City bikes list looked up the
weather reports on weather.com for Crawford, Texas:

May 22: 0" May 21: 0" May 20: 0" May 19: 0" May 18: 0"
May 17: 0"

I lived in Killeen, TX for 4 years. Unlike most places I
have been, there can be highly local downpours that
would not show up on local rainfall gauges or weather
station reports.

OTOH, that wouldn't exactly explain the 'several days'
part of it...

Curtis L. Russell Odenton, MD (USA) Just someone on
two wheels...

On 24 May 2004 10:10:45 -0700, Jym Dyer <[email hidden]> from Violet's Mud Pies

Quoted message said:

| ''It's been raining a lot and the topsoil is loose,'' ...

=v= Someone on the New York City bikes list looked up the
weather reports on weather.com for Crawford, Texas:

May 22: 0" May 21: 0" May 20: 0" May 19: 0" May 18: 0"
May 17: 0"

Before the 17th, there were near record amounts of rainfall
in East Texas, which is near crawford. There are still flood
warnings out for some areas.

I think, though, the President just made a mistake and
crashed and people are scrambling to cover his ass. Wouldn't
you like a person to do that when you fell off your bike?

--
Kevan Smith
[email hidden]

"Kevan Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I think, though, the President just made a mistake and
crashed and people

are

Quoted message said:

scrambling to cover his ass. Wouldn't you like a person to
do that when

you fell

Quoted message said:

off your bike?

I'm not so much interested in CYA as I am in advice on how
not to fall again. I'm still baffled by a spill I took at a
RR crossing a few weeks ago. It's an spot I passed regularly
without any trouble before but I am too timid to take it at
anything faster than a walking pace now.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Kevan Smith /dev/null said:

On Mon, 24 May 2004 14:27:30 -0600, "\"El Paisano\""
<[email hidden]> from Posted via Supernews,

url='http://www.supernews.com/'http://www.supernews.com/url said:

I'm not so much interested in CYA as I am in advice on how
not to fall again. I'm still baffled by a spill I took at
a RR crossing a few weeks ago. It's an spot I passed
regularly without any trouble before but I am too timid to
take it at anything faster than a walking pace now.

Approach the tracks at an angle. Also, the metal of the
track itself can be very slippery. Try bunny hopping.

For someone not experienced at bunny hopping, a railroad
crossing is probably the worst place to learn. Better to use
a grassy field, or just spend more time more time on
singletrack and the skills will develop without any special
attention required.

Personally I never cross tracks at an angle, since
crossing at an angle is what I was doing on the one
occasion I fell at a crossing (and trashed the front wheel
of a borrowed bicycle).

Crossing at walking speed is also not the best idea in my
opinion, since speed helps keep the front wheel from being
deflected by a bump in the road.

Kevan Smith said:

I think, though, the President just made a mistake and
crashed and people are scrambling to cover his ass.
Wouldn't you like a person to do that when you fell off
your bike?

Somebody call the cops. Kevan's been replaced by an
extraterrestrial, or maybe even a politically moderate
humanoid.
--
Rick Onanian

On Mon, 24 May 2004 14:27:30 -0600, "\"El Paisano\""
<[email hidden]> from Posted via Supernews, supernews.comsupernews.comOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

I'm not so much interested in CYA as I am in advice on how
not to fall again. I'm still baffled by a spill I took at a
RR crossing a few weeks ago. It's an spot I passed
regularly without any trouble before but I am too timid to
take it at anything faster than a walking pace now.

Approach the tracks at an angle. Also, the metal of the
track itself can be very slippery. Try bunny hopping.

--
Kevan Smith
[email hidden]

Paul Southworth said:

For someone not experienced at bunny hopping, a railroad
crossing is probably the worst place to learn. Better to
use a grassy field, or just spend more time more time on
singletrack and the skills will develop without any
special attention required.

That makes sense> But I'll point out, a full bunny hop
(both wheels) isn't necessary. It's only your front wheel
you need to "protect" from the tracks, unless they're
_extremely_ rough.

In my much-younger days, I took tracks by sailing over both
tracks in a long bunny hop. In these much-older days, I
usually just hop the front wheel twice. <sigh>

Quoted message said:

Personally I never cross tracks at an angle, since
crossing at an angle is what I was doing on the one
occasion I fell at a crossing (and trashed the front wheel
of a borrowed bicycle).

Yep. As Chris Neary said, the proper angle is 90 degrees.
Or close to
it. Depending how good you are at lifting that front wheel.

Otherwise, your front wheel drops into the slot alongside
the track, you can't balance, and you get thrown. I've heard
it feels like a judo throw.

Quoted message said:

Crossing at walking speed is also not the best idea in my
opinion, since speed helps keep the front wheel from being
deflected by a bump in the road.

