I Want To Ride With George W. Bush.

If you ask most cyclists what famous person they would like to ride with, you’ll get answers such as professional bike racers, Hollywood stars, and a few cautious people who say “my spouse.”

Not me. I’m just a simple West Texas boy who wants to go for a mountain bike ride with George W. Bush.

The former president has all of the attributes that I look for in a riding partner. 
He occasionally crashes on his mountain bike (like me), he’s a mature cyclist who hasn’t shown many signs of slowing down (unlike me), and most importantly — his biggest annual cycling ride focuses on wounded American warriors.

Each spring, he does a 100-kilometer mountain bike ride with servicemen and women wounded in the global war on terror to highlight the bravery and sacrifice of warriors and recognize organizations that support America’s heroes.

Unfortunately, the former president and I travel in different social circles so I’ve never had the chance to ask him face-to-face if he wants to hook up for a ride.

That all changes now. I’m formally extending him an invitation to come do some mountain biking here in San Angelo.

Mr. President,

I would like to invite you and the wounded warriors that you honor to hold your 2014 Bush Center Warrior 100K ride here in San Angelo, Texas.

Our city is arguably the most military-friendly community in the nation. We take great pride in how we welcome and support active duty military, veterans, and their families.

San Angelo is also a city that many veterans have chosen to call home after ending their service to our country.

We have a very active mountain biking community here in San Angelo, and we can offer more trails for your wounded warriors to ride than any place south of the “Northern Texas” provinces of Colorado and New Mexico.

Our 7,600-acre state park boasts over 50 miles of developed mountain bike trails and additional miles of dirt roads.

The state park trails include knobby-tire delights such as Winding Snake, Armadillo Ridge, Roller Coaster, Slick Rock, Potts Creek, and the always-fun Dinosaur trail that takes you next to preserved tracks of dinosaurs.

If that’s not enough terrain to make for a great warrior ride, the nearby Twin Buttes Reservoir Recreation Area offers many additional miles of trails and 4WD roads that traverse diverse areas such as Spillway Hill and the rocky ford on Spring Creek west of the reservoir’s north pool.

Simply put, I’m sure that your ranch in Crawford is a nice mountain biking venue but the San Angelo area will offer your warriors miles and miles of scenic trails to ride.

San Angelo also has other amenities that are important to mountain bikers.
After a hard day on the trails, refueling is always an important consideration.

We’ll match our town’s selection of good West Texas BBQ, Mexican food, and world-class steakhouses against any other location in the nation.

You can even take the warriors to downtown San Angelo after a ride, tour the Fort Concho National Historic Landmark (a former frontier Calvary fort), and then adjourn to Miss Hattie’s Café and Saloon for a world-famous brothel burger.

Security would not be an issue here in San Angelo, since — in addition to our city and county law enforcement — we’re also the proud home city for Goodfellow Air Force Base.

Goodfellow AFB is home to warriors from the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, and Navy.

As an added precaution, our city also has a strong Homeland Security station that includes many different types of officers.

The bottom line is that we like mountain biking here in San Angelo, we have great trails to ride, we’re a military-friendly community, and we’re a safe place to visit.

So that’s the invitation and sales pitch, and I sincerely hope you’ll accept the invitation to come ride with us.

We would be proud to welcome you and the Bush Center Warrior 100K mountain bike ride to San Angelo, and I guarantee that you’ll like the hospitality and trails out here.

My only request is that I be allowed to ride with you and the warriors. Please?

I really want to go for a mountain bike ride with George W. Bush.

Upcoming Events

Sept. 28: Mason Gem of the Hill Country 5K and 10K, masontxcoc.com
Oct. 2: ASUFit cyclocross series, angelo.edu/asufit
Oct. 9: ASUFit cyclocross series, angelo.edu/asufit
Oct. 12: ASU Homecoming Ram Run, angelo.edu/asufit
Oct. 16: ASUFit cyclocross series, angelo.edu/asufit
Oct. 23: ASUFit cyclocross series, angelo.edu/asufit
Oct. 26: Heart Walk,heartwalk.kintera.org
Oct. 30: ASUFit cyclocross series, angelo.edu/asufit
Nov. 23: Turkey Trot 5K, angelo.edu/asufit