Little 500 Wrap-Up

There's a good write-up on the Cutter's victory at last weekend's Little 500, complete with the Michael Phelpsian photo of Eric Young at the finish line shown at the right.

The wreck would not stop them.

The penalty did not slow them.

The field could not beat them.

Despite everything the Cutters faced during Saturday’s men’s Little 500, the team rode into race history when sophomore Eric Young sprinted across the finish line.

The all-time winningest team in Little 500 history won its 10th race and became the third team with three consecutive victories.

Full story here.

Also, here are a few really solid photo galleries on the Indiana Daily Student website of the race.

2009 Men's Little 500
2009 Women's Little 500 (sup, sup sup, sup, supsupsup, sup)
Little 500 Festivities
Bloomington Welcomes the Little 500

Another NUVO front page for cycling--Little 500

Gotta hand it to NUVO, they've done their fair share for cycling exposure in the past few months. There's another cover this week devoted to cycling in the form of a Little 500 article about an Indy local on the Cutters team.

In Bloomington, students fondly refer to the Little 500 bike race as “the world’s greatest college weekend.” For many, that title has come to refer at least as much to the culture of partying that surrounds the event (which for many lasts an entire week) as it has the race itself.

But Jim Kirkham, coach of the Cutters men’s cycling team, sees it differently. “There are two worlds. There’s the bike race where people are actually doing something. And then there’s the partying,” he says.

Kirkham, an emergency room nurse at Bloomington Hospital, has been coaching the team since 1997. “The university likes to pretend it’s an intramural event,” Kirkham notes, “but in reality people spend a lot of time trying to win it.”

That is, people like Kirkham and his team of riders, who officially began training for the race in October.

Full story here. Photo from NUVO.net.

Little 500 Clips

As we all know, or at least most of us know, this is Little 500 weekend, and we've done little to cover it. We're not really sure why, but by all means, we do know that it wasn't a subconscious effort to say that it isn't worth covering. In fact, plenty of media sources out there are pimping out the Little 5, and so, we will bring those to one cozy little place here at Indy Cog for your easy perusal.

First off over at NUVO, a great little bio on Dave Blase, the inspiration behind Breaking Away, the movie that put Little 500 in the spotlight.

Secondly, an article over at VeloNews tracing a bit of the history of the race alongside the backdrop of Breaking Away's fame and reminding everyone that the Little 5 is, in fact, a real race, and not just a macguffin for the film.

Here's a little clip from the Examiner outlining some of the festivities of the event, along with times and such.

And, lastly, um. Ludacris. Not even joking. He'll be at the Little 5. Soulja Boy, too, and Young Jeezy.

Photo from 2009 Little 500 blog.

HDNet Rolls the Little 500 for a Seventh Consecutive Year

Network covers historic bicycle races LIVE from Indiana University - April 24 and 25

DALLAS, April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- For the seventh consecutive season, HDNet will cover the greatest single-speed bike races in the world - the Men's and Women's Little 500 LIVE from Indiana University. Steeped in tradition and high on excitement, these races are known as the nation's premier intramural collegiate cycling event. With dozens of student athletes and amateurs competing for their personal and team honor, these races have the reputation of being the best of their kind anywhere in the world, earning the nickname "The World's Greatest College Weekend."'

The Women's race will air live on HDNet on Friday, April 24 at 4:00 p.m. ET. The Men's race will air live on HDNet, Saturday, April 25 at 2:00 p.m. ET.

The Little 500 is a major annual event for Bloomington, Indiana, and for the University, as it acts as a fundraiser for student scholarships. To date, the race has awarded more than $1.5 million in scholarships and provides countless leadership opportunities for IU students.

Contestants race on specialized track bikes (single-gear, coaster brake racing bikes) and compete relay-style in teams of four, giving the event a very unique quality. The races are patterned after the Indianapolis 500, with up to 33 teams lining up for the start in 11 rows of three. Starting positions are determined by qualifying times, with the fastest team nabbing the pole. As many as four riders can compete on a team. When one rider on a team is tired, he or she exchanges the bicycle with a teammate. The Women's race is 25 miles -- 100 laps on a quarter-mile cinder track. The Men's race is 50 miles -- 200 laps on the same track.

Full Press Release

American Profile: Lights, Action...Bicycles!

Steve Dodds was just starting his bicycle repair business in Bloomington, Ind. "I had a truck that I would drive around to do repairs," he recalls.

Daniel Stern was hoping to break into movies. "I had just sold all my furniture trying to pay the rent in New York," the actor says.

Then something came along that put both of them in the spotlight.

The movie Breaking Away, filmed in the hometown of Indiana University and released in 1979, launched the movie careers of Stern and fellow actor Dennis Quaid, who starred alongside Dennis Christopher and Jackie Earle Haley. And dozens of Bloomington residents, including Dodds, found themselves in the film's intersection of real life and Hollywood.

Read more...

Almost Time for Little 500

To start what will be a few weeks worth of posts here and there on this year's Little 500, I'm going to throw out this little nugget:

Philanthropic aspects of IU's Little 500 taking on more meaning; races to run April 24-25

The organizers of Indiana University's annual Little 500 bicycle races say they are seeing rising interest in this year's events -- both on and off the track -- due in part to the current economic downturn.

While both the men's and women's Little 500 races on April 24-25 are expected to again be competitive, IU Student Foundation leaders say the event's true mission -- to raise money for student scholarships -- has become particularly relevant.

Read the full article here.