Also agreed.

--
--------------------+ Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove
rodent and vegetable dot com, replace with cc.ysu dot edu]

Quoted message said:

Approach the tracks at an angle.

Good advice, if the angle in question is 90 degrees.

:-)

Chris Neary [email hidden]

"Science, freedom, beauty, adventure: what more could you
ask of life? Bicycling combined all the elements I loved" -
Adapted from a quotation by Charles Lindbergh

Kevan Smith said:

Quoted message said:

I'm not so much interested in CYA as I am in advice on how
not to fall again. I'm still baffled by a spill I took at
a RR crossing a few weeks ago. It's an spot I passed
regularly without any trouble before but I am too timid to
take it at anything faster than a walking pace now.

Approach the tracks at an angle. Also, the metal of the
track itself can be very slippery. Try bunny hopping.

Kevan has trouble typing the word, but what he meant to say
"approach the tracks at a RIGHT angle". ;-)

I too like bunny hopping tracks, but if you happen to come
down wrong on the second rail... ouch.

Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles habcycles.comhabcycles.comOpen ↗ Home of
the $695 ti frame

On Mon, 24 May 2004 19:49:55 -0400, "David L. Johnson"

from Lehigh University said:

Kevan Smith said:

Before the 17th, there were near record amounts of
rainfall in East Texas, which is near crawford. There are
still flood warnings out for some areas.

Crawford is nowhere near East Texas. Crawford is
technically in Central Texas, and is 200 miles West of
anything considered East Texas. Crawford is near Waco,
South of Dallas. The weather in East Texas is usually far
wetter than in Central Texas. There is a huge difference,
both in terms of weather, and in terms of culture.

Maybe if you're a Texan. To me, all them is crackers.

--
Kevan Smith
[email hidden]

"Kevan Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Mon, 24 May 2004 14:27:30 -0600, "\"El Paisano\""
<[email hidden]> from Posted via Supernews,

supernews.comsupernews.comOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

wrote:

Thanks to all for the advice. I should have included my
typical MO (pre-crash). These tracks and the road around
them are **very** rough and cross the road at about 30deg
angle. I cross at as close to a 90deg angle as traffic
(usually very light) allows, coast over the tracks, and come
a couple of inches out of the saddle to reduce the
bumpiness. There are two sets of tracks, so I am sure that
bunny-hopping is not an option for me right now. Is there
anything wrong with my technique? Should I keep pedaling? or
stay in the saddle?

Matthew

El Paisano said:

Thanks to all for the advice. I should have included my
typical MO (pre-crash). These tracks and the road around
them are **very** rough and cross the road at about 30deg
angle. I cross at as close to a 90deg angle as traffic
(usually very light) allows, coast over the tracks, and
come a couple of inches out of the saddle to reduce the
bumpiness. There are two sets of tracks, so I am sure that
bunny-hopping is not an option for me right now. Is there
anything wrong with my technique? Should I keep pedaling?
or stay in the saddle?

Sounds like you're doing it exactly right to me.

I have a similar "off camber-ish" RR crossing on one of my
favorite routes (also uphill, which adds to the fun a bit),
and I do just what you describe: get fairly close to 90
degree "attack" angle, accelerate somewhat, lift off saddle
and coast over tracks. (If the tracks were raised I'd be
screwed, as I'm gravity-challenged when it comes to bunny
hops; AND I have a bad shoulder that doesn't like pulling
up on bar.)

Of course, always remember: slippery when wet!

Bill "saving his caboose (train tracks? nevermind)" S.

\'El Paisano\ said:

"Kevan Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Mon, 24 May 2004 14:27:30 -0600, "\"El Paisano\""
<[email hidden]> from Posted via Supernews,

supernews.comsupernews.comOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

wrote:

Thanks to all for the advice. I should have included my
typical MO (pre-crash). These tracks and the road around
them are **very** rough and cross the road at about 30deg
angle. I cross at as close to a 90deg angle as traffic
(usually very light) allows, coast over the tracks, and
come a couple of inches out of the saddle to reduce the
bumpiness. There are two sets of tracks, so I am sure that
bunny-hopping is not an option for me right now. Is there
anything wrong with my technique? Should I keep pedaling?
or stay in the saddle?

Stay off the front brake entirely. and relax your grip /
arms. Other than that, it sounds like your'e doing
everything you can to avoid road rash.

Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles habcycles.comhabcycles.comOpen ↗ Home of
the $695 ti frame

araby said:

Quoted message said:

He must have forgotten his training wheels.

Not that I plan on voting for shrub, but, he wrecked and
finished his ride.

Kerry wrecked and hopped in the SAG wagon.