Last year I was fortunate to make it to the "Winning Circle" portion of the CTA's Bus Rodeo. The Winning Circle are the top 40 operators in the system, 5 from each of our 8 garages, who made the cut from round 1 competition. It was fun, and I hope to return again this year.
The CTA gave us all some very nice prizes, and fed us well too. I seen old friends there, and made some new ones, like Jairo Naranjo. He has won it all four years in a row.
The competition consisted of driving an obstacle course in a set time. The course tested your abilities in a number of manouvers, such as: Y backs, driving through diminishing barrels at 40mph, going through tennis balls that weren't visible, making perfect L/R turns, and much more!
Below are some pics I snapped on my cell phone...
Above: Me in front my bus before driving the course!Below: The Champ, Jairo Naranjo! (Bald one)
Above: Jairo and Joe walking through the diminsighing barrels!Below: New Flyer bus used in competition!
This year's competition will begin this spring...we'll see how it goes!
