The ride was scheduled at three so of course I arrived in plenty of time to get ready. There was a big Econoline type van with no side windows & a guy unloading several bikes into individual stands. All the bikes were Treks & in very pristine shape. About two 40 that same guy comes over to my friend Paul and whispers, "He's on the way."
Very close to ride time, several blacked out SUVs pull up & within seconds there stands the former president of the country. Very quickly he looks around smiling at everyone waiving at us to come here. He shakes all of our hands & says "Hey there Shadow" just like one of the guys.
Without hardly any of us really paying attention several armed secret service people start doing their security sweeps of the area while a couple of them just head off into the woods!
After greeting everyone he gets on his bike for a quick check/parking lot warm-up & we take off with a line of security people right behind him, all riding bikes too. A couple of the guys definitely had some bulging goin on underneath the jerseys. It's kind of a surreal moment when ya realize your riding train is packin some firepower. Another very cool thing about his entourage was that all of em were wearing matching socks with "Peloton 1" on them, too cool! We kept telling him how cool it was to have those socks all match & how creative the name was.
The ride was a pretty good pace. Several stops along the way to let the non-riding secret service people catch up. Towards the half way mark they finally let me pass em & I got to ride right behind G. W. We talked just as if he was a fellow mountain biker out enjoying his "retired" life. Today was a duathlon for him, he played 18 holes of golf before riding. At several points in the trail most people wouldn't make climbs or obstacles & after seeing me make all of em he started calling me "the champ".
At some point in the ride we started talking again about the Peleton One socks. Well Mr. Bush starts to say, "Hey David, do we have anymore of em left?" "No, but we get a new box of em tomorrow." The president says "When we get back get all these guys info & send em some." Sure enough when we back to the trailhead David got all four riders info & said he would send us some!
To ride with him has definitely been a lifelong highlight & another great moment in my life brought possible because of a wonderful hobbie I couldn't give up in my pre-teen years. I met my future wife, the former president of the United States, & countless life-long friends all from the pleasure shared from a bicycle ride.
