OK then. Never let it be said that I am gratuitously unfair to the President.
Bush is on a very nice mountain bike - clearly his bike, which he has had set up for him well - it fits him, his position is great. He looks like he knows what he's doing; he should, because it is his sport.
Obama is not a cyclist, and it shows. While the First Dog might get flown in, apparently Barack rented a pretty generic bike on the Vinyard. Not his bike; he just grabbed whatever was available. These bikes are designed for folks (of either gender) who are not cyclists, but just want to poke around some bike trails for a few miles. Obama is a tall guy, so it's not unexpected that he looks silly - mainly because his saddle is just too low. His position looks "wrong", even for a casual ride. (I have an eye for this, being well acquainted with proper bike fit and advising my friends, club mates etc). If he rode more than a few miles, I'm sure he felt it in his butt and knees the next day.
So while he looks silly, it's not his sport, and I'm sure quite a few snaps of me on a basketball court would not show me in a good light.
I just read a comment at Hot Air about how Barry would look better if he was not riding his daughters bike (which I almost used in my thread) and wearing Mom jeans.
You need to remember that the world is much safer today because the President is in touch with his feminine side, unlike that macho cowboy who infested the White House for eight years.
Obama has his knees pushed together like he's afraid Michelle is gonna peek up his skirt. :))
Noah's a tall guy too, but I'm sure he'd find a way to make that sissy bike look like a big, bad, dirt-chewin' machine, even if he had to bleed all over the place and chomp on a cigar to do it. Ya know?
On the one hand- I appreciate the effort that lewy put forth to make an educated, and quite even-handed comment on the subject at hand. It is rare, these days, to see posts that are litle more than simple-minded attacks and cheap yucks.
On the other hand- Obama is the President of the single greatest country on earth. You're telling me that he has to wait on line at the local rent-a-ride and take whatever they have left. I've been to Martha's Vineyard; they aren't exactly short on bike shops.
For goodness sake, man- Putin is out in the Arctic ocean, wearing a loincloth, going all Captain Ahab harpooning whales and eating live sharks for breakfast.
I totally expect to see the top picture- photoshopped with tassels, a banana seat, and one of those big orange "spot-a-tot" flags on the back- by the end of the week.
Even Michigan/Colorado/Montana guys like me prefer it.
Time for Bushie to man up!
Mountain bikes...man's way of enabling erosion that nature didn't get around to. The only reason there's no bounty on them is that the pedal versions are not motorized.
Oh, and Lewy...as for Obana's bike...looks like a Trek "Navigator" hybrid road/trail model to me, not a mountain bike. Am I close?
Bush's looks like a genuine mountain bike of the hard tail variety (no pain, no gain type). Note the shorter fork spindle, more robust forks, and fatter tires.
Yeah - like lewy said, Obama was riding a bike that was a very poor fit for him. If you're riding a bike with a seat that's way too low, your knees just do that.
As for Putin, I'd be more impressed if he was shirtless in the pictures where he was riding in the snow. Pfffft. Any guy can go doff the shirt when it's sunny!
Putin cracks me up. I don't mean that in a ridiculous way. Well, sort of. I get what he's capable of. But every time I see him I'm like "Really? Playing shirtless with a baby tiger?"
Photobucket doesn't like butts. I had 'shopped BO's head on an awesome picture of a nude black guy with a cool mohawk laying on a bearskin rug (or something like that). It lasted about 30 seconds on photobucket.
Okay, if we have a shirtless Putin pool, I'd like to place my money on saving a family from a burning building and going back in to rescue the family cat.
Air Force Guy would like to put his money on Shirtless Putin singlehandedly (and without a shirt) stopping a Chechen suicide bomber in Red Square in the middle of a group of Orthodox school children on a field trip accompanied by their large breasted, blond nannies.
One more thing - I can honestly not think of a single thing more uncomfortable than a naked bike ride. Really. And I'm an adventurous person, I'd like to think. But that is just too much. The chafe level is ridiculous.
My money is on a shirtless Putin doing a groovy disco routine for the finals of Dancing With The Stars. Al Gore, Pat Robertson and Ruth Bader Ginsburg are judges.
But Shirtless Putin can't win Dancing With the Stars and not also win American Idol with his (shirtless) rendition of the immortal Lady Gaga classic - Poker Face.
