The author (right) enjoys a leisurely ride with the leader of the free world. Courtesy of the White House/Eric Draper
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	RELATED • MURPHY: More on my ride with Dubya

News item: Lance Armstrong will go mountain biking with President Bush in Crawford, Texas, this Saturday.

Been there, done that.

My advice to Lance: If one of the Secret Service agents along for your ride is named Jason -- a gimlet-eyed, 20-something man who looks like he could garrote you with one of your spokes -- don't waste your time trying to get a laugh out of the guy. I couldn't.

Of course, that may have had something to do with a mishap that occurred early in my ride with the president on Aug. 13. A few miles into a two-hour tour of Bush's Texas ranch -- I'd been invited, along with a few other journalists, to ride -- we pulled a U-turn. But I missed that memo, and instead hung a left, nearly T-boning Jason, who bade me, "Watch it!" then kept a closer eye on me for the rest of the morning.

No matter your politics, you have to give our 43rd president props: The man has a big engine. The unofficial rule governing those who ride with the ex-governor: No one passes the president. Of course, the farther we went, the less of an issue that became. Most of the riders in our group weren't capable of hanging with the Chief, let alone passing him. When I pointed out to the president that, by never drafting, he gets more exercise than anyone else on the ride, he explained why he likes to be out front:

"You know, if I wasn't leading, I'd be following," he said, "and I don't like to do that. And secondly, a person may go a little faster than I want to go, you know?"

I'm not sure how the no-passing rule is gonna work with Armstrong. If I were riding with Lance, I'd ask him to go as hard as he could, then see if I could grab his wheel, even for just a moment.

I'd been enjoying some R and R in Rhode Island five days earlier when I picked up an old message off my home phone in California. "Hi Austin, Jeanie Mamo at the White House. Needed to talk to you pretty urgently about a bike ride with the president."

Something in Jeanie's tone told me she wasn't accustomed to not getting her calls returned. Swearing me to secrecy, when I called back, she invited me to fly down to Texas and go for a spin with the leader of the free world. I told her I'd have to ask my wife. Jeanie understood.

Staunch liberal though she is, Laura Hilgers said, at once, "You have to go." I agreed. Problem was, what would I ride? A couple emergency e-mails to Zap Espinoza and Scott Daubert at Trek got me hooked up: A gleaming new ride awaited me at the Bicycle Sportshop in Austin, Texas. (Thanks guys. I'll be shipping your beyond-sweet, full-suspension Fuel EX 8 back to you any day now.)