Little 500 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Little 500 is a bicycle race

Bicycle racing

Bicycle racing is a competition sport in which various types of bicycles are used. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, bike trials, and cycle speedway. Bicycle racing is recognised as an Olympic sport...

held annually at Bill Armstrong Stadium

Bill Armstrong Stadium

Bill Armstrong Stadium is a 6,500-capacity soccer-specific stadium and velodrome located in Bloomington, Indiana. The stadium is home to the Indiana Hoosiers men's and women's soccer teams...

on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana

Bloomington, Indiana

Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....

. The race was founded in 1951 by Howdy Wilcox Jr., Executive Director of the Indiana University Student Foundation

Indiana University Student Foundation

The Indiana University Student Foundation is a not-for-profit student group that was formed by Howdy S. Wilcox.-History:Founded in 1950, the group's original purpose was to help raise campus awareness about the Indiana University Foundation...

, who modeled the race after the Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis 500

The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...

, which his father

Howdy Wilcox

Howard Samuel Wilcox was an American racecar driver active in formative years of auto racing.Born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, Howdy Wilcox led the last 98 laps of the 1919 Indianapolis 500 after starting in the 2nd position. He died in a wreck in 1923 at the Altoona Speedway board track in Tyrone,...

had participated in and won in 1919. Racers compete in teams of four, racing relay

Relay race

During a relay race, members of a team take turns running, orienteering, swimming, cross-country skiing, biathlon, or ice skating parts of a circuit or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games...

-style for 200 laps (50 miles) along a quarter-mile (440 yards) cinder track

Cinder track

A cinder track is type of race track, generally purposed for athletics or horse racing, whose surface is composed of cinders. For running tracks, most cinder surfaces have been replaced by all-weather synthetic surfaces, which provide greater durability, more consistent results, and are less...

. Thirty-three teams are selected in qualifications trials to compete in the main race. Money raised by the event goes towards a scholarship fund for working IU students.

Events surrounding the race

The race is a major social event on campus during the spring. The race has expanded into a whole week of activities since its original founding; the Women's Little 500

Women's Little 500

The Women's Little 500 is a bicycle race held annually at Bill Armstrong Stadium on the campus of Indiana University Bloomington. The race is modelled after the men's Little 500. The race has been run the Friday before the men's race, since its conception in 1988...

(100 laps, or 25 miles) was first held in 1988 and continues to be run each year, and other events such as the Little 50 Running Relay Race and Alumni Races add to the festivities. Seven-time Tour de France

Tour de France

The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...

champion Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong

Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support...

said that the race was "the coolest event I ever attended."
The race has raised more than $1 million in scholarship money over the years.

Rules

Special rules for the Little 500 race include:

All riders must use the official Little 500 bike that is provided to them for that year. There can be no toe clips or grips, kick stands, water bottles, air pumps, untaped or unplugged handlebars, or any other add-on accessories.
For the safety of all riders, hard helmets must be worn and buckled at all times, as well as biking gloves.
Each team is required to complete 10 exchanges (5 for the women) during the course of the race.
At the 198th lap (98th for the women), all riders not on the lead lap will be asked to move to the back or exit the pack. This is done so that all teams in contention on their last 2 laps can make their attempt to win the race. Teams which do not comply with this rule are believed to be impeding the progress of another rider and will be given a 5- to 20-second penalty or even disqualification, depending on the severity of the violation.

Little 500 bikes

Little 500 bikes are identical, single-speed

Single-speed bicycle

A single-speed bicycle is a type of bicycle with a single gear ratio. These bicycles are without derailleur gears, hub gearing or other methods for varying the gear ratio of the bicycle....

(46x18), coaster brake racing bicycles with 700c wheels

Bicycle wheel

A bicycle wheel is a wheel, most commonly a wire wheel, designed for bicycle. A pair is often called a wheelset, especially in the context of ready built "off the shelf" performance-oriented wheels....

, 28mm tires

Bicycle tire

A bicycle tire is a tire that fits on the wheel of a bicycle, unicycle, tricycle, quadracycle, bicycle trailer, or trailer bike. They may also be used on wheelchairs and handcycles, especially for racing...

and flat rubber pedals

Bicycle pedal

A bicycle pedal is the part of a bicycle that the rider pushes with their foot to propel the bicycle. It provides the connection between the cyclist's foot or shoe and the crank allowing the leg to turn the bottom bracket spindle and propel the bicycle's wheels...

. The unusual specification originated with the famous AMF Roadmaster bicycles of the 1960s and 1970s, once the sole bicycle type used in the event. There are two different versions of the bike for men and women, with the only difference being frame size. Every year a new version of the specified bicycle type is purchased, with two given to each team. A deposit of $300 must be placed for both bikes. At the end of the season, teams are given the option to keep their race bikes or to return them back to IUSF in exchange for their deposit. Returned former race bikes are kept at the track and rented out to those teams that lack bicycles meeting Little 500 specifications.

Eligibility

A student desiring to participate as a rider in the Little 500...

Must be a full-time undergraduate student enrolled at Indiana University Bloomington Campus during the fall and spring semesters of the year of participation.
Must have a cumulative GPA of 2.00 or better
May only compete up to four times in a five-year period
Must be an amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
No substance abuse of any type is tolerated.
For a team to be eligible, at least one member must attend all race information meetings and turn in the final four cards with the names of the team's riders for that year.

Series events

The Little 500 is much more than just the race. There are also several series events associated with the race. These events are held for a few reasons. The first and foremost is for fun

Fun

Fun is the enjoyment of pleasure and, according to Johan Huizinga, "an absolutely primary category of life, familiar to everybody at a glance right down to the animal level." Fun may be encountered in many human activities during work, social functions, recreation and play, and even seemingly...

