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Early in 2010, I bought a new Roadmaster bicycle from Wal=Mart. This was a 26 inch Chinese made mountain bike (bicycle). I had a number of problems with the bike from the start. The brakes did not work and had to be worked on. In only two months, the brake pads were worn out -- something I had never since before. I have riding bikes -- on and off -- since learning during the presidency of Dwight David Eisenhower. I took the foot pedals off to see if I could swap with pedals that had two straps. Standard 26 inch...

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Missy Giove lived her life astounding those around her. The iconic mountain biker, who resided in Durango for more than a decade, won 14 national titles and was the world champion downhill racer in 1994. She screamed down slopes on the edge of control, landing in either an ambulance or on the podium. Her persona — she dangled a dried piranha around her neck and tucked her dead dog's ashes in her bra when she raced — and talent made her mountain biking's highest-paid athlete, earning her well over $2 million. Then last month, six years after she formally retired...

US President George W Bush got out of his motorcade and onto a mountain bike in Sydney's north this afternoon, a US Embassy official says. The president took advantage of a break in his schedule of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of this week's APEC conference to indulge his passion for mountain biking. "I can confirm he went mountain bike riding this afternoon," a US Embassy official told AAP. President Bush got out of his motorcade and onto a mountain bike in Sydney's north this afternoon, a US Embassy official says. The president took advantage of a break in his...

Chris Aandewiel is a Dutch man with a well-worn mountain bike who slept this past weekend at the YMCA on Huntington Avenue. He has pedaled some 11,000 miles in the last year searching for the truth about Americans. Growing up in Rotterdam, Aandewiel had an impression of this country shared by many in the Netherlands, an image formed by Hollywood movies and the media. "We really think of Americans as how we perceive the United States government, and that's a little arrogant and stubborn," Aandewiel said by telephone. Or at least that was the impression the 29-year-old consumer researcher had...

September 25, 2006 'A total maniac'     We had hoped that conservative commentator Laura Ingraham would be the one to finally provide a rare peek into President Bush's mountain-biking world, which for whatever reason rotates in secrecy.     Mr. Bush invited the popular syndicated Washington-based radio host along for this past Saturday's two-hour-plus bike ride atop the dusty trails of the Secret Service training facility in suburban Maryland -- although, as usual, there wasn't a single sighting of the presidential trekkers.     "Of course it was OTR," Miss Ingraham told Inside the Beltway afterwards, feeding us the presidential code for "off-the-record."

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: President Bush will spend much of his day with Marines and sailors, attending church and joining them for lunch at the base in Twentynine Palms, CA. Last night in Indian Wells, near Palm Springs, GWB helped pull in nearly $2 million for the RNC at the Toscana Country Club. Tomorrow, after a speech on immigration in Orange County, the President heads for Las Vegas and a fundraiser for Nevada Congressman Jon Porter. From the podium, the President mentioned dignitaries in attendance such as Dug Sundheim, California Republican Party chairman; Bruce McPherson, Secretary of State; Sen....

ST. HELENA, Calif. -- Unable to drive down high oil prices, President Bush is spending Earth Day promoting futuristic hydrogen fuel technology as a way to wean Americans from gas-guzzling vehicles. After a bike ride near his Napa Valley resort Saturday morning, Bush planned to visit the California Fuel Cell Partnership in West Sacramento for a tour and speech on his energy plan. The plan does not include any measures that would reduce gas prices in the short term, the White House acknowledges. But with Republicans worried that the increasing cost to drive could hurt them in the voting booth...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: For a change, a pleasant, even delightful and funny story from the Associated Press about President Bush. An AP reporter accompanied GWB on what the reporter described as a "lung-busting" mountain bike ride this morning in Northern California, and later filed this report (unfortunately no photos were up on Yahoo as of 1:00pm Pacific time): Bush Takes Muddy Bike Ride on Earth Day By SCOTT LINDLAW, Associated Press Writer LAS POSADAS STATE FOREST, Calif. - President Bush marked Earth Day with a lung-busting mountain bike ride high above Napa County wine country, dodging ruts that...

