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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

A presidential ride-around


Armstrong
 (The Spokesman-Review)
From wire reports The Spokesman-Review

It’s no yellow jersey, but President Bush on Saturday presented Lance Armstrong with another shirt to show for his biking experiences — a red, white and blue T-shirt emblazoned “Tour de Crawford.”

The leader of the free world and the world’s biking master rode for 17 miles on Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, for about two hours at midmorning. Bush showed Armstrong the sites of the ranch that he calls “a little slice of heaven,” including a stop at a waterfall midway through the ride.

They were accompanied by a small group of staff and Secret Service agents and a film crew from the Discovery Channel, Armstrong’s sponsor, which had exclusive media access for the ride. Footage was shot for a program on Armstrong, who has won a record seven straight Tour de France titles, to air next week.

The president has taken up biking with a fervor since a bad knee forced him to give up his running routine a few years ago. He’s been spending a lot of time riding while staying in Texas this month. It was Armstrong’s first ride at the presidential ranch, which is about 100 miles north of Armstrong’s adopted hometown of Austin.

Duffy wouldn’t say whether they talked politics, a topic that Armstrong has said he is getting more interested in now that he’s retiring from biking at age 34. Armstrong calls Bush a friend, but he has spoken out against the war in Iraq and has said he wants the government to spend more money on cancer research.

Ferreting out things

The Ferret Olympics in Eugene, Ore., is no longer an Olympic event.

After nine years of slippery, slinky competition, the U.S. Olympic Committee has decided organizers of the contest between furry little athletes must ferret out a new name.

“They are not Olympians anymore,” organizer Melanee Ellis said with a laugh.

She started the Ferret Olympics in 1996, the year of the Atlanta games, as a fundraiser. She picked the name to keep it distinct from Portland’s Ferret Frolics.

The Ferret Olympics didn’t attract much attention until the Eugene Register-Guard reported on it in 2004 and news services picked up the story nationally and internationally.

Within two weeks of the story in the Eugene newspaper, she received phone calls from the BBC in London, “Late Show with David Letterman,” “The Ellen Degeneres Show” and — eventually — the Olympic committee.

As for Ellis and her ferrets, she wishes they had another chance at the gold.

“I’m sure Spaz is the most upset,” Ellis said of her top ferret athlete. “He never did win a medal at the Olympics. He thought this would be his year.”

Champion of the people

The New York Post’s Mike Vaccaro reported that Mickelson sidestepped other commitments Monday to sign autographs as a couple of hundred of fans waited.

According to Vaccaro, one official with a walkie-talkie asked, “He’s not really going to sign all of them, is he?”

Mickelson, noticing the anxious looks among the autograph seekers, said, “Don’t worry. I have plenty of time.”