Gotta Rant-For Earth Day Bush Goes on Bike Ride

[leftyladyfrommo]

with about 50 other people to make sure he doesn't kill himself. He was with aids and bodyguards and medical people. And he goes on about how important the land is.

And then his adm. is trying to completely do away with all of our natural areas.

What a total asshole. These quotes are just pathetic.

I can't find the link but here are some excerpts.

President Bush marked Earth Day with a mountain bike ride high above Napa County wine country, dodging ruts that sent several riding partners crashing into the mud.

"I still ride the mountain bike primarily to help settle the soul and to burn off the excess energy one gets when you're living life to the fullest."

"We're able to enjoy the beauty without really disrupting the pristine nature of the place," the mudplattered president said after the 65 minute ride. "It's a classic way for mankind to enjoy God's gift. Plus, we get some exercise."

(This is great) The president set the pace throughout the ride, with four Air Force men, a White House legislative aide and Secret Service Agents bunched behind him.

A long convoy of vehicles rumbled behind the group, carrying medics and armed security agents.

This is just too wierd for words.

[Kierkegaard]

1. I wonder...

is this guy really this evil or is he just so disconnected that he doesn't realize that almost everything out of his mouth is a contradiction of reality?

[C_U_L8R]

2. Do you think he knows

what damage a mountain bike can do ?

I know he doesn't care.

[rfranklin]

7. As a mountain biker, I know your comment is unfair...

In most cases, mountain bikes are minimally invasive and cause no lasting impression on the land.

A study of impact of mountain bikes shows that they have less impact than some hikers--

Further Cessford (1995) asserts that:
Mountain bikes will exert downward force through their tires, although the "mean ground contact pressure", which comprises the wheel load divided by the contact area (Soane et al. 1981, Smith and Dickson 1990) is likely to be less than that of heavier motorized vehicles, horses and heavily laden hikers. Weaver and Dale (1978) noted that motorcycles had least impact on downhill slopes, due to exerting lesser downward forces than hikers or horses. With the lower wheel loadings of mountain bikes, their impacts upon downhill slopes are likely to be much less than those from motorbikes.

Cessford, G.R., 1995. Off-Road Impacts of Mountain Bikes: A Review and Discussion, Science and Research Series No. 92. Department of Conservation, P O Box 10-420, Wellington, New Zealand

[C_U_L8R]

8. I'm sure you're responsible about it

but not everyone is.. there are places where it's gotten out of hand
and people needed to be reminded to take care. Certainly not
the biggest environmental issue.. nevertheless I feel it might be more
fitting for the President to take a hike (as in walk through the woods :-)
on Earth Day than bombing along with a pack of friends in expensive spandex.

[rfranklin]

10. See my edit with quoted study re: hikers...

In my area, we have horse riders who cause much more damage but think they are more responsible than mountainbike riders (generally due to class snobbishness about riding horses versus riding mountainbikes.)

[leftyladyfrommo]

9. I wish they would do away with the 3-wheelers and 4-wheelers

used just for recreation. They do horrendous damage.

I know they are fun but people really need to be responsible.

[ktlyon]

18. I have ridden a lot and riding a muddy course can be very damaging

and also the mud that goes home with the rides will have to be replaced or eventually the trail will be impassable. I have personally witnessed this destruction at several city and state parks in different places around the country.

[RaleighNCDUer]

16. You are aware, of course, that though he rides a mountain bike

he doesn't do mountain biking. Have we ever seen him riding on anything other than a well-groomed, prepared, and LEVEL trail? And he has accidents on these! If he was to ever attempt real mountain biking he'd kill himself.

[charlie]

17. Well, we know how much damage *he* can do on a mountain bike

He plowed into that poor cop in Scotland and put him out of work for 3 months. The miserable fucktard is a disaster magnet.

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. Does he use a helmet? If he does, it's a waste of plastic.

Nothing to damage in his emty skull.

[rodeodance]

4. Campgrounds face closure (Bush plan to privatize parks)

previous post

Sat Apr-22-06 03:01 PM
Original message

Campgrounds face closure (Bush plan to privatize parks)
The days of budget camping visits to OUR National Forests and National Parks will come to an end if the Repugs get their way! Now the Bushies want to starve Forest Service and Park Service budgets, then turn campgrounds over to concessionaires who will charge a fortune for fancy camping facilities. I urge everyone to read the full article and write every congresscritter you can.

casperstartribune.com/articles/2006/04/22/news/wyoming/7ac8ae2b39aff646872571570062ef4d.txt

By BRODIE FARQUHAR
Star-Tribune correspondent Saturday, April 22, 2006

LANDER -- Tucked away in a corner of the U.S. Forest Service Web site are plans and documents which could lead to the closure of hundreds of campground water systems and ultimately, hundreds of campgrounds themselves throughout the national forest system.

The time-hallowed practice of fetching water from a hand pump -- for preparing meals, washing dishes or washing dirty kids -- may become a thing of the past. Like a small-town post office, where people meet and talk, the campground hand pump is where campers meet and talk, forming friendships that can last a weekend or a lifetime.

That could all disappear in a few years, said primitive recreation advocate Scott Silver, executive director of Wild Wilderness in Bend, Ore.

What would replace those basic water systems and campgrounds?

According to Silver, they’d be replaced by fewer, but bigger developed campgrounds, featuring more expensive and complicated water systems, operated by for-profit concessionaires.

“It is all there on the Internet,” said Silver, referring to the "Recreation Site Facility Master Planning" Internet page that details the information.

<snip>

The Forest Service Master Plan info is at www.fs.fed.us/r3/measures/Prioritize/RS-FMP.htm

They can't destroy Social Security but they keep trying to destroy OUR public lands and public facilities so they can be privatized and run by corporate concessionaires. Hey, Halliburton could convert them into detention camps in no time...

[leftyladyfrommo]

5. That Halliburton idea is great.

This thing just makes me nauseous. Really. We used to camp in those parks when I was little and we just had a great time.

There has got to be a way to stop these idiots.

[Olney Blue]

6. "settle the soul"

says the chimp

[madokie]

11. His soul was settled years ago in the deal with the devil

[leftyladyfrommo]

12. I don't think the devil would want him.

[Moosepoop]

13. It makes perfect sense for him to ride a bike on Earth Day.

Every time he rides his bike, he encounters the earth (usually head-first). ;)

[leftyladyfrommo]

14. They said he got kind of worried when it got steep.

The ride started at about 1700 feet above sea level and dropped steeply for several miles, prompting a bit of anxiety in Bush.

(I know you want to know this part, too).
Bush settled into a steady rhythm on the way back up -an ascent he said pushed him to near his physical limits. His hear-rate of 176 beats per minute - just off his maximum, 183.

This just makes me want to scream. It is just too ridiculous for words.

[Child_Of_Isis]

15. burn off the excess energy one gets when you're living life to the fullest

I find this an odd statement.

Probably because I haven't a clue as to what "living life to the fullest" means.

Most everyone I know is stuck in survival mode.

[leftyladyfrommo]

19. I know - that statement is really strange.

I wonder what his adea of living to the fullest is?

Too odd.