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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 he stays at the ranch so long, it might be the mountain bike trails."
It also must be a dream scenario for Bush to ride with Armstrong, a fellow Texan and cancer survivor who last month won his most recent Tour de France. Bush has become an avid biker in the last couple of years, after a knee injury forced him to give up his jogging routine.
"Like a lot of baby boomers, my knees gave out," Bush explained to seven journalists who accompanied him on a two-hour ride Saturday. "And I believe that mountain biking is going to be an outlet for a lot of people my age. "
Bush said he considers exercise good preventive medicine and "part of living a disciplined life." He said he is trying to set an example to more Americans to exercise.
Bush said he prefers mountain biking to road biking, where riders often shave their legs and wear Lycra shorts. "There are certain things that age brings with it, and not wearing the formfitting Lycra short is one of them, if you know what I mean," Bush joked with the reporters.
Armstrong said although the president certainly couldn'twhip him, he's impressed with how seriously Bush takes his new sport.
"I know people who have ridden with him," Armstrong said. "I can tell you he's one very competitive guy. Very competitive, there's no talking. A few minutes of warm up time, a littlechitchat , then you go."
Armstrong also spent some time during the Tour de France with Bush's former rival, 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, who followed in a car during the final time trial. Armstrong said he's nottaking sides in politics even though he's opposed to the war in Iraq.
"As a survivor, I think we would be better spending money on an illness like cancer," he said.
(Agencies)
正在德克薩斯州克勞福德農場休假的美國總統布希現在有大把大把的時間用來騎山地車。下周末，他還將和七屆環法自行車賽冠軍蘭斯·阿姆斯特朗切磋技藝。
周日，阿姆斯特朗在美國廣播公司新聞對話節目《本周》中接受採訪時表示，下周六他將前往德克薩斯州克勞福德農場，和布希總統進行一場環農場山地車賽。
「對於我來說，這樣的情景之前只出現在夢境中。布希總統已經不再練習慢跑，他瘋狂地愛上了騎山地車。很多人納悶為什麼他總是喜歡在農場待那麼長時間，可能正是因為那邊的山地車道讓他依依不捨。」
對於布希總統來說，他一定也夢想著能夠和阿姆斯特朗同場競技。阿姆斯特朗不僅是布希的德克薩斯州老鄉，而且在身患癌症後，仍積極參加比賽，上月剛剛又一次獲得環法自行車賽冠軍。幾年前，一次膝蓋受傷後，布希總統不得不放棄了例行的慢跑鍛鍊，轉而練習騎山地車，並從此一發不可收拾。
上周六，布希邀請了7位記者朋友陪他一起騎了兩個小時山地車，他對記者們說：「和許多出生在『嬰兒潮』時期的許多人一樣，我的膝蓋不聽使喚了。我相信騎山地車對於許多和我差不多年紀的人來說是一條發洩的途徑。」
布希說，他認為體育鍛鍊不僅能起到很好的預防作用，也是「有規律的生活的一部分」。他說希望通過自己的實際行動為更多美國民眾樹立一個好的榜樣，鼓勵更多美國人積極參加體育運動。
布希說，和公路自行車相比，他更喜歡山地自行車。公路自行車選手經常要刮腿毛，而且還要穿萊卡緊身短褲。「有些事情和年齡有關，不穿貼身的萊卡短褲就是其中之一，你們懂我的意思吧。」布希和記者朋友們開玩笑說。
阿姆斯特朗表示，儘管布希總統絕對不可能騎得比他快，總統先生對待這項體育運動的嚴肅態度給他留下了很深的印象。
「我認識一些曾經和他一起騎過山地車的朋友，我可以告訴你他的競爭意識真的很強。非常有競爭意識，騎車的時候一句話都不講。開始大家先熱身幾分鐘，然後稍微聊幾句，就開始騎了。」阿姆斯特朗說。
在參加環法自行車賽時，阿姆斯特朗也曾經和布希以前的競爭對手、2004年美國大選民主黨候選人約翰·克裡接觸過。在最後一個計時賽段中，克裡坐在車裡一路跟隨阿姆斯特朗。阿姆斯特朗說自己雖然反對伊拉克戰爭，但是在政治上保持中立。
「作為一名癌症的倖存者，我想我們更應該把錢花在攻克癌症等疾病上。」他說。
（中國日報網站 薛曉文譯）