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Transit buses compete in roadeo Date published: 4/20/2009
BY JEFF BRANSCOME
Ralph Dixon traveled to Fredericksburg this weekend to drive a 23-foot transit bus through an obstacle course. He represented Jaunt, a transportation system in Charlottesville, at this year's "Virginia State Paratransit Roadeo." And he didn't take it lightly. "I might talk to myself," he told a judge seated behind him, shortly before completing the course at James Monroe High School's parking lot. "That's OK," the judge responded. "You can talk to yourself all you want." Dixon was one of 53 people from the state to drive a van or bus in the "roadeo," hosted Saturday by FREDericksburg Regional Transit. The course consisted mostly of orange cones to test drivers' abilities to make turns and back into parking spaces. The winners will test their skills at the Community Transportation Association of America's national competition next month in Providence, R.I. After asking the event's organizer to reposition a side-view mirror, Dixon received some friendly advice from one of several judges manning the course: "You only get one shot, so do it right the first time." Just a little pressure. "I think that mirror moved a little bit," Dixon said, pointing to one of his side-view mirrors. The judge who offered Dixon the words of encouragement fiddled with the mirror for about a minute and then said, "You're ready to go. Good luck to you." Unfortunately for him, Dixon knocked down three cones during a tight left-hand turn. Shortly thereafter, he successfully drove over two rows of golf balls in a portion of the contest called "right rear-tire clearance." He then backed into cones shaped like a parking space, knocking over only a few. Many other contestants had a lot more trouble reversing their vehicles. "Few people here have really been able to ace it," said Community Transportation Association of Virginia President Donna Shaunesey. Dixon successfully drove his vehicle 20 mph through barrels but barely hit a small cone, which he was supposed to park closely in front of. "I'm glad that's over with," Dixon said with a laugh. "I hit a couple cones. But it was fun." Ever the professional, he told his passengers--a judge and a reporter with The Free Lance-Star--to have a "wonderful evening." Participants had to finish the course in 7 minutes, or have points taken off their final score. Glenn Jenkins, FRED's operations manager, said drivers faced five-point deductions for changing gears more than once during each of the course's 10 obstacles. Judges deducted 10 points for every cone the drivers hit. "There's some strategy that goes with this," Jenkins said. Some of the drivers, including Karen Theisen, were just thankful to finish. Theisen traveled all the way from Chincoteague Island to compete. She said she doesn't have much experience driving transit buses because she works for Pony Express, a trolley company. "I'm glad it's over," she said. "It's not like we get a lot of practice." Jeff Branscome: 540/374-5402
Date published: 4/20/2009
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