Bicycles can be dangerous in the hands of the wrong people.

Source the Editor and Publisher News

Even in something as simple as a bike wreck (which was potentially serious) while cycling on the grounds of Gleneagles Hotel during the G8 summit, we never know the truth about this incident until almost a year later

The White House spin:

At the time, the focus of U.S. press reports was on the president's injuries--a few abrasions--while noting that that the constable had suffered a "very minor" ankle injury. The fact that Bush was wearing a helmet seemed to be the main accident detail, and that he had called the constable to check on his well-being.

According to day-after press reports on July 7th, Bush blamed wet pavement and high speed for the fall. "We were flying," Bush said at a press conference in Gleneagles.

He added: "When you ride hard on a mountain bike, sometimes you fall, otherwise you're not riding hard. At the end of a good hour ride, the pavement was slick and the bike came out from underneath me, just like that person on the Tour de France the other day."

None of the coverage at the time suggested the constable was hurt beyond the "minor" injury, and the incident was soon forgotten.

The real story from the official police report:

The report, according to The Scotsman, describes a detachment of constables covering a road junction where the president would pass 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 comin.'

"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....

"At hospital, a doctor examined the constable and diagnosed damage to his ankle ligaments and issued him with crutches. The cause was officially recorded as: 'Hit by moving/falling object'."

According to the newspaper, however, the police officer (known in the report only as "Constable X") ended up on crutches and was off work for more than three months.

Even in a very embarrassing bicycle wreck, we still can't get the truth from the leader of the free world.

The Scotsman observed: "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....

"In Scotland, an accident such as the one at Gleneagles could have led to police action. Earlier this year, Strathclyde Police issued three fixed penalty notices to errant cyclists as part of a crack-down on rogue riders. Legal experts also suggested lesser mortals could have ended up with a fixed penalty fine, prosecution, or at least a good ticking-off from officers."

Was this really a story that must be hidden from the villainous media? I just don't see the "threat to the world" if people find out that G.W. can't ride a bike.

Maybe I'm missing something?