Natural horsemanship (aka "Equus") has come fully of age now, and is an event at the American Quarter Horse Congress, a place we competed in events, annually, before the natural feature was added. Miss Westfall is a consummate horsewoman as shown in the video. No reins, no saddle, barely perceptible cues from legs and butt....a symbiosis is created that cannot be duplicated on a machine.
She's running a "Reining" pattern, (part of working cow horse events) one of several, and can't be learned by rote because you don't know which pattern until the event itself, whether bareback or with saddle and reins.
THAT is why I said a true Texan would ride a horse, not a bike. There's just something "there"...I spell it "love."
Lewy..."Fish school, birds flock. Got any idea what that's like?"
You mean like "bait balls" of mackerel? Ducks migrating? Predators waiting? Chomp chomp...boom boom?:D
Seriously, I do recognize the "symbiosis" between team riders in bike road races like the various "Tours." Mountain biking, not so much, unless I'm missing something. Mountain biking seems pretty individual from what little I've seen, thus the comparison to horses, in similar working trials. Especially in "Texas." That's distinctly an off road bike (hard tail variety) "Texan" Bush is riding in the photo, right?
I nearly bought one, a high end hybrid, for riding locally, but refrained when the suicidal impulse subsided. Alternative was a Schwinn Classic model with 8 or so speeds on am otherwise "fixie" sized frame including coaster brake. Still suicidal here, trust me. Even a Harley is suicidal, unless riding in a large group...and crotch rockets doubly so (I'd put a bounty on them in particular).
Besides our crude and extremely rude drivers, aggressive to the hilt, there are the potholes, which can tear your front wheel plumb off...even in a car. Then again, it IS Detroit which has other known ghetto hazards between refined spots.
My original idea was to relieve my youth on a bicycle or motorcycle, then it dawned on me that it was no longer the 1950's. I even looked for a restored old Colson model with the torsion suspension (best curb hopper around) on the front end....way too expensive if you can even find one...just as an original Schwinn is too much (factory reproductions just ain't the same).
Bicycle road riding is distinctly not a urban sport here...far suburbs maybe, if you're prone to inordinate risk of being run down by a teenager or soccer mom on a cell phone while hurtling through a stop sign at 45 mph. I long ago gave up my 28 inch wheeled number out there, as well as moved our horses some 75 miles out. Civilization had passed by.
All that said, I DO see the symbiosis in organized team road racing and appreciate the strategy and tactics employed. But I was talking about Texans :-L
Just an observation - does anyone else find his smile in that last picture... disturbing? It just doesn't look right on his face. It's like Pixar animating a smile on that shark in Finding Nemo.
I find the fact that Putin's nipples are constantly erect to be extremely disturbing. Just my own issue there.
Lyana - Shirtless Putin is one of those subjects that can just be discussed forever. It's like watching a train wreck being hit by a plane and smashing into a caravan of elephant trailers. With an overturned semi full of chemicals somewhere in the mix.
Please compare and contrast.
ReplyDeleteOK then. Never let it be said that I am gratuitously unfair to the President.
Bush is on a very nice mountain bike - clearly his bike, which he has had set up for him well - it fits him, his position is great. He looks like he knows what he's doing; he should, because it is his sport.
Obama is not a cyclist, and it shows. While the First Dog might get flown in, apparently Barack rented a pretty generic bike on the Vinyard. Not his bike; he just grabbed whatever was available. These bikes are designed for folks (of either gender) who are not cyclists, but just want to poke around some bike trails for a few miles. Obama is a tall guy, so it's not unexpected that he looks silly - mainly because his saddle is just too low. His position looks "wrong", even for a casual ride. (I have an eye for this, being well acquainted with proper bike fit and advising my friends, club mates etc). If he rode more than a few miles, I'm sure he felt it in his butt and knees the next day.
So while he looks silly, it's not his sport, and I'm sure quite a few snaps of me on a basketball court would not show me in a good light.
I'm trying to be charitable so I better not comment.
ReplyDelete*snickering, however*
I just read a comment at Hot Air about how Barry would look better if he was not riding his daughters bike (which I almost used in my thread) and wearing Mom jeans.
ReplyDeleteYou need to remember that the world is much safer today because the President is in touch with his feminine side, unlike that macho cowboy who infested the White House for eight years.
