Rain, rain, go away

Curious to hear Saturday’s weather forecast? The report is dreary one – high of 45, low of 36 with a 40 percent chance of precipitation. But you mustn’t forget this is the Little 500, and this weekend’s races will be the icing on the cake for a celebrated week. Every Little 500 enthusiast is smart enough to know that people can’t let the Al Rokers of the world dictate their good time. Those people are weathermen, not college students. They’re full of it.\nHere’s a more accurate prediction for a lot of those who are new to the race: drinking all day with a 20 percent chance of making it to the race, along with scattered storms of Indiana State Excise Police throughout the night.\nBut even if the weather rains on our parade, we as IU students won’t let it dampen our spirits. I fully expect a capacity crowd at Bill Armstrong Stadium viewing a group of riders who will hopefully be safe and sound.\nAs for the riders, there are some obvious disadvantages to riding on a wet surface. When the track becomes wet, tires don’t stick to the surface and the likelihood of wrecks increases exponentially. For the riders who have trained unbelievably hard for this event, a rainstorm is the last possible thing they need. If it does happen, there’s a good chance the race would be moved to Sunday afternoon when the forecast looks just as grim.\nThe slickness of the track levels out the playing field by slowing down faster riders. You think anything is going to slow down Teter’s Sarah Rieke? Well, freezing rain certainly won’t help her cause.\nIndiana weather in the months of March and April is as wide open as this year’s field of riders. Tuesday it was sunny and in the 70s and Saturday calls for a chance of snow. Typical.\nBut people, if you can’t handle the irregularities in weather you should probably stay in Chicago or transfer to Purdue where the forecast is the same all year round – horrible.\nThis is the Little 500. When the weather gets tough, the tough go outside and play flippy cup. Just remember that in the event of inclement weather on Saturday, liquor stores are closed on Sundays. \nThis is Little 500. A little rain never hurt anyone.