Column: Take in every bit of the race

You wake up the morning of race day, and it feels like the first day of school.

You’re anxious, nervous, excited. You know what you are going to wear; you’ve known for weeks. You would be wondering what the other kids are going to wear, except this time you know.  

You go to school and try to fit in with the other kids. You work with them or ask to sit behind them. You may come away with a few scraped elbows but usually nothing serious. The whole day flies by.  

The day of the race is like the first day of school — except with a couple of thousand college kids cheering you on.  

After what seems like hours of class, you put on your IU Student Foundation-issued jersey and head to the track. Amid the mobs of people, you see your playing field.   
In 48 hours, IUSF completely transformed the track into the setting for the greatest collegiate bike race on earth, and it is everything you have imagined.

Game face on, you get to your pit. The nerves slowly spin away as the stands begin to fill. You go in for your last huddle and choke up as you realize this is it — this is the time.

Champions will be made. Upsets are certain. In a little more than 60 minutes, it will all be over. Every bit of your blood, sweat and tears comes down to these next 100 laps.
All you are waiting to hear are those magical words: “Mount your Schwinn bicycles.”

They wave the green flag. There isn’t time to be scared. There is only time to be fast and alert. The only people you trust more than yourself are the riders in the same jersey color as you and the coach with the dry erase board whose scribes are the most important things you will read.

You hope to stay out of wrecks and ahead on yellows. You plan for the worst but expect the best, and those 100 laps fly by.

When the dust settles and the trophies are awarded, you reluctantly leave the stadium. You look back and try to take a mental photograph.

For seniors it will be the last look, and for those of us lucky to return, the 365-day countdown begins. You have forever been changed for the better by those last 100 laps.  

This race is done with work, sacrifice, persistence and most of all, heart. Without heart, the challenge is just too great.  

It will take years to understand the mark the Little 500 has made on you. Eventually, you will see it in your job, your family, your friends and the stories you can tell.
Take in every bit because, after all, it’s 60 minutes but feels like 60 seconds, and they are over before you can count them.