Main Line Bike Race created by teen takes off

ARDMORE, pa. (WPVI) -- It was the first year for a bike race in Montgomery County, created by a teenager to help support the local community.

The 1st annual Main Line Bike Race began Sunday morning in Ardmore.

This event came together by the work of recent high school graduate Pearce Flanagan.

Flanagan is an EMS volunteer who also happens to work at Human Zoom Bike and Boards.

"I kind of connected the two and brought up a bike race and now here we are. It was my senior project for this year so I devoted a lot of time to working on it," Pearce Flanagan said.

Another teen, 16-year-old Devante Bivins of West Philadelphia, was one of the youngest racers. He came out and gave his best against the older crowd.

"The course itself is pretty easy, but the pace was kind of hard," Bivins said.

Both the male and female winner take home $2,000. But, like the racers, the community also wins big.

The money raised in the Main Line Bike Race supports the Narberth Ambulance.

"Ambulance companies, EMS agencies all across this country, are struggling with insurance reimbursement," Christopher Flanagan of Narberth Ambulance said.

The race also benefits nonprofits and shops in Ardmore.

"It's not just a benefit for us. We teamed up with the Ardmore Food Bank, there are food donations, and the Ardmore Business Association is also boosting their businesses. So everybody is winning today," Christopher Flanagan said.

Pearce Flanagan, along with Human Zoom Bikes and Boards' manager Anthony Hennessy, were able to pull off the first of what hopes to be many races to come.

"Please come out and support Narberth Ambulance," Hennessy said.

"To see the community come out and it's also for a good cause, it's cool to see," Pearce Flanagan said.

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