Little 500 teams forced inside

While Tuesday morning's snowfall darkened the first full day of spring for most IU students, Little 500 and Kappa Delta rider Lauren Ziemba was even more anxious about the precipitation.\n"The snow today definitely put a big damper on it," Ziemba said of her team's training efforts. "It upped our nervousness."\nIn the first three days back from spring break, Kappa Delta hoped to practice on the track and figure out its order for the Saturday qualifications, but the 4.5 inches of snow the National Weather Service reported to have dropped on Bloomington forced the team to practice inside.\nWith the track being closed Tuesday, men's and women's teams missed a day of practice, potentially jeopardizing how \nriders exchange the bike between one another and how they perform at qualifications.\n"Getting on and off the bike provides anxiety and nervousness," said race coordinator Lucas Calhoun. "With the day off, teams will not be able to practice exchanges."\nTeams with the most experience were likely least affected by the snowfall since they are more comfortable with exchanges and track conditions.\n"You hope at this point that everyone has their timing down," Forest Quad rider John Brown said. "If you need more practice at this point, track time is important, but you should have your timing down by now."\nCutters rider Greg Buhay agreed.\n"This will have no affect on us whatsoever," Buhay said. "We are ready to ride this weekend and are looking forward to the series events coming up."\nBut he acknowledged the weather conditions might have an effect on Saturday's qualifications.\n"I think there will be interesting things this week because teams have been gone south during spring break and now they are coming back to this," Buhay said. "I think it will hinder the less experienced teams moreso than the more experienced teams."\nThe track will be open for normal practice for the rest of the week and will include additional evening practices under the lights at Bill Armstrong Stadium, if track conditions allow.\nCalhoun said he thinks teams will be able to practice today, and he said, if anything, he expects the moisture to enhance track conditions for qualifications.\nThe Metz Lounge in Bill Armstrong Stadium was available for teams to work out on indoor cycling equipment, and Calhoun said teams were "on their own" until practice yesterday.\nOther teams opted to condition at the Student Recreation Sports Center or decided to focus less on training and more on resting as qualifications near.\nDelta Gamma rider Ann Hackett said she was disappointed with the weather because her team has conflicts with class during the women's scheduled practice times during the day.\n"We were all going to be there (Tuesday night) so it kind of stinks," Hackett said.\nLike most teams, Delta Gamma held extensive training sessions during spring break, Hackett said, and planned to spend this week working on exchanges. Instead of practicing on the track last night, the team held an impromptu practice inside the Jordan Avenue Parking Garage to work on exchanges.\n"I just remind myself that everyone's in the same position we are," Hackett said.