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Outside Magazine October 2001

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Q&A
Governing Body
Meet New Mexico governor Gary Johnson: maverick Republican, avid cyclist, three-time Ironman competitor, 5.7 lead climber, kayaker—and the nation's most ripped public servant
By James Glave


	Jock on the water: Gary Johnson on the banks of the Rio Grande, New Mexico, July 2001

Is there another governor, or senator, or congressman, who could kick your ass?
No. I'm the most athletic governor. Second place is a long way down there.

How do you do it?
I just make being active a priority. That means out the door by 5 a.m. This morning, I biked 33 miles, swam a mile, then ran nine miles.

Since taking office in 1994, you've bruised your hip road cycling, sprained ligaments, blown out your knee skiing, developed frostbite, and earlier this year broke your back while running. Are you accident prone?
Those are almost everyday occurrences for anyone who's active.

We hear you're learning to kayak. How's that going?
I rolled a few times yesterday. As a beginner kayaker, I'm not heading for Class VI rapids, or V or IV for that matter—though I guess I have made it through some Class III without my kayak.

You're referring to a recent mishap on the Rio Grande, your first time kayaking a river, where you were thrown from your boat in a hydraulic known as the Toilet Bowl and some other kayakers fished you out. Is this the type of thing New Mexico state representative Max Coll is talking about when he says you "ought not to take wild chances"?
That's just laughable. An active individual is capable of doing, and does, a lot more.

So you didn't once swim through shark-infested waters off Puerto Rico with a squadron of Navy SEALs?
If there were sharks, I didn't know about them.

In October you'll participate in the America's Challenge Gas Balloon Race, which is...?
We'll take off from Albuquerque, and the object is to fly the farthest distance. Hopefully we'll make it out [and ditch] into the Atlantic.

You spent your 40th birthday on the summit of Mount McKinley and are now picking Ed Viesturs's brain about climbing Everest in 2003. You thinking oxygen or no oxygen?
I think we'd be crazy not to plan on using oxygen.

You're the nation's leading advocate for the legalization of marijuana. Does that platform extend to the world of EPO and performance-enhancing drugs?
It should be the right of a cycling association to say, "No drugs in the Tour de France." I agree with that. But also, maybe a new football league could start up, the Steroid League, so that becomes a choice of the individual and the league, and the game becomes about how big a human can you grow.

Let's talk issues, Governor. Gu vs. PowerBar: Where do you stand?
Gu. The new protein PowerBar is kind of tasty. But I like the chocolate Gu.

You usually have a couple of state police officers with you as bodyguards. We take it these guys aren't sitting around eating doughnuts?
No, they're not. Some of them have actually gotten into good shape. I figure I can take credit for that.

How much can you bench?
Before I broke my back, I could do up to 220.

Any closing thoughts?
In 1976, I thought I was going to be a pro ski racer, but I didn't make a cent at it. I thought, "Maybe there's more to life than riding a chairlift." Now, at age 48, I have come to recognize that there isn't. Riding a chairlift is where it's at.

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