USA Today: Carmageddon race: Cyclists faster than JetBlue plane
By Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY
Bicyclists 1, JetBlue 0.
At least that’s how it turned out this past Saturday when L.A. cycling group Wolfpack Hustle decided to race one of JetBlue’s special Burbank-to-Long Beach “Carmageddon Flights.”
While JetBlue may have scored a PR victory by adding special two round-trip flights across L.A. to mark the start of Carmageddon, it was Wolfpack Hustle that won in its unofficial 38.4-mile bike-vs.-plane challenge, according to KTLA TV of Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Times gives the final verdict on the race, writing:
The cyclists and a blogger aboard the JetBlue flight left at 10:50 a.m. from the same intersection in North Hollywood –- with the blogger having to drive to the airport, arriving an hour before the 12:20 p.m. flight, then catching a ride to the aquarium in Long Beach, the finish line. The plane had just taken off when the cyclists arrived.
The bicyclists made the journey in 1 hour, 34 minutes. That was about an hour faster than the Wolfpack Hustle members who made the journey on JetBlue Flight 405. Those members also had to arrive at the Burbank airport in time to check in and pass through security, and then take a cab from the Long Beach airport to the “finish line,” according to KABC TV 7 of Los Angeles.
“You can get anywhere you need to be in Los Angeles by bike,” Wolfpack Hustle member Joe Anthony says to the L.A. Times in a separate story. “It’s far easier than you can imagine.”
The cyclists also used the effort for a good cause, using their challenge to JetBlue to raise $7,000 for theLos Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (LABC), according to KABC.
As for JetBlue, there didn’t appear to be any hard feelings.
In a Tweet, JetBlue said: “We’ve got to hand it to you for beating our flight today, @wolfpackhustle and kudos for raising $7000 for @lacbc. Nice going!”