ReplyDeleteObama has his knees pushed together like he's afraid Michelle is gonna peek up his skirt. :))
ReplyDeleteNoah's a tall guy too, but I'm sure he'd find a way to make that sissy bike look like a big, bad, dirt-chewin' machine, even if he had to bleed all over the place and chomp on a cigar to do it. Ya know?
On the one hand- I appreciate the effort that lewy put forth to make an educated, and quite even-handed comment on the subject at hand. It is rare, these days, to see posts that are litle more than simple-minded attacks and cheap yucks.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand- Obama is the President of the single greatest country on earth. You're telling me that he has to wait on line at the local rent-a-ride and take whatever they have left. I've been to Martha's Vineyard; they aren't exactly short on bike shops.
For goodness sake, man- Putin is out in the Arctic ocean, wearing a loincloth, going all Captain Ahab harpooning whales and eating live sharks for breakfast.
It's a sad day...
I totally expect to see the top picture- photoshopped with tassels, a banana seat, and one of those big orange "spot-a-tot" flags on the back- by the end of the week.
ReplyDeleteMountain Biking is Bush's sport?! Sad day for Texans everywhere, I'd say.
ReplyDeleteA real Texan "rides" this...
imgw:"http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y128/aridog/horse_breeder_services_6548.jpg"
Even Michigan/Colorado/Montana guys like me prefer it.
Time for Bushie to man up!
Mountain bikes...man's way of enabling erosion that nature didn't get around to. The only reason there's no bounty on them is that the pedal versions are not motorized.
There you go...always glad to help :))
OK - since Alphie went there...
ReplyDeleteEvery time someone mentions Putin now my first question is, "Was he wearing a shirt?"
But the point there was perfectly well made. Bravo, Alphie. Bravo.
AFW & Alphie...even Putin rides a horse!!
ReplyDeleteimgw:"http://thesinosaudiblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/putin-horse.jpg?w=300&h=450"
The man can actually ride!!
Oh, and Lewy...as for Obana's bike...looks like a Trek "Navigator" hybrid road/trail model to me, not a mountain bike. Am I close?
ReplyDeleteBush's looks like a genuine mountain bike of the hard tail variety (no pain, no gain type). Note the shorter fork spindle, more robust forks, and fatter tires.
afw - there's your shirtless Putin pic!
ReplyDeleteWoohoo!
I didn't even recognize that as GWB on the mountain bike, I thought it was Wilford Brimley until I read lewy's comment.
ReplyDeletelady red said "Obama has his knees pushed together like he's afraid Michelle is gonna peek up his skirt."
ReplyDeleteI noticed that too, WTH???
:-o
Yeah - like lewy said, Obama was riding a bike that was a very poor fit for him. If you're riding a bike with a seat that's way too low, your knees just do that.
ReplyDeleteAs for Putin, I'd be more impressed if he was shirtless in the pictures where he was riding in the snow. Pfffft. Any guy can go doff the shirt when it's sunny!
I love it....we're comparing Presidents on their styles and techniques of bicycle riding....with nekidness added in...WTH?
ReplyDeleteFlorrie@#13: I didn't even recognize that as GWB on the mountain bike, I thought it was Wilford Brimley until I read lewy's comment.
ReplyDeleteWilford Brimley? =))
Aridog, LMAO! It could be worse. At least no one has posted a nekid photo of Brimley...yet.
Putin cracks me up. I don't mean that in a ridiculous way. Well, sort of. I get what he's capable of. But every time I see him I'm like "Really? Playing shirtless with a baby tiger?"
ReplyDeleteAnd then there was the whole Russian MTV thing...
'I love it....we're comparing Presidents on their styles and techniques of bicycle riding....with nekidness added in...WTH?"
ReplyDeleteimg:"http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/floranista/ROFLOL.png"
I know, it's great, isn't it??
Here's lewy
img:"http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/floranista/bike21.gif"
I'm so uncool. I have no clue what the Russian MTV thing is...
ReplyDelete:-/
Well, I'm heading out in the monsoon to do some shopping, catch you all later!
ReplyDeleteAri, you are correct - I'd forgotten what that style of casual bikes were called; I just think of them as "loser bikes". :D
ReplyDeleteIf O had been on a fixed gear bike he would have won major hipness points. But I don't think they have any fixies on the Vinyard.
flo, LOL! When I was racing, my club colors were indeed red. And you can't quite tell if that guy is coming or going - just like me! ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd here is the rest of the gang...
