Bicycle Collision at Resort Sends Bush Sprawling

It took thousands of demonstrators to create a big distraction on the opening day of an international summit in Scotland, but President Bush managed to match their efforts all by himself.

Shortly after arriving at the resort where leaders of the Group of 8 industrial nations were preparing to launch a three-day working retreat, Bush caused a pre-summit stir by colliding with a police officer during a high-speed bicycle ride.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told reporters that the president had been riding his bike for about an hour on the grounds of the Gleneagles golf resort when he crashed into a policeman assigned to a bicycle security detail.

The police officer, from the Scottish region of Strathclyde, was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was treated for a minor ankle injury and sent home. His name was not released.

The president, who landed on asphalt pavement, sustained “mild to moderate” bruises and scrapes on his hands and arms. They were bandaged by White House physician Richard Tubb, who accompanied Bush to Scotland.

Bush was otherwise unhurt, McClellan said, and later attended a G-8 dinner given by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip.

Bush, a fitness buff who celebrated his 59th birthday Wednesday, was traveling at “a pretty good speed” in light rain when the accident occurred and was wearing a helmet, McClellan said.

It was not the first time Bush had suffered injuries in a bicycle mishap. After taking up mountain biking last year because his knees would no longer support his running habit, Bush hurt himself when he took a spill during a ride on his Texas ranch.

But he’s apparently not the kind of world leader who lets an unexpected fall slow the march of history.

After the tuxedo-clad president and First Lady Laura Bush dined with the queen and other world leaders in Gleneagles, Bush called the police officer, reaching him on his cellphone as he was heading home from a hospital.

“They had a very pleasant conversation,” McClellan said.

It was too early to tell whether the same would hold true at the summit talks.

Times staff writer Edwin Chen in Washington contributed to this report.