race. This morning we're gonna have a bus rider, two bike riders and a car driver
race from this bus shelter to City Hall in downtown Greenville.
I'm the car guy
and I brought a BMW i8 - a full electric hybrid car and I'm hoping it's really
gonna get me to the finish line first. I. Know that bicycling is a large part of
the Greenville community so we're honored to be a part of this and get our
bikes out and see how we do. We are raising awareness about alternate forms of
transportation in Greenville because everyone takes a car but a lot of people
don't know it's equally fast to just take the bus somewhere or you could ride
your bike, it's super accessible.
From the starting point on East North Street the
race course is two miles to get to City Hall and the finish line. I'm gonna win.
If I lose to the bicycle it's gonna be tough for me back at work, right? I
definitely think I stand a chance. I think bikes are pretty adaptable and
they can kind of squeeze anywhere they need to, but I feel like the bus is a
solid choice. Again, it has a path to where I need to go and I feel pretty
good about it.
I'm gonna go with the car. Going with the BMW. Diesel-powered engine versus a
bicyclist? Uh... I don't know...You take a guess.
Throughout the race course, all of the
participants have to follow the rules of the road just like any normal day, so the
car driver has to obey speed limits, stop at stop signs, red lights. The bike riders
have to also stop at stop signs and red lights, and the bus rider is on a live
bus so that bus will have to stop and pick up any other Greenlink passengers
along the route. I think the bike is definitely gonna be my strongest
competition because they can kind of weave wherever they need to go. They're
not gonna have the traffic or the stoplights really backing them up too
much so I think that they'll be strong competition.
I've never been in a race
where they had red lights. Oh, look at that! Wow, the bikes are passing me! The bikes passed. I gotta tell you the bikes are pretty tough. The bikes won last year
- they don't have quite the same sort of traffic that I have to deal with, so...And
they can also park much closer to the finish line so I'm really worried about
the bikes.
You tend to notice a lot more on a bicycle rather than being in your car and you see a lot more so maybe just the pure enjoyment and physical fitness
would be probably my biggest reasons for riding a bicycle. Yeah, I think it could be an advantage to
be taking the bus because the route is kind of fixed so it's a little more
consistent, I think, with traffic, who knows, there could be stuff in the way of the bike so it could kind of go any way for the car or the bike, I think, but the bus,
I feel, is a solid choice. OK, yeah, there was this truck parked in the bike lane and we had to pause for a second and go - but we just went right past it so I feel like
the bikers gonna get caught up on that and I feel like they had the edge to begin with so that might kind of like level the playing field a little bit. There are a
few different ways to get downtown and just like any other commuter I'm working
on the traffic, right? It all depends on the lights, the traffic, how busy the
streets are.
We looked at various routes, tried to find one that's safe and has
the least amount of traffic and hopefully the green lights will be in our
favor. All right, so we're making a stop to pick up some other riders so that's kind of putting us back a little bit but I feel like we can catch back up. Honestly, I don't think I. Could go any better or any faster.
I
don't think there's another route that would have been better. Yeah. I think
we're doing as well as we can do and we'll just have to see if it's good
enough. Once they get parked, or the bus parks
and the car parks in the Poinsett parking garage, all participants must
still walk to City Hall to cross the finish line.
And the bike riders must
lock their bikes and walk to the finish line. Oh, no! My 'electric strategy' is defeated!
Oh, man! Well, maybe it is, I don't know...Is there another hybrid? Reserved! Oh, no! I think it's a great thing. Downtown
Greenville's awesome. Fourth fastest-growing city in America, and this initiative to
highlight alternative modes of transportation, the Earth Day, environment, all of
that stuff - BMW is just proud to be partnered with this initiative.
I'm
really happy and I'm really satisfied with it. It was a great race. It was
really close and I'm just happy to win and to even be a part of something like
this. This is really cool..
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