Former racing legend takes on new challenge

With their original coach not having enough time to work with them and spring break quickly approaching, Gamma Phi Beta rider Sonja Arnesen knew she had only one choice.

Call up her big brother, Hans.

“We ran into a situation where we didn’t really have anyone to help us out over spring break, and we really wanted to get the training in then,” Sonja Arnesen said. “So him being my brother, I just called him up and explained what was going on. He stepped up and said he could help us.”

Her brother, Hans Arnesen, is not your everyday former Little 500 rider. He is arguably the best there ever was.

In his stellar biking career at IU, the Alpha Tau Omega rider won Rookie of the Year, two Individual Time Trials (including the track record) and a Miss-N-Out title. But he is most well-known for his efforts in the 2006 Little 500 race, in which he biked 123 of the team’s 200 total laps, including lapping the field and leading his team to the victory.

“I knew he rode in it, but I didn’t really realize how big of a deal he was,” first-year rider Katelyn Modisett said. “We would watch all these videos of Little 500 and he would be in all of the interviews. On the track, all of the guys teams would be like, ‘There’s Hans, what is he doing here?’ That is really when we saw that it was such a big deal (to have him coach the team).”

Hans Arnesen relished the opportunity to get involved with the Little 500 community and help Gamma Phi Beta, an all-rookie team, progress as riders.

“They wanted help to learn the fundamentals about the race, training, exchanges and more so they could build on that,” Hans Arnesen said. “It is what I expected but also very challenging. These girls have never really ridden a bike before, so you are not only teaching them about the Little 500, you are teaching them about cycling.”

With a full-time job in Minneapolis, Hans Arnesen worked extensively with the Gamma Phi Beta team during spring break in Bloomington. While away, he had assistant coaches help out the riders and report back to him.

Freshman rider Kelley Douglas said Hans Arnesen has good communication between his riders and coaches, despite his consistent absence from the track.

“Our coaches contact Hans and they talk back and forth,” Douglas said. “He sends us e-mails with updates and telling us good luck ... so he is really good about contacting us even though he is far away.”

Sonja Arnesen said having her brother as a coach has been a positive experience and said she received no preferential treatment during training.

“He doesn’t treat me any different than any of the other girls on the team ... he pushes us all the same,” Sonja Arnesen said.

Hans Arnesen said the difference in being part of the Little 500 as a coach rather than a rider is enormous.

“As a rider, you are mainly focusing on yourself – what you need to do,” Hans Arnesen said. “As a coach, you are thinking about the entire picture. It is a 100-lap race, so it will be a much different race strategy than the men’s.”

With race day approaching, Hans Arnesen reflected on his time spent coaching Gamma Phi Beta.

“It is fun to be there during the developmental stage of their cycling career,” Hans Arnesan said. “Hopefully I teach them the right things and they pick up on that. Our goal is a top-10 finish, to ride a clean race and go out there and have fun.”