Bush 41 takes boat, Bush 43 rides bike

SOUTHAMPTON, England, April 27 (UPI) -- Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush embarked from England on a trans-Atlantic voyage while George W. Bush set off on a 100K bike ride in Texas.

The 87-year-old elder Bush, accompanied by his wife, Barbara; their daughter, Dorothy Bush Koch; and their granddaughter, Gigi, boarded the Queen Mary 2 Thursday in Southampton, England, for a seven-day voyage to New York, the Houston Chronicle reported Friday.

Bush said friends have teased him about taking a trans-Atlantic voyage nearly 100 years after the sinking of the Titanic.

"I think global warming has claimed the icebergs," he said.

Meanwhile, former President George W. Bush set off Thursday from Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Texas with 19 wounded veterans and a team of volunteers for the Bush Institute's Warrior 100K Ride.

Bush and the other cyclists rode 13 miles Thursday for the first leg of the three-day bike ride, which the former president described as a way of honoring the injured service members and promoting ways to support recovery efforts.

"It's a way to make sure our country understands we have a continuing obligation to take care of our vets," Bush said at a Thursday dinner.