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Bush plans new cycle ride

'I am more worried about police officer,' says Bush

SPECIAL REPORT

AUCHTERARDER, Scotland (CNN) -- President Bush said he was looking forward to another cycle ride after colliding with a British police officer during a pre-G8 summit ride Wednesday evening.

The president suffered scrapes on his hands and arms that required bandaging in the crash outside the Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder, Scotland, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

Bush said he had spoken to the officer involved, who is from the Strathclyde force and returned to duty last night.

"I talked to the police officer last night. He is doing fine... less worried about myself," he said during a pre-G8 summit news conference with British PM Tony Blair.

Bush, is known to use an Ipod while cycling. He appeared to blame the conditions and a punishing work-out for the accident.

"When you ride hard on a mountain bike sometimes you fall -- otherwise you are not riding hard," he said.

"It was the end of a good hard ride and the pavement was slick. The bike came off underneath me just like the person on the Tour de France the other day -- but he is a better bike rider than I am believe me."

The officer, from the Strathclyde Police Department in Scotland, was taken to a local hospital as a precaution. He was treated and released, after an evaluation revealed no fractures, McClellan said Wednesday night.

Bush "visited" with the police officer for some time after the accident and asked White House physician Dr. Richard Tubb to monitor his situation at the hospital, McClellan said. The president was expected to call the officer later, McClellan said.

Despite a steady rain and chilly temperatures, Bush, an avid mountain biker, went for a ride at the Gleneagles resort in central Scotland, where he and other leaders of the Group of Eight economic powers will begin a two-day summit Thursday. (Related story.)

'A pretty good speed'

According to McClellan, the accident occurred shortly after 6 p.m. (1 p.m. ET), about an hour into the ride. Bush was going at "a pretty good speed" when he collided with the officer, who was in a security detail on the resort grounds.

The president, who was wearing a helmet, slid on the pavement, suffering scrapes on his hands and arms that were bandaged by Tubb.

McClellan declined to speculate about whether anyone was at fault in the crash.

The president's bicycle was damaged, and he returned to his hotel in an SUV that had been trailing him as he rode with a Secret Service agent, McClellan said.

This is not the first time Bush's mountain biking habit has led to injury. In May 2004, he suffered minor abrasions to his chin, upper lip, nose, right hand and both knees when he took a spill near the end of a ride at his ranch in Texas.

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