Little 500 packs week in April with events

Most people would assume the Tour De France is the biggest bike race in the world. Those people have never been to IU.

Now going into its 62nd year, the Little 500 race is the biggest college bike race in the world. Thousands of visitors pour into Bloomington to be a part of the weekend.

The inspiration came in 1950 when Howdy Wilcox watched four students race bikes around a dormitory. Now, the Little 500 race has become the largest intramural event at IU.

The race is put on by the IU Student Foundation, and the proceeds are used to grant scholarships to working students.

The women’s race takes place the Friday of Little 500 weekend and has up to 33 teams, who race 100 laps around the cinder track.

The men’s race takes place on Saturday and also consists of 33 teams which are determined by qualifying time trials. The first team to complete 200 laps around the quarter-mile cinder track wins.

The teams typically represent fraternities, sororities, residence halls and independent groups.

The race achieved such popularity throughout the years that celebrities such as John Mellencamp, David Letterman and Lance Armstrong have been known to attend.

The race also inspired the Oscar-winning movie “Breaking Away.” The film prompted a group of riders to break from their fraternity and name themselves the Cutters. The most recent Cutters team won the race for the fifth straight year in 2011, a feat never before accomplished in the race’s history.

The race, however, is not the only fun event by any means.

Festivities kick off early in the week as fraternities sponsor concerts that have featured artists such as Lil Wayne and Wiz Khalifa. The IU Auditorium usually plays host to a concert, too. Flight of the Concords played to close out 2009’s Little 500 weekend.

A plethora of outside events also take place, like pudding wrestling competitions.
Students should be warned, though, classes do still continue to follow their regular schedule.

The bike race is not the only race during the week either. The Little 50 is the runner’s equivalent to the Little 500 race. The Little 50 consists of 25 teams of four running in a 50-lap relay race and typically takes place Thursday of Little 500 week.

One thing is for sure, Little 500 is an experience IU students never forget. So mark your calendars because this is one weekend you will not want to miss.