# Alert Secret Service Agents Seized the Bike and Wrestled It to the Ground... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 27, 2006, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alert-secret-service-agents-seized-the-bike-and-wrestled-it-to-the-ground/346255 "2006-02-27T02:17:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alert-secret-service-agents-seized-the-bike-and-wrestled-it-to-the-ground/346255/1 "2006-02-27T02:17:54Z")
From the Daily Scotsman: [US leader crashed by trying to ‘pedal, wave and speak at same time’](http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=297002006): > [@](#): > > After a hard day’s discussion with fellow world leaders, the president was looking for some relaxation. Instead, he ended up the subject of a police report in which the leader of the free world was described, in classic police language, as a “moving/falling object”. > > It was “about 1800 hours on Wednesday, 6 July, 2005” that a detachment of Strathclyde police constables, in “Level 2 public order dress [anti-riot gear],” formed a protective line at the gate at the hotel’s rear entrance, in case demonstrators penetrated the biggest-ever security operation on Scottish soil. > > The official police incident report states: “[The unit] was requested to cover the road junction on the Auchterarder to Braco Road as the President of the USA, George Bush, was cycling through.” The report goes on: "[At] about 1800 hours the President approached the junction at speed on the bicycle. The road was damp at the time. As the President passed the junction at speed he raised his left arm from the handlebars to wave to the police officers present while shouting ‘thanks, you guys, for coming’. > > “As he did this he lost control of the cycle, falling to the ground, causing both himself and his bicycle to strike [the officer] on the lower legs. [The officer] fell to the ground, striking his head. The President continued along the ground for approximately five metres, causing himself a number of abrasions. The officers… then assisted both injured parties.” Couldn’t help but think of the parodies Chevy Chase used to do of President Ford. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alert-secret-service-agents-seized-the-bike-and-wrestled-it-to-the-ground/346255/2 "2006-02-27T03:12:56Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > From the Daily Scotsman: US leader crashed by trying to ‘pedal, wave and speak at same time’ Just imagine the carnage if chewing gum had been involved. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alert-secret-service-agents-seized-the-bike-and-wrestled-it-to-the-ground/346255/3 "2006-02-27T04:36:48Z")
“On a more positive note, the President has not shot anyone during the trip.” ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alert-secret-service-agents-seized-the-bike-and-wrestled-it-to-the-ground/346255/4 "2006-02-27T10:43:00Z")
[Well it doesn’t necessarily mean anything to be physically coordinated.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=360683) Still… Heh. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alert-secret-service-agents-seized-the-bike-and-wrestled-it-to-the-ground/346255/5 "2006-02-28T17:14:53Z")
From the same article: > [@](#): > > John Scott, a human rights lawyer, said: "There’s certainly enough in this account for a charge of careless driving. Anyone else would have been warned for dangerous driving. > > “I have had clients who have been charged with assaulting a police officer for less than this. The issue of how long the police officer was out of action for is also important. He was away from work for 14 weeks, and that would normally be very significant in a case like this.” Methinks Bush should stay away from bikes. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alert-secret-service-agents-seized-the-bike-and-wrestled-it-to-the-ground/346255/6 "2006-02-28T17:28:47Z")
Isn’t this lie the second or third time he’s fallen off a bike? I seem to remember him somehow managing to fall off a Segway once as well. Maybe he should walk. He’s injured someone else now. It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye. ---
**Author:** ![RyJae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RyJae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RyJae)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alert-secret-service-agents-seized-the-bike-and-wrestled-it-to-the-ground/346255/7 "2006-02-28T17:43:21Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Isn’t this lie the second or third time he’s fallen off a bike? I seem to remember him somehow managing to fall off a Segway once as well. Maybe he should walk. He’s injured someone else now. It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye. It may have been deja vu as this article is re-hashing the old G8 bike fall of last year. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alert-secret-service-agents-seized-the-bike-and-wrestled-it-to-the-ground/346255/8 "2006-02-28T17:46:45Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > I seem to remember him somehow managing to fall off a Segway once as well. [cite](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2989000.stm) Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alert-secret-service-agents-seized-the-bike-and-wrestled-it-to-the-ground/346255/9 "2006-02-28T17:49:03Z")
At least he wasn’t also munching on pretzels… ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alert-secret-service-agents-seized-the-bike-and-wrestled-it-to-the-ground/346255/10 "2006-02-28T18:20:03Z")
