Little 500 Bicycle Race

This weekend Nick and I went to the famous Little 500 bicycle race. We went with our friends Sylvia (a fellow optometry student) and Todd. They both went to IU for their undergrad degree and had been to several races before this one. The race is named after the Indy 500, but the bicyclists only actually ride 200 laps. This year was the 58th annual men's race (the women's race was on Friday when I was in class and has been held for the past 20 years or so). If you have never seen the old movie "Breaking Away," you really should watch it. It is filmed in Bloomington and shows the bike race. The race is ridden by teams of four guys who can switch out at pretty much anytime during the race. There were 33 teams this year, many from fraternities, but other groups participated as well. The competition is serious, and they race at speeds of around 20-25 miles per hour. The pace cars from the Indianapolis 500 even lead the bikers in a pace lap. It was a lot of fun, but unfortunately it was freezing cold and even sprinkled for awhile. The whole week had been warm until race day on Saturday and then the cold front hit. I heard that the crowd this year was a lot smaller than normal because of the cold, so it will be interesting to go again next year for comparison!