My Brush With Bush
Darin texted me on Friday night to go trail running with Jo, Dave, and him at the same place we ran last week. I was to meet at his house at 6:00. I woke up at 4:40 and, as usual, weighed the pros and cons of going back to sleep with the benefits of running. And is the case usually when someone else is waiting on me, I decided to get my running clothes on and head to Darin's (about an hour away from me).
When I got to Darin's, Jo was there, but Dave had to back out due to him having to take his daughter to a soccer game or something. No biggie.
On the ride to the trailhead, Darin said that plans had changed, as the bridge to the place we ran last week was under construction, so we opted to head to the trail on the other side of the lake that he, Curstis, and I mountain biked from 2 weeks ago.
As we arrived at the parking area at the trailhead, there was a rather large guy wearing a white polo shirt and slacks blocking some of the shady parking spots (shade in Texas this time of year is a precious commodity). I was thinking, "that's kind of rude". So after we parked a little further down, I went and talked to the guy. I asked him if there was some special club ride going on -- as there were a couple top of the line Treks waiting on stands. He said, "yep, local club". And that was about that..
Just as we were about to head out on the trail for a 6 mile loop, two Suburbans pulled up. The few others at the trail head started murmuring that it was "him". It was George W Bush. Yes, the 43rd president of the United States. He was there to go for a mountain bike workout with about a dozen others (I'm sure some were security and some were local bike riders or friends of his). And Jo, Darin, and I were right there. He shook all our hands and looked genuinely excited to be our there for a workout on a hot summer morning. He said to Darin, Jo, and I, "you're the lean group" (or something like that).Within minutes, Mr. Bush's entourage passed us on their mountain bikes as we stopped running to step aside to let them pass. Mr. Bush was cruising right along at a nice clip. How cool was that!?
After a few minutes, we started our jog, just a little star struck from our brief encounter. We chatted on the run and wished we had thought to take a picture. Darn it! Nobody's going to believe us!
At about the 1.5 mile point, the single track trail crossed a park road with a port-o-let. Jo had to make a pit stop. I saw the van that had the bikes, and the big guy that I had talked to earlier. Darin and I walked over to him, and I said "I'm sorry for being a bit of a jerk back there.". He said "You weren't a jerk". I felt the need to apologize...so I did. We chatted for a few more seconds, then got back on the trail.
The trail system we were on has about a 14 mile loop with traffic designated as "one way". At about 3 miles out we hopped on the trail heading back toward the parking lot. Jo had to get back to teach an aerobics class. After we got back to the parking lot, we took a few pictures of ourselves with Darin's smartphone and said goodbye to Jo.
Darin and I saw that the Mr Bush's SUVs were still there, so we thought maybe we might have a chance to get a photo with him if we could be there when he finished his ride. We ended up hopping on the trail, headed in the opposite direction. At about 1.5 miles out, we encountered the entourage...it seemed like they picked up a few more riders on their train. We stepped off the trail and watched them pass. Then we followed them. They put a little distance on us, but we thought that perhaps we might still only be a couple minutes behind them when they finished, and if we were lucky we might meet him again and get a picture.
Sure enough, as we finished. There he was, mingling with about a dozen people at the trail head. I asked him if he'd mind if we took a few pictures. He said "Sure, go ahead", and he even congratulated Darin and I for a great run in the heat. Believe me, the feeling was mutual. Mr Bush had just celebrated his 65th birthday a few weeks ago, and I was very impressed by his commitment to fitness, and his ability to ride those narrow, even dangerous trails. It was a very cool encounter, one I doubt I will ever forget.
Here's my picture with "W":
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1121750&l=70e976126d&id=1837428836
I feel really bad that Dave had to change his plans for a family commitment, and that Jo missed out on the photos after we finished. Maybe there with be a "next time".
AP: 9:45
82F
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