Little 500 - An IU Tradition Since 1951

This week has been the traditional "Little 500" week at IU. Every year IU Student Foundation sponsors an intramural bike race for both men and women. The women's race is on Friday at 4pm and the men's race is on Saturday at 2pm. Many people come from out of town - whether they are alumni or not - to celebrate the race. Some people consider it a week-long party, while others (especially riders) take it very seriously. The plot of the movie Breaking Away actually features the Little 500, and tracks the "townie" team called The Cutters (who, in real life, have won the race the past few years).

Yesterday I went to the entire women's race in order to cheer on my sorority's team. We are huge Little 500 fans in my sorority, because our house has been in the top 5 each year since the race was begun in 1988. One of my friends has been training since her freshman year, and this was the first year she got to ride in the race - I was so proud of her! Her entire family brought an RV from her hometown of Kansas City in order to cheer her on. It was amazing. Two years ago Barack Obama came to the women's race during his presidential campaign, and we gave him a Theta Cycling shirt. We were joking around that yesterday he was wearing his Theta Cycling shirt and rooting on the Theta team. Our team ended up coming in 4th place, but the race was very close until the last 20 laps when Teter (the winner) pulled a half of a lap ahead of the pack. The final standings were:
1.) Teter
2.) Alpha Gamma Delta
3.) Delta Gamma
4.) Kappa Alpha Theta
5.) Kappa Kappa Gamma

We'll have to see who wins the men's race today! And I hope it doesn't rain during the race! The following are pictures that I took yesterday during the women's race: