By Ashley St. Michel
Staff Writer
    Last weekend Brandon Gillard, president of Cape-Able Bike Shop in Kennebunkport and bicycle enthusiast, hopped on a plane and flew down to Washington, D.C. on two days notice to meet and ride with President George W. Bush.
    “He’s not your average cyclist, he’s very, very, good and very into it,” Gillard said. “So he sent the secret service in here to scout trails in the area. We (Cape-Able) helped them with that and as a result he invited us to ride with him.”
    In August, Gillard invited fellow bicyclist and photographer Chris Smith to ride with the president which Gillard said resulted in Bush giving them, “an open-ended invitation to come to the White House, to ride with him and also have our families come.”  
    But Gillard wasn’t sure what to make of the invitation.
    “When the president says that, you obviously believe him but you don’t know to what extent it’s going to come up in,” he said. “You kind of have a hope there, but you never really know if it’s going to happen.”
    Kennebunk Town Manager Barry Tibbetts said he knew Gillard had been on a few bicycle trips with the president in the past.
    On Oct. 23 Gillard received an email from the White House which simply said, “How’s this weekend?" Gillard responded with “Excellent.”
    “We found out Tuesday morning that we needed to be at the Oval Office at 10 a.m. Friday,” he said. We got there Thursday, so we basically had two days to get to Washington.”  
    Gillard bought six plane tickets to Washington, D.C taking his wife, their three children and his mother with him. He also invited Smith and his family. The trip wasn’t paid for by the White House, since it wasn’t a politically-related event.  
    A spokesperson for the White House, who didn’t want to be named said, “at a lot of events the president and Mrs. Bush will add people to the invitation list,” adding, “they meet a lot of people along the way.”  
    “We were given instructions to meet at a certain gate,” Gillard said. “It was pouring out. We handed our licenses to them, they gave us badges and we walked into the White House.”
    Gillard said when they walked through the guard station, they saw one marine standing outside of a doorway.
    “He’s the guy whose job is to let you into the White House,” he said. “It was like being welcomed in as royalty.”
    After Bush had met with Congolese President Joseph Kabila, Gillard said he called them into the office and met, talked, laughed and took pictures for 45 minutes. Cameras are usually prohibited in the White House, but Gillard said they were allowed to bring theirs. Gillard said, “it was probably because Chris (Smith) is a photographer.” He said Bush shook everyone’s hand and gave out grab bags full of Oval Office pens, pins and ties.
    “He introduced himself to the kids,” Gillard said. “He introduced the concept of the presidency to the kids. He talked about being a president and the presidency currently.”
    Gillard said Bush explained some of the details of the Oval Office, like the fact that the main rug that is in the office is changed out every time there is a new president. Gillard said Laura Bush designed the rug that’s currently there.
    From there the president escorted them to the rose garden, the area where Bush lives and his cabinet office.
    On Saturday, Oct. 27 Gillard said he wasn’t surprised when he woke up to more pouring rain and hadn’t received a notice of cancellation from Bush or his staff.
    “A woman who rides with Bush all the time told us that in the three years she has been riding with him, he had never cancelled due to the weather,” Gillard said, “even if she wanted him to.”     
    Gillard and Smith jumped in the motorcade, which consisted of about 20 to 30 cars, and drove about 25 miles from the White House to a Secret Service Training Facility.
    “The trails there, he actually built,” Gillard said. “The trails were great.”
    Gillard said the group rode for more than an hour in the pouring rain. He said the ride reminded him of being a kid and playing in the puddles.
    On Sunday, Oct. 28 the group rode for more than two hours on trails around a military base not far from the White House. Gillard said the second ride was more intense than the first because there were more hills and uneven ground.
    After the ride Gillard said Bush invited the two into the base’s headquarters where they took a few moments to stretch and do some yoga.
    “We were covered in mud on this military base lying next to the President of the United States,” he said. “And we talked about our families and about mountain biking.”
    Gillard rode a single speed mountain bike, which is a difficult bike to ride because it doesn’t have any gears. He said the ride was the equivalent of, “running a marathon on bare feet.” Gillard said he likes the bike because it is mountain biking in its simplest form.
    “He’s (Bush) intrigued by it,” Gillard said. “He’s always telling his friends that he has a friend in Maine that rides a single-gear bike.”
    Bush rode what Gillard called the highest end Trek mountain bike on the market. Trek is an American company, and manufactures the bikes in Wisconsin. His bike was also custom-painted with red, white and blue and had the presidential seal on it.
    Gillard said Bush had officially told them they were part of Peloton One. Peloton is French for a group of cyclists.
    “He said I was part of his Peloton One and told me that he would see me again,” he said. “He definitely mentioned coming down to ride with him again.”
    “Sharing this experience with people was the best part of it,” Gillard said. “To see how busy that guy is and he takes time out of his schedule to share his life with me.”
    Gillard said he started riding his bike more as a result of riding with Bush.
    “You hear all these negative things about him and you don’t hear the fact that he is doing all these things around the world to improve life,” he said. “For that reason amongst others I have a lot of respect for him.”