> [@Hunter Hawk](#): > > Just imagine the carnage if chewing gum had been involved. Reminds me of the old joke about Betty Ford and how her favorite form of birth control was to give the President a stick of chewing gum before bedtime. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alert-secret-service-agents-seized-the-bike-and-wrestled-it-to-the-ground/346255/11 "2006-03-01T04:50:07Z")
> [@Abbie Normal](#): > > It may have been deja vu as this article is re-hashing the old G8 bike fall of last year. This is just now being reported but it’s not the first bike crash. From the article: > [@](#): > > Details of precisely how the crash unfolded have until now been kept under wraps for fear of embarrassing both Bush and the injured constable. But the new disclosures are certain to raise eyebrows on Washington’s Capitol Hill. > > Jim McDermott, a Democrat Congressman, last night quipped: “Not only does he break the law over here on eavesdropping and spying on our own citizens, but it seems he can’t even keep to your law when it comes to riding a bike. It’s another example of how he can’t keep his mind on the things he should be thinking about.” > > Bush often takes to two wheels for exercise, after pain in his knees forced him to give up running. He regularly rides at secret service training facilities near Washington, and **the G8 accident is just one in a long list of mishaps. In May 2004, he fell off his mountain bike, grazing his chin, upper lip, nose, both knees, and his right hand, while riding on his ranch in Texas. In June 2003, he fell off his hi-tech Segway scooter.** Who knows what else we haven’t been told about? ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alert-secret-service-agents-seized-the-bike-and-wrestled-it-to-the-ground/346255/12 "2006-03-01T04:58:51Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Who knows what else we haven’t been told about? Yeah, he may have banged his knee climbing in to bed. Damn, fascists suppressing this information is unbearable. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alert-secret-service-agents-seized-the-bike-and-wrestled-it-to-the-ground/346255/13 "2006-03-01T05:04:28Z")
> [@Martin Hyde](#): > > Yeah, he may have banged his knee climbing in to bed. > > Damn, fascists suppressing this information is unbearable. Well they DID hide this particular wipe out. I don’t think there’s anything sinister about it. I think they just thought it would be embarrassing to Bush. If they would cover up something this trivial it makes me wonder what other embarrassing accidents we might not know about. I don’t think there’s anything “fascist” about it. I’d just like to know, for entertainment purposes, what else he might have fallen off of or crashed into (or shot). ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alert-secret-service-agents-seized-the-bike-and-wrestled-it-to-the-ground/346255/14 "2006-03-01T05:07:01Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Well they DID hide this particular wipe out. I don’t think there’s anything sinister about it. WTF are you talking about? It was widely reported in the press the day it happened. The only reason it’s back in the news is because the police report was released. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alert-secret-service-agents-seized-the-bike-and-wrestled-it-to-the-ground/346255/15 "2006-03-01T05:20:33Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > WTF are you talking about? It was widely reported in the press the day it happened. The only reason it’s back in the news is because the police report was released. From the article: > [@](#): > > Details of precisely how the crash unfolded have until now been kept under wraps for fear of embarrassing both Bush and the injured constable. But the new disclosures are certain to raise eyebrows on Washington’s Capitol Hill. I thought that meant the story hadn’t been previously reported. I don’t really care. I’m just wondering out loud if he’s had any more clumsy incidents that haven’t been reported, not because I think it’s important but because it would be entertaining to me to know. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alert-secret-service-agents-seized-the-bike-and-wrestled-it-to-the-ground/346255/16 "2006-03-01T06:10:35Z")
I’m a World Class Bush Hater. Without a doubt. However, I will say the while these stories taken out of context look funny and provide for some decent one liners, Bush is a damn solid athlete and very coordinated. I’ve got close friends who are Secret Service and spend extended periods on the Bush Ranch. They are very good athletes and they frequently are required to go with Bush on runs and bike rides. He’s a very aggressive off-road biker and often sets a pace that some of the agents have a hard time matching. I don’t know the details of this one in the OP, but it’s possible he was moving at a really good clip on wet pavement. I know for a fact that the other incident at the ranch was by no means a comedic pratfall. He was tackling some tough terrain when he went down. Happens to the best mountain bikers, ones one quarter of his age. Thank you for your time, please continue making fun of Dubya. ---
**Author:** ![Giant\_Spongess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@Giant\_Spongess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giant_Spongess)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alert-secret-service-agents-seized-the-bike-and-wrestled-it-to-the-ground/346255/17 "2006-03-01T06:47:10Z")
> [@Mr Bus Guy](#): > > Reminds me of the old joke about Betty Ford and how her favorite form of birth control was to give the President a stick of chewing gum before bedtime. _snerk_