Take your gymnasts to meets in style, really fast and cheaply. The SuperBus is a prototype Dutch-built six-wheeled lithium-ion-battery-powered vehicle, that can go up to 155 miles per hour. The SuperBus has 16 gullwing doors and can hold up to 23 gymnasts inside. The SuperBus is just less than 50 feet long and more than eight feet wide. The SuperBus has aluminum subframes in both front and rear and variable ride height, that can be raised to clear speed bumps on city streets and lowered to reduce aerodynamic drag when on high-speed highway runs.
The SuperBus
The SuperBus began in 2004 as just a concept vehicle and has now been built and approved for testing on the roads of the Netherlands. The Superbus is still a few years from actual mass production, so there is time to start saving to pay for one for your gym.
The SuperBus in Action
The Luxury of a Limousine
One of the most fun State Meets we ever had came when we leased two limos to take our gymnasts to the State Meet. From a gymnastics point of view the meet was a success, but the gymnasts had such a tremendously fun time riding to the meet, and particularly pulling up to the front of the State Meet gym in the limo. There were hundreds of gymnasts and parents going into the meet and they all turned to look and see who the “celebrities” were, who arrived in the limousines. Our “stars” had their doors opened by the uniformed limo drivers and walked the red carpet into the meet. OK, there was no red carpet, but the gymnasts definitely had fun going into the meet. They had just as much fun coming out of the meet and getting into the limo with their trophies and medals and speeding off to a victory dinner at a nearby great restaurant, where they got more of the “red carpet” treatment.
Have a Goal of Providing Special Meet Experiences for Your Gymnasts
It was a great way to show our gymnasts how special we thought they were, and truthfully it was not a lot more expensive than renting a van would have been. We got a good deal from the limo company (and a sponsorship) and it was a fun experience for all of the gymnasts. We did similar things for other meets. We borrowed a limo from a local car dealer, whose daughter was a gymnast, to drive gymnasts to some other meets. At some away meets in bigger cities, we found that hiring a limo service, to take gymnasts to and from the hotel, was not significantly more expensive than taxis and less trouble than coordinating a number of rental cars.
Providing Life Experiences for Your Gymnasts
So start saving up for a SuperBus and in the meantime, check out the local limo services and check out the possibility of using limos when you have meets in any big city. Gymnastics meets can be so much more than just showing up and competing. Have fun and may your gymnasts always get the “red carpet” treatment.