The President and the first lady spent the weekend in Washington today they attended church and the President also went mountain biking at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland. Yesterday Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in Chile for talks and to attend Chile's new President Michelle Bachelet inauguration ceremony, today she left for Indonesia. Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

"GMUG" stands for the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests. Combined, they encompass some 2.9 million acres of National Forest lands in Central and Western Colorado. These three forests are home to some of the most outstanding recreational opportunity in the West. Right now, the forest's are revising their Forest Plans. These management plans provide broad guidance on what activities may or may not occur on these lands. The BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC), a national recreation advocacy group that champions recreational access and responsible use of public and private lands, is growing increasingly concerned about the influence several anti-access groups...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: President and Mrs. Bush, attended church in China early Sunday. He then went for a mountain bike ride with the Chinese team that is in training for the Olympics. Excerpts from the President's remarks to the Travel Pool, St. Regis Hotel, Beijing, People's Republic of China, 6:12 P.M. (Local) THE PRESIDENT: We started our day here going to a church service that was really uplifting. I was -- I wasn't sure what to expect, and I can tell you that the service was full of spirit, and the preacher gave a really good sermon. She...

Greeley native gets to pedal with the Prez, and his mother will show you the photos Mike Peters, (Bio) peters@greeleytrib.com August 22, 2005 MOMS LIKE TO be proud of their children. Let's face it: They like to talk about their children's accomplishments, brag a little and show photos. So it was no surprise when Berna Ruibal this week bragged a little about her son Sal. It was last Monday when her son, a reporter for USA Today, called her at home in Greeley and told her to check page 3C. She did, and there he was: The kid who grew...

DONNELLY, Idaho - President Bush spent Tuesday at a resort in the Idaho Rockies, mountain biking around a rugged trail circuit before going fishing in a small pontoon boat on a wind-whipped lake. "I'm kind of hanging loose, as they say," Bush said earlier outside of his lodge at the 9-month-old Tamarack Resort, where he was spending two nights away from his Texas ranch. Bush spent part of the day with Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, although the governor wasn't always able to keep up with the brisk pace Bush set on his morning laps around the pine-studded grounds. "Did they...

Bush Rides With Lance, Reuters Hypes Sheehan President Bush did a bike ride with Lance Armstrong today, and I’m jealous. But get a load of Reuters, as they turn this event into another opportunity to hype Cindy Sheehan. (Hat tip: Thomas.) The president was described by his doctors in his annual physical as being in “superior” condition for a man his age. He takes pride in his six-day-a-week workout regimen and last week he showcased the statistics on his heart rate monitor for a group of reporters who rode with him. The monitor showed he burned 1,493 calories in a...

Sheehan, who left her vigil on Thursday to tend to her sick mother, has said she believes Bush should take fewer bike rides to have more time to focus on the "the nation's work."

WACO, Texas (AP) - It's no yellow jersey, but President Bush on Saturday presented Lance Armstrong with another shirt to show off his biking experiences - a red, white and blue T-shirt emblazoned "Tour de Crawford." The leader of the free world and the world's biking master rode for 17 miles on Bush's ranch for about two hours at midmorning. Bush showed Armstrong the sites of the ranch that he calls "a little slice of heaven," including a stop at a waterfall midway through the ride. They were accompanied by a small group of staff and Secret Service agents and...

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President George W. Bush, an avid mountain biker, got a chance to test his mettle against cycling superstar Lance Armstrong on Saturday. The seven-time Tour de France champion joined the president for a two-hour, 17-mile trek through the canyons and river-crossings of Bush's 1,600-acre Texas ranch. Armstrong, a fellow Texan and Bush friend who nonetheless disagrees with the president on the Iraq war, called it a "dream scenario" to cycle with the president. While many Americans wonder what attracts Bush to the Prairie Chapel ranch, where is he spending the month of August, Armstrong said he...

Ride With Armstrong Among Bush's Plans By NEDRA PICKLER The Associated Press Sunday, August 14, 2005; 6:49 PM WACO, Texas -- 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...

CRAWFORD, Texas - Standing on the driveway outside his home, President Bush explains the rules for people who go mountain biking with him. It will be a vigorous workout. It is not a race. And no one, the president says with a smile, is allowed to pass him. "This is a chance," he says, "for me to show you a little slice of heaven." The president's clothes show his favorite sport can be dangerous. His mountain biking shorts have holes on the front from last month's high-speed wipeout on a slick road in Scotland. For two hours Saturday, Bush leads...