During the Holiday, Bush Shows He’s a Devoted Mountain Biker

WASHINGTON — Swapping his running shoes for bicycle pedals, President Bush bid adieu to painful runner’s knees and transformed himself into a devoted mountain biker. He went biking yesterday while spending the Thanksgiving holiday at his mountaintop retreat in Camp David, Md.“He’s an avid rider, a fanatic,” the president of Bethel, Conn.-based Cannondale, Matt Mannelly, said.Mr. Mannelly hadn’t publicized but confirmed what he called an unsolicited gift to Mr. Bush a month ago. “We also made it very clear we wouldn’t do anything to market this. To give it to someone like the president, who’s actually going to use it a lot, means a lot to us.”Mr. Bush already has two Trek mountain bikes, one worth $5,500, the other $2,700.The president likes super lightweight carbon frames, trail-absorbing shocks front and back, a light but supportive seat, top Japanese components, and special paint jobs. But they are essentially stock bikes, similar to what ordinary buyers can get.The president’s thoughts drifted to his newest bike on the campaign trail. Maybe it was a calorie-conscious moment at a local farmer’s ice cream store in Pennsylvania, or the anticipation of busting his lungs on an expensive new machine over rocky ruts. Whatever the impulse, Mr. Bush said he’d gotten a new bike and was looking forward to riding it.Rolling around the dirt track at a Secret Service facility in suburban Beltsville, Md., Mr. Bush tried out the Cannondale but also brought along one of his “old” mountain bikes — a 2006 Trek painted up like Air Force One.The Trek has “United States of America” painted in white letters across the blue top tube, and a 2-inch presidential seal affixed to both sides of the head tube. Revolution Cycles, a local chain of stores, maintains the bike and owns an identical backup that it keeps ready for Mr. Bush.“It’s kind of like the backup space shuttle,” a manager of the stores, Darrin Misiera, said.None of Mr. Bush’s mountain bikes is very old. His other Trek is a 2005 model.The stores’ president, Mike Hamannwright, fitted Mr. Bush with his Trek bikes and has ridden with him. Co-owner Santiago “Pinkey” Gonzalez doubles as the president’s bike mechanic.The Trek bikes came courtesy of the president of the Waterloo, Wis.-based Trek Bicycle Corp., John Burke, who also chairs the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.Mr. Bush reported the bikes on his financial disclosure forms the past two years. He also got a $1,700 indoor cycling trainer from Saris Cycling Group president Chris Fortune, two pairs of cycling shoes from Rob Teskey of Trek Nike Cycling Division, and three helmets, at least four pairs of riding gloves, and other cycling equipment worth $532 from Mr. Burke.White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore said the president “is in full compliance with federal laws governing the acceptance of gifts.”Those laws say presidents and their spouses must list on financial disclosure forms any gifts from constituents worth $305 or more. Often the gifts wind up in presidential libraries.

During the Holiday, Bush Shows He’s a Devoted Mountain Biker

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