The Little 500 has been a mainstay at Indiana University for decades, inspiring a movie and the entire campus. Here’s how this year’s dramatic race unfolded.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — A crowd of sorority sisters appeared outside of the Kappa Alpha Theta house in matching T-shirts that read “Theta Cycling.” As the large front door opened, the cheers erupted: It was time to send off the house’s team to the Little 500 – a grueling, fast-paced college bike race at Indiana University that has captured the heart of a basketball-obsessed college town for almost 75 years.Theta has the most successful women’s program in Little 500 history.
“The college sports landscape has completely changed, and it’s all revenue generation and money,” said Jordan Bailey, who rode for the Black Key Bulls team as a student, went on to serve as Little 500 race director from 2012 to 2016 and is coaching his old team for the first time this year. The Little 500, he notes, is far different. “We’re singularly focused, and nobody’s getting paid. And we just have this common goal to try and win this made-up, wacky race.
The race takes place on a flat, quarter-mile cinder track. Organizers custom-order fixed-gear, coaster-brake bikes each year. It’s essentially a relay, in which each team has to exchange riders multiple times. Women ride 100 laps, and men ride 200.Cappella passes off the bike to teammate Greta Heyl – one of at least five required exchanges over the course of the race.
Thompson could have joined the Black Key Bulls instead. He went on practice rides with both teams in high school. Or he could have joined his older brother Kobe, who rides for Novus. Ultimately, he chose the race’s most iconic team, and the pressure that comes with it. Last year, his freshman year, the Cutters won it all — but Thompson knew he still had some growing up to do if he was going to turn into a team leader and help his teammates repeat as champions.
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