This is the true post of Little 500 riders picked to have their lives surrounding America's Greatest College Weekend posted to the web. To find out what happens when the IDS stops just reporting and starts getting real...check here for The Real Ride -- Little 500 style.
Every year when the track opens to the veterans, we all flood out onto the cinders to pound out sets, practice exchanges and be with the only other people on the planet that understand how much it means to be there.
That day was last Thursday.
It was great to see teams forming packs, practicing exchanges and hearing the familiar phrases of "inside!" "coming out" or "exchange in for" become common jargon once again.
For me, it was rewarding to see the rookies that worked so hard last week during their rookie week come out on the track and seamlessly make the transition with the veterans. The women's field looks to be deep once again and the race is shaping up to be an exciting 100 laps. The next three weeks will be action packed as teams drive home exchanges, hot laps and fly laps in preparation for qualifications on March 26.
But why do we do all this? Most of us schedule our spring classes around track times, we spend countless hours away from the track watching race videos, working on exchanges, going on long rides and having team meetings.
We don't party. We don't sleep in. We do homework on Friday nights so we can ride on the weekends. And we spend ridiculous amounts of time in spandex.
For teammates, you're together more than you're apart.
But, why?
For those of us who understand, the ways of the Little 500 become the ways of life. Whoever said winning isn't everything, never met a Little 5 rider. To us, winning is everything.
It's why we do another set when our legs say we can't. Its why we jump on the bike one more time when we have fallen the times before. It's why we show up everyday.
We show up everyday because it is one more chance to do it just a little bit better. It is one more chance to see your best friends. It is one more chance to feel like a rock star. And it is one more chance to be a part of Indiana's greatest tradition.
So why do we do this?
Because it beats the hell out of not doing it.
Abigail Legg is a Junior majoring in Neuroscience. She is in her second year riding for Wing It Cycling. Wing it finished ninth in the 2010 race.
