With a reputation for being the greatest college weekend, Little 500 has a way of inspiring people. \nFrom race rookies to qualifying 27th for the men's Little 500 race, a little inspiration has brought the four IU seniors of Rainbow Cycling a long way.\nThese athletes, however, have more than mere inspiration pumping their pedals. While a stellar race day performance would be nice, these four men say their biggest priorities are friendship and promoting the idea of diversity. With sponsorship from the IU Office of Diversity Education and from the IU GLBT Office of Student Support Services, Rainbow Cycling is hoping to promote a cause bigger then themselves, bigger then Little 500.\n"I keep calling them the Breaking Away team of 2006," said Doug Bauder, Director of GLBTSSS, referring to the 1979 movie. "Clearly, they're underdogs in the way that they've placed. They're all rookies; it's their first year in the event and their dedication is great - their genuine commitment to a cause that's bigger than them and doesn't actually pertain to them."
From friends to teammates\nAfter entertaining the idea of riding in Little 500 for the past few years, seniors Todd Diemer, Patrick Richardson, Gary Shoulders and Jacob Sinex decided to get serious about their goal following 2005's Little 500. The team officially formed in Fall 2005 with Shoulders joining the team in January.\n"Well, actually, Jacob Sinex is one of my good friends. He's from Bloomington and he and I had been talking about forming a team for our fraternity in the School of Informatics," said Shoulders, who has been cycling seriously for four years. "He asked me to join and I said 'yes,' because he was the only reason why I would ride in Little 500."\nSinex is the son of avid cyclist parents and has been riding seriously since high school, including competing for the Bloomington High School South solar bike team in Kansas and Japan and riding competitively across the Midwest as part of the IU Cycling Club. In addition, Sinex has pedaled his bike across the United States with the deCycles Indiana bike trip for the past seven years, a tradition he will continue this summer by cycling to the Canadian Rockies.\n"He's our coach pretty much," Shoulders said. "He's our inspiration."
'Tasting the Rainbow'\nSinex said that when they started the team, he just wanted a name that would stand out.\nBefore meeting the team, Bauder made the assumption that others have made - that they were all members of the GLBT community. However, he said when he first met the three original team members, he was pleased to learn that they did not identify as gay. \n"I thought, 'This is groundbreaking stuff,'" Bauder said. "This is indicative of the growing number of straight students who have gay friends and want to be supportive of them."\n"At some level, it still represents some courage on their part," Bauder added. "They're making a statement of solidarity with gay friends and family members, and I'm guessing that speaks volumes to closeted athletes on this campus and closeted students on this campus."
'Does it matter if any of us are gay? \nNot really.'\nAlthough they do not fit what some might expect the typical GLBT team to be, Rainbow Cycling embraces the idea of diversity across all realms.\n"Riding for diversity is important to me because I think every student at IU should have a team to cheer for in the race," Sinex said. "Many of the gay students I have met have a newfound interest in the race because this team is riding to represent them."\nWhat started out somewhat as a joke grew into something much bigger when the team started to understand the significance of its cause. Diemer, who is half American and half Thai, said that diversity is important to him because without it, he would not be here.\n"My parents taught me a lot about diversity from the beginning as I grew up for my early years in Malaysia attending a multi-national school," Diemer said. "I think that opened my eyes to what a diverse world could be, and how important it was to try and understand other peoples."\nFor this reason, Diemer said he thinks it is important to keep the spirit of diversity alive. Shoulders echoed this sentiment.\n"The No. 1 thing is we all have friends that are gay, Asian, black, white, and throughout our years at IU, even though it is an open place, we still see some areas where there are some areas of gray and we are trying to shine some light on that," he said, adding later, "Does it matter if any of us are gay? Not really."
Coaches and crutches\nAlthough riding for the cause of diversity has given Rainbow Cycling what Shoulders called an "engine behind the force," the long road to Little 500 has not been entirely smooth.\n"I was bragging to all my friends that I hadn't gotten hurt and within the next week, I was on the ground covered in blood," Richardson said, showing scars on his elbow and stomach from a fall during pack riding. \nWhile Richardson's teammates have their own biking battle wounds to display, he has suffered the most serious and recent injury. Barely a week before the race, Richardson received a puncture wound to his shin from the bike during an exchange that kept him on crutches until April 15, exactly one week prior to race day.\nIn addition to injuries, Rainbow riders said their biggest challenges have been similar to those that would plague any rookie team without a coach. Although Barry Magee, assistant director for diversity education in the Department of Residential Programs and Services, will join Rainbow Cycling in the pits on April 22, the team has been without a coach since it began training in August.\n"Motivation has been a huge issue for us," Diemer said. "Without a coach, we rely on each other to give motivation and increase work ethic. With everyone wanting something different out of the experience, it is hard to get everyone on the same page as far as the race is concerned."
It all comes down to one day\nDespite these minor setbacks, the riders of Rainbow Cycling are ready for race day. For nearly a week, the team has offered "Taste the Rainbow" T-shirts in royal blue, which will not only complement their blue and orange jerseys, but also put them one step closer to achieving their goal of winning the Howdy Wilcox Spirit Award.\n"Realistically, we hope that we have a huge crowd of people to cheer us on and make a visible impact in the stands," Diemer said. "As far as the race is concerned, from our perspective, being in it alone is enough, but it would be nice if we could finish somewhere from 15 to 25th."\nSide-stepping any delusions of grandeur, Sinex said he just wants to get out on the track and have fun. \n"Our team is going to give it our best shot and try to finish as well as we can, but I'm happy just to be a part of the race," he said. "A lot of crazy things can happen in the Little 500, and all we can really do is give it our best shot and see what happens"