ReplyDeleteimg:"http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y113/phasewest/Bare%20Bums/picaso-nake-bike-ride.gif"
florrie - Putin won an award from the Russian MTV. He got it at a big fooferaw thingie with Russian rap artists.
ReplyDeleteHe wore a shirt, though. I was quite disappointed.
Fay, LMAO!
ReplyDeleteFlorrie, I'm uncool too. Thank goodness we have AFW to bring us up to speed. :)
ReplyDeleteFay - hey, that's the naked bike ride they have here in Portland every year.
ReplyDeleteAll those naked cartoon cyclists have good form - not hunched over the handlebars, back straight, shoulders down and relaxed... very good.
Putin should do the naked bike ride.
lewy, for the love of all that is holy, please don't give Putin ideas.
ReplyDeleteDo you think we'll see the man on an episode of Ice Road Truckers? Driving with no shirt, of course.
Oh - I call purple helmet!
ReplyDelete"Oh - I call purple helmet!"
ReplyDeleteBut your butt is so much smaller!
"Fay - hey, that's the naked bike ride they have here in Portland every year."
ReplyDeleteI know lewy, I used to have an actual photo of actual butts on that ride but photobucket deleted it from my account.
Go figure.
Awright, Fay worked in biking AND nekidness!!
ReplyDeleteBravo!
Thanks, afw, I need to get out more.
ReplyDeletetee hee...
Photobucket doesn't like butts. I had 'shopped BO's head on an awesome picture of a nude black guy with a cool mohawk laying on a bearskin rug (or something like that). It lasted about 30 seconds on photobucket.
ReplyDeleteOh Fay, I do love you. :)
ReplyDeleteOkay, if we have a shirtless Putin pool, I'd like to place my money on saving a family from a burning building and going back in to rescue the family cat.
Air Force Guy would like to put his money on Shirtless Putin singlehandedly (and without a shirt) stopping a Chechen suicide bomber in Red Square in the middle of a group of Orthodox school children on a field trip accompanied by their large breasted, blond nannies.
One more thing - I can honestly not think of a single thing more uncomfortable than a naked bike ride. Really. And I'm an adventurous person, I'd like to think. But that is just too much. The chafe level is ridiculous.
Well I'm glad to hear that it wasn't just "my butts" that offended photobucket, florrie LOL!
ReplyDeleteLOL afw, no one else but you would even contemplate "a shirtless Putin pool"
ReplyDeleteYou are frickin priceless girl.
My money is on a shirtless Putin doing a groovy disco routine for the finals of Dancing With The Stars. Al Gore, Pat Robertson and Ruth Bader Ginsburg are judges.
ReplyDeleteI think afg wins the pool hands down.
ReplyDelete"You are frickin priceless girl. "
ReplyDeleteWord.
:-)
;)
ReplyDeleteOoooh, florrie! That's a good one!
ReplyDeleteBut Shirtless Putin can't win Dancing With the Stars and not also win American Idol with his (shirtless) rendition of the immortal Lady Gaga classic - Poker Face.
Air Force Guy would like to put his money on Shirtless Putin singlehandedly [...] on a field trip accompanied by their large breasted, blond nannies.
ReplyDeleteAir Force Guy clearly has a healthy and active imagination.
Okay - I'm off to bed. But the Shirtless Putin possibilities are truly limitless. This will occupy my thinking for at least the next week, I think.
ReplyDeleteGood morning afw ;)
ReplyDeleteimg:"http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y113/phasewest/Guys/putin_large.jpg"
LMAO!!!
ReplyDeleteHeh. Putin's photo-ops remind me of Zohan. Will Putin next try to become a hair stylist?
ReplyDeleteimgw:"http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y128/aridog/With_the_zohan.jpg"
When I suggested horses were better than cycles, of any kind, here is what I meant.
ReplyDeleteNatural horsemanship (aka "Equus") has come fully of age now, and is an event at the American Quarter Horse Congress, a place we competed in events, annually, before the natural feature was added. Miss Westfall is a consummate horsewoman as shown in the video. No reins, no saddle, barely perceptible cues from legs and butt....a symbiosis is created that cannot be duplicated on a machine.
She's running a "Reining" pattern, (part of working cow horse events) one of several, and can't be learned by rote because you don't know which pattern until the event itself, whether bareback or with saddle and reins.
