Go Inside Buggy with Apex Driver Maggie Blair

At first light, Maggie Blair barrels down Schenley Drive in Solaris, the blue buggy she’s driven for four years. 

While others sleep, Carnegie Mellon University students flock toward Tech and Frew streets for pre-dawn Buggy practice rolls on Saturdays and Sundays in the spring with unique devotion — among them, Blair, the head driver for team Apex(opens in new window). 

Students at CMU tend to veer from the conventional, and Buggy is no exception. Since 1920(opens in new window), student teams have competed in the annual relay race called Sweepstakes, which will be held this year at Carnival on April 4-5(opens in new window).

A senior, Blair studies biological sciences(opens in new window) and is enrolled in CMU’s Health Professions Program,(opens in new window) with the goal of becoming a medical doctor.

She fell in love with Buggy on a tour of Carnegie Mellon while visiting from her home in Fort Worth, Texas. When she heard about the tradition on a campus tour, she immediately wanted to be a driver. 

Joining turned out to be slightly trickier than expected. At 5 feet 3 inches, Blair might be the tallest current driver at CMU. She approached  every team about driving, but only two had vehicles large enough for her to fit. She ultimately joined Apex, and she is the only driver on the team who can fit in and drive Solaris.

With its open-source philosophy, Apex(opens in new window) operates differently than most Buggy teams. Other groups maintain tight secrecy around the design and mechanics of their fleets, hoping to gain an edge and win at Sweepstakes. Apex, however, wants to create a learning environment where new members get as involved as possible. 

Safety first for new Buggy drivers

Joining a Buggy team is no small commitment for a student on top of their coursework. 

“It’s both good and bad that we practice so early on the weekends,” Blair said. “It’s good because I don’t have anything else going on at 5 a.m. on a Saturday. But that also involves waking up at 5 a.m. on a Saturday!” 

Blair said the results are worth the early morning cold and the long hours of effort.

“Sometimes it’s a slog when it’s 30 degrees outside, but when the first rolls start, everyone’s excited,” she said. “Apex is very welcoming. We don't care if we're not the No. 1 team on race day. It's more about working as a team. Anyone who's interested in buggy, we're like, ‘come on, join our team!’”

Buggy drivers go through rigorous vehicle and safety training before given full control on the course. New drivers are first scheduled for a Buggy fitting, where they climb into several vehicles to see which one feels the most comfortable. 

Then they are fully garbed in safety gear, harness and helmet to make sure they can remain in the buggy for an extended period of time. If the new driver wishes to proceed, they attend a safety meeting/demonstration given by the Sweepstakes safety chair each semester. 

Once drivers have been properly trained on safety, they begin to participate in “Capes(opens in new window),” or capabilities tests, where they prove their ability to handle the buggy on flat ground. Capes include a harnessing test, a brake test and a visibility test, as well as a safety inspection of the vehicle. 

After passing those tests, drivers attempt the main course for the first time. Dampeners reduce the buggy’s overall speed and provide the driver greater control over the vehicle for their early runs. 

Blair, herself an EMT with CMU’s Emergency Medical Services(opens in new window), emphasized the importance of drivers feeling safe at all times. 

“It’s essential to make sure that drivers feel very comfortable with the team, because they are putting their safety into the hands of the team’s mechanics and pushers,” Blair said. “As head driver, I manage a lot of the safety aspects. I tell drivers to advocate for themselves, and make sure they feel comfortable each time they go down the course.”

Muscle memory guides the freeroll

When Blair climbs into Solaris, she needs help from her teammates to clip her harness into multiple anchor points inside the buggy. She’s clad in red Apex gear, a helmet labeled simply “MAGGIE,” and protective gloves, glasses and a mouthguard. 

After four years and more than 100 attempts at driving the course(opens in new window), Blair has the path she needs to steer committed to muscle memory. Each team draws their own lines on the course, and Blair knows just where to shift to the other side of the road to make the course’s 90 degree turn in The Chute. 

Inside a buggy it’s loud: the noise from the road and wind is powerful. Buggies can reach speeds of nearly 40 miles per hour in the freeroll. There’s no suspension on the push-carts, and as a result the ride is more than a little bumpy. 

“It’s kind of like you’re on a roller coaster — one that you’re driving yourself,” Blair said.