Crews prepares for crucial track work

The sun just begins to creep over the scoreboard at Bill Armstrong Stadium as Steve McCutchen and Wally Hansford begin their work on the cinder track which hosts the Little 500. At 7:30 a.m., while most Little 500 riders are resting up for another day of training, McCutchen and Hansford start preparing the track for another day of practice.\nThey drag a brush behind their white truck to soften the track like a grounds crew prepping the infield before a Major League Baseball game. The packed-down cinders lifted up and transformed into a soft, powdery form. The two workers, with a combined 49 years of Little 500 experience, waste no time in tending to all parts of the track.\nOnce this step is complete, McCutchen immediately gets out of the truck and hops onto the "cinder zamboni". This large, yellow machine is used to pack the cinders down -- making the track fast and safe. The process is long -- taking more than 45 minutes to complete -- and the entire time, McCutchen pays close attention to detail, making sure the track is smooth and consistent from start to \nfinish.\nThe final stage in track-prep is blowing the small pebbles and debris off the track. The entire process takes several hours -- and that's if there are no problems, such as a frozen track or damp spots.\nWhile the process takes an incredible amount of work, McCutchen and Hansford say they are privileged to be a part of the annual intramural \ncycling race.\n"I just think that it is part of what has become my job, but it's more than that -- it's something I really enjoy," McCutchen said. "You get to meet so many different kinds of people, its sort of a privilege that we get to do it."\nThe work they put in goes largely unnoticed by the racers, but the two friends do their work because of their love of the race, not for recognition.\n"The best part of my job is the enjoyment of watching the kids come up here, assume the track is already like this and get on it and don't have a care in the world," Hansford said. "Knowing we have given them the safest possible track and hopefully the fastest possible track is satisfying."\nTheir work, and the work of countless others who help put on Little 500, does not go unnoticed by the IU Student Foundation, said Little 500 Race Coordinator Lucas Calhoun.\n"It takes so many different people to do this event," Calhoun said. "The special things he does to the track, he (Steve) has down to a science. He is so into the race and that's cool."\nThe energy McCutchen brings to the event is obvious as he talks about the history and all the races he has been to over the years. This energy can be seen every day in the effort he puts into the track's upkeep.\n"He's just a sweet guy," Calhoun said. "He's been around the race so long and watches practice so he sees when the riders make mistakes but he feels like he has no place to correct them. He knows what's going on all the time."\nAs they enter their 24th and 25th race respectively, McCutchen and Hansford call themselves the foremost cinder cycling track experts in the world because of the time they have invested in taking care of the track.\n"Most people come up here and think it's an asphalt track -- they don't even know what cinders are," Hansford said. "This is the only cinder bike track in the world and not many people have raced on it, not even Lance Armstrong"