Posted on 11/20/2005 12:17:43 PM PST by radar101
First, it was seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. On Sunday, hopefuls for China's Olympic mountain biking team got a chance to go pedal to pedal against President Bush in his sport of choice.
"Good day for a bike ride," Bush said as he walked toward the six Chinese bikers — three female and three male — at the Laoshan Olympic Mountain Bike Course. Beijing will host the 2008 Summer Olympics. "How do you say, `Take it easy on the old man?'"
After posing for pictures, Bush was given a tan, zip-up sweater with a leather "Beijing 2008" logo. And then they were off — Bush wearing loose-fitting navy bike shorts and a black windbreaker and the competition in skintight orange-and-yellow bike outfits.
Or at least Bush was.
Sunglasses, gloves and helmet on, he rode away before the other riders had even pulled their bikes off the rack. So Bush — who usually rides out of sight of reporters or cameras — made a few wide loops in front of the waiting media crowd and joked about being a showoff.
The hourlong spin around dusty trails was the second bike excursion of Bush's eight-day trip through Asia. He rode Thursday at a military base in Busan, South Korea.
About 15 minutes into the ride, the pack — with Bush at the front — emerged from around a sharp corner, riding fast down a hill on a narrow trail through scrubby, brown brush.
"Remind you of Crawford?" a reporter yelled, referring to the Texas town where Bush has a ranch. He took Armstrong for a two-hour ride there in August.
"Better than Crawford," Bush shouted back over his shoulder.
Later, the president clarified his comment.
"Compared to Crawford, this trail is a great bike trail and really difficult. It is clear I couldn't make the Chinese Olympic cycling team," he joked.
___
Before taking his two-wheeler out for a spin, Bush slipped into a church near Tiananmen Square to make a public point about religious freedom and human rights in China.
Bush and his wife, Laura, worshipped at the Gangwashi Church, one of five officially recognized Protestant churches in the Chinese capital, before meeting top leaders.
It was his first public event in China, one he hoped would send a visible message about the right to religious freedom in this nation of 1.3 billion people. The State Department recently cited China as a country of "particular concern" for denying such rights.
"It wasn't all that long ago that people were not allowed to worship openly in this society," Bush said after the hourlong service, which was conducted in Chinese and translated over headphones for the president and other guests. Bush sat in the front row.
"My hope is that the government of China will not fear the Christians who gather to worship openly," added Bush. "A healthy society is a society that welcomes all faiths."
In the church guest book, Bush wrote: "May God bless the Christians of China." Beneath that, the first lady added: "And with love and respect, Laura Bush."
___
Police detained at least 30 people who visited the church in hopes of complaining to Bush about China's government, according to one man who said he was detained. Authorities initially denied that people were taken into custody.
"Ordinary people should have democratic rights," said Tian Baocheng, a bus driver who says his Shanghai home was wrongly demolished in 2002 to make room for new construction.
A district police official reached by telephone initially denied that the detentions occurred, but then said he would look into the matter. He gave only his surname, Man.
Tian, 48, said the petitioners visited the Gangwashi Church after hearing that Bush would attend service, but arrived after he had departed. They were detained as they left, Tian said by mobile phone from a building where he said authorities were holding the group.
"They wouldn't let us pass," he said. "Why? I don't know. We were on a street that anyone can walk on. Now, they have illegally detained us."
Security has been tight in some parts of the capital because of Bush's visit.
___
Questions from the media weren't allowed when Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao appeared before reporters, so the White House — hoping to make a point about press freedom — arranged for the president to face the inquiring American press at his hotel later.
After answering six questions and eager to sit down to dinner in the Great Hall of the People, Bush turned down a reporter who asked permission for a follow-up question.
He then walked from the lectern toward a door. He jerked on the handle and came up short. The door was locked. He tried the other side. It, too, was locked.
Stymied, Bush exaggerated a look of dismay, stood at mock attention — and laughed at his foiled exit strategy.
"I was trying to escape," he said. "It obviously didn't work."
An aide then quickly appeared and escorted the president out.
today would have been a good day to bike here. Actually even w/my sprain, biking does NOT hurt. Walking & standing do though. Do you know two thirds vote aye? he is in colorado & an avid cyclist
God Bless the POTUS. We love the guy.
Wonder how long it will take the press to say the was 'on vacation' here like they did when he rode before Katrina.......
Glad we have a President who understands the importance of physical fitness in relation to mental fitness.
your page is funny. You almost had me with the "first page"!
F15Eagle did it first. I liked it and copied it. I made several modifications to his original. It is good for a laugh or two. LOL
Thanks for all the very helpful links. Maybe now I can do more than just type a message - maybe some new fonts, some pictures, hmmmmmmm. . . .
Fonts are easy enough. Take the sentence you just posted for instance.........
And just do this with it.......
(You can do a copy/paste the code if you want)
<font color="red">Thanks for all the very helpful links. Maybe now I can do more than just type a message - maybe some new fonts, some pictures, hmmmmmmm. . . .</font>
It will look like this:
Thanks for all the very helpful links. Maybe now I can do more than just type a message - maybe some new fonts, some pictures, hmmmmmmm. . . .
There are lots of little tricks. Most very easy to do. Just go to the sandbox and practice a bit......
J
thanks for link.. see my post a little further down the thread with another link
Oh, that's a neat story! Thanks for sharing.
First introduced here at FR by CGEB waayyy Back when......
J
When I first joined FR & was learning rudimentary HTML someone at the war thead introduced me to it. Fun. but problem is I like to use the bizarre fonts which will only show up if end user has the font on their computer
As to using unusual fonts.......well that's the way things work........Ya have to have 'em loaded J
I had quite a bit of it on my profile page until this past month when I changed it. For long text is is a mess to sort thru on long tables
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