When “The Bachelor” star Ben Higgins tried to explain Little 500 to his fiancée, Lauren Bushnell, she said she just couldn’t picture it.
She tried to imagine what it would be like, but Bushnell said she didn’t know what to expect.
“Well, honey, it’s a big bike race that students and alumni put on that’s for charity,” Higgins said as he tried to explain it to her.
But she said she still wondered — what was so special about that?
After Bushnell accompanied Higgins to the women’s and men’s Little 500 races Friday and Saturday, she said she gets it now.
“I just think I’m happy that I can relate now,” Bushnell said. “Ben would talk about the University and this experience, and I just never understood, necessarily. But being here, I totally get it. I get where that pride comes from, and I understand where the excitement comes from.”
Higgins was asked to be the grand marshal for the women’s and men’s races. The reality TV star is a native of Warsaw, Indiana, and an alumnus of IU.
“While not every IU student will become a TV star, the IU Student Foundation hopes every student will follow Ben’s lead, incorporating philanthropic activity in his or her life beyond IU,” IU Student Foundation Director Tara Vickers said in an IU press release announcing Higgins role as grand marshal. “We are thrilled to welcome Ben back to IU and to have him participate in Little 500 events.”
As grand marshal, Higgins greeted riders before the race began and told them to mount their bicycles. He and Bushnell arrived at Bill Armstrong Stadium about an hour before the men’s race started Saturday and took pictures with and talked to fans nonstop.
The two then paraded around the track in a silver BMW as fans, shouting Higgins’ name at him, screamed and cheered them on. He singled out fans he saw in the audience by pointing to them while Bushnell smiled and waved. One fan held up a sign that said “IL *hearts* Ben Higgins.” A group of men roared and pumped their fists at him, which he reciprocated with a fist pump of his own.
Little 500 has a special place in his heart, Higgins said.
He said he remembers one Little 500 in particular when he was a student. It was sleeting during the race, and he huddled together with his friends, shivering in the stands until the race got rained out. Afterward, they all laughed together inside, he said.
“Warmed up inside together?” Bushnell asked, looking at Higgins.
“Together, yeah,” he said.
“Cuddled a little?” she asked, teasing.
“Cuddled a little, yeah,” Higgins laughed.
The couple arrived in Bloomington on Thursday, after which they went to dinner at Malibu Grill and walked around campus at night, Higgins said.
After the race Saturday, Higgins said he planned to hang out with more friends and maybe take Bushnell to one of his favorite bars from when he was a student at IU.
Bushnell said she’d never been to any sort of bike race before, but Little 500 was even more fun than Higgins had described.
Higgins said he was just excited to be able to share the experience with Bushnell.
He said his favorite moment from the women’s race Friday was when the bikers began and he and Bushnell were standing up on the stage and watching the women ride by. The passion on their faces was striking, Higgins said, and the couple looked at each other.
“They are very intense,” Bushnell had said.
The two then looked to the crowd, and everyone, saying hi, waved at the two of them, Higgins said.
“This is home,” Higgins said. “This is Indiana.”
