Seven years ago, the former pro cyclist turned manager Jonathan Vaughters accompanied then-Sen. John Kerry for a bike ride in Colorado. Vaughters, who oversees the current Cannondale-Garmin Pro Tour team, expected the pedal with the politician to be a “dawdle.” It proved to be anything but.
“A lot of times, you go on rides with executives or dignitaries or VIPs and it’s a very, very casually paced ride,” Vaughters said Sunday. “But Kerry is the real deal—fit, fast, confident. If he raced in his age category, he’d be one of the top riders in the U.S.”
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Kerry’s cycling habit didn’t even stop during his 2004 presidential bid, when he remained a regular customer at Belmont Wheelworks, a well-regarded bike shop a few miles outside Boston. Wheelworks co-owner Clint Paige said the store also helped to set up bikes for Secret Service agents who were assigned to cover then-candidate Kerry. “He’s an incredible athlete,” said Peter Mooney, another co-owner of WheelworksMooney remembered a time when a fitting mechanic at the shop followed Kerry on a ride into the city. According to Mooney, the employee came back and said: “ ‘God, that was like following a bike messenger through the streets.’ ”
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