Bush the Cyclist

Bush reaches his limits -- as a cyclist

GLENEAGLES (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush says he has finally reached his limits.

Bush went for a mountain bike ride on Wednesday, his 59th birthday, shortly after arriving at the Gleneagles luxury resort in Scotland for a meeting of world leaders. He promptly crashed at speed into a standing police officer, causing minor injuries to both.

Bush appeared at a news conference on Thursday with bandages on two fingers of his grazed left hand.

"I think I found my limitations," he said. Bush said he had spoken with the officer on Wednesday evening: "He's doing fine. I'm less worried about myself and more worried about him. It just goes to show that I should act my age."

"We were flying, coming in," Bush said.

"By the way -- when you ride hard on a mountain bike, sometimes you fall, otherwise you're not riding hard."

"And it was at the end of a good hour ride, the pavement was slick, and the bike came out from underneath me just like that person on the Tour de France the other day." The American cyclist David Zabriskie crashed while wearing the Tour leader's yellow jersey on Tuesday.

"He's a lot better bike rider than I am," Bush said. Bush began cycling seriously a couple of years ago when a knee injury forced him to give up running.

His usual trails are near his ranch in Crawford, Texas, and near a Secret Service training facility at Beltsville, Maryland.