THAT is why I said a true Texan would ride a horse, not a bike. There's just something "there"...I spell it "love."
a symbiosis is created that cannot be duplicated on a machine.
ReplyDeleteNot symbiosis with a machine, but with other riders.
Ever done a bike race in a pack? Symbiosis is not too strong a word.
Fish school, birds flock. Got any idea what that's like?
I do.
If Putin did style hair, he'd do it shirtless.
ReplyDeleteIf Putin did style hair...
ReplyDeleteimgw:"http://i627.photobucket.com/albums/tt358/redhawkclan/troy.jpg"
OMG. You think Taylor Lautner (the shirtless guy in the Twilight movies) is Putin's chosen protege?
ReplyDeleteOr Putin's illegitimate love child? Maybe it's genetic.
Lewy..."Fish school, birds flock. Got any idea what that's like?"
ReplyDeleteYou mean like "bait balls" of mackerel? Ducks migrating? Predators waiting? Chomp chomp...boom boom?:D
Seriously, I do recognize the "symbiosis" between team riders in bike road races like the various "Tours." Mountain biking, not so much, unless I'm missing something. Mountain biking seems pretty individual from what little I've seen, thus the comparison to horses, in similar working trials. Especially in "Texas." That's distinctly an off road bike (hard tail variety) "Texan" Bush is riding in the photo, right?
I nearly bought one, a high end hybrid, for riding locally, but refrained when the suicidal impulse subsided. Alternative was a Schwinn Classic model with 8 or so speeds on am otherwise "fixie" sized frame including coaster brake. Still suicidal here, trust me. Even a Harley is suicidal, unless riding in a large group...and crotch rockets doubly so (I'd put a bounty on them in particular).
Besides our crude and extremely rude drivers, aggressive to the hilt, there are the potholes, which can tear your front wheel plumb off...even in a car. Then again, it IS Detroit which has other known ghetto hazards between refined spots.
My original idea was to relieve my youth on a bicycle or motorcycle, then it dawned on me that it was no longer the 1950's. I even looked for a restored old Colson model with the torsion suspension (best curb hopper around) on the front end....way too expensive if you can even find one...just as an original Schwinn is too much (factory reproductions just ain't the same).
Bicycle road riding is distinctly not a urban sport here...far suburbs maybe, if you're prone to inordinate risk of being run down by a teenager or soccer mom on a cell phone while hurtling through a stop sign at 45 mph. I long ago gave up my 28 inch wheeled number out there, as well as moved our horses some 75 miles out. Civilization had passed by.
All that said, I DO see the symbiosis in organized team road racing and appreciate the strategy and tactics employed. But I was talking about Texans :-L
Ari - Texas has road racers. One of them won the Tour De France. Seven times.
ReplyDeleteBush's bike is indeed a hardtail MTB.
I wouldn't enter any vehicle in Detroit without four wheels, solid axles, and four thousand pounds of road hugging weight.
Lewy....granted, "Dallas" is in Texas :))
ReplyDeleteI am not amused.
ReplyDelete: P
ReplyDelete"I am not amused. "
ReplyDeleteimg:"http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/gallery/putin0813/putin-relaxation475.jpg"
Well you might not be but we are.
Fay, I'm laughing at all your shirtless Putin photos, afw must be thrilled!!
ReplyDeleteOMG, I had never seen Troy without his helmet! His hair, it's alive!
ReplyDeleteDoes he need a helmet with all of that hair?
ReplyDeleteLOL! We're still on the Shirtless Putin thing?!?
ReplyDeleteJust an observation - does anyone else find his smile in that last picture... disturbing? It just doesn't look right on his face. It's like Pixar animating a smile on that shark in Finding Nemo.
*shiver*
I find the fact that Putin's nipples are constantly erect to be extremely disturbing. Just my own issue there.
ReplyDeleteLyana - Shirtless Putin is one of those subjects that can just be discussed forever. It's like watching a train wreck being hit by a plane and smashing into a caravan of elephant trailers. With an overturned semi full of chemicals somewhere in the mix.
Good afternoon afw :))
ReplyDeleteimg:"http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y113/phasewest/Guys/putin.jpg"
LMAO even more!!!
ReplyDeleteROFL!!! Putin parting Lake Baikal?
ReplyDelete