. The second reason is so that teams can scout out the competition and get a feel for that year's race field. And the final reason is so that all the members of a team, not just those competing in the actual race itself, can still participate and compete. There are four other series events outside of the race: Qualifications, ITTs, Miss-N-Out, and Team Pursuit.

Qualifications

Qualifications, commonly known as "Quals," is the first and one of the most important series events. Qualifications is a four-lap race around the track to see which team can get the fastest cumulative time. These times determine if a team qualifies to race in Little Five and if so, then where in the field of the top 33 teams they will be placed. Teams start the race lined up in 11 rows of three, starting with the pole winner up front on the inside, and teams choose their pits and jerseys in the order in which they qualify, so this is another reason to qualify high. Each team is given three attempts to qualify. The reason for this is in case a team botches an exchange, then they still have two more chances to qualify. The way that a team can botch an exchange is if a member falls and takes the bike down with him, or if the team does not perform the exchange in the given distance, marked by white lines on the track. A team can use as many as four riders or as few as two riders. But whatever amount of riders they use to qualify is the least amount of riders they can use for Little Five. Meaning that if a team qualifies with four people, then that team must race with four people. But if they qualify using only three people, then they can use three or four people on the day of Little Five.

ITTs

Individual Time Trials, known as ITTs, are just what they sound like. Like a qualification, an ITT is a four-lap (one mile) sprint around the track. But unlike a qual, it is performed individually. It is a test of both speed and sprint endurance. There are up to four riders on the track at a time. One rider is placed at each turn of the track. The riders line up with the start/finish line that is drawn in white on the track. Then a race official will come behind the rider and hold his bike steady so that the rider can set both feet on the pedals. In recent years, there has been a five-beep countdown, but in 2007 a gun start was used. The riders begin from a dead stop and race around the track. It is possible to catch other riders on the track while racing, but it is important not to draft

Drafting (racing)

Drafting or slipstreaming is a technique where two vehicles or other moving objects are caused to align in a close group reducing the overall effect of drag due to exploiting the lead object's slipstream...

. If a rider is caught blatantly drafting off of another rider, he is automatically disqualified. This race is a good way for individuals to measure their own personal ability against other riders.

Miss-N-Out

It has been suggested by some that this is perhaps the most interesting of all the series events, including the race. In this event there are heats of 5-8 riders, depending on the number of riders signed up for the day. Riders all start on the same line and are given one lap to get the position they want and to gain some speed. Once they cross the start line again, the race begins. The riders race around the track and every time the pack crosses the start/finish line, the last one to cross is out and must leave the track. Riders keep racing until there are only three riders left. These three riders move on to the next round. This process continues until the final heat of eight. In this heat, riders continue to race and get out until you have the last three and then they commence a one-lap full-out sprint and the first-, second- and third-place winners are determined by the order in which the riders cross the start/finish line.

Team Pursuit

This event is geared more towards the team rather than the individual. In this event two teams of four must race around the track in a pace line for 15 laps (3.75 mi) for the men and 12 laps (3 miles) for the women, each team in hot pursuit of the other since they start on opposite ends of the track. Each team can have only one person drop out of the pace line during the course of the race. Meaning that only three team members need to finish. The team's time is taken as the time of the 3rd rider to cross the line. The two fastest teams then match up against each other for a final head-to-head competition to determine the champion of the event (separately for the men and women). This race is a good test to see which is the best team. In order to do well in this event, teams must have good communication skills as well as good drafting skills. This event really proves the cliché that "you're only as fast as your slowest rider."

Media coverage

The events of the Little 500 were dramatized in the 1979

1979 in film

The year 1979 in film involved some significant events.- Major events :* March 5 - Production begins on Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.* May 25 - Alien, a landmark of the science fiction genre, is released....

Academy Award-winning movie Breaking Away
Breaking Away
Breaking Away is a 1979 American film. A coming of age story, it follows a group of four male teenagers in Bloomington, Indiana, who have recently graduated from high school. It stars Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern , Jackie Earle Haley, Barbara Barrie and Paul Dooley...

, which depicts a group of Bloomington

Bloomington, Indiana

Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....

townies who enter the race as the "Cutters" (from the local Indiana limestone

Indiana Limestone

Indiana Limestone, also known as Bedford Limestone is a common regional term for Salem limestone, a geological formation primarily quarried in south central Indiana between Bloomington and Bedford....

stonecutters) to defeat the favored fraternity

Fraternities and sororities

Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...

team. Thirty years later, in 2009, Smithville

Smithville, Monroe County, Indiana

Smithville is an unincorporated town in Clear Creek Township, Monroe County, Indiana.-History:Bloomington Republican Progress, Feb 11, 1885, p. 2.Smithville is to have a boom, in the way of a sawmill...

produced the half-hour long documentary Ride Fast, Turn Left that followed four teams preparing for and competing in the race.

A Bollywood movie Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar
Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar
The music for the movie composed by Jatin Lalit and lyrics were penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri. The soundtrack, their second collaboration together, helped to launch their career...

based on Little 500, starring Aamir Khan

Aamir Khan

Aamir Hussain Khan is an Indian film actor, director and producer who has established himself as one of the leading actors of Hindi cinema....

was made in the year 1992

1992 in film

The year 1992 in film involved many significant films. -Top grossing films:-Awards:Academy AwardsGolden Globe AwardsNational Film Awards...

.

The men's race can also be seen live on television on HDNet.

Medical care

Prior to 2002, students from the university's athletic training program provided Little 500 riders with on-scene medical care. Beginning in 2002, care was provided by Indiana University Emergency Medical Service (IU-EMS)

Indiana University Emergency Medical Service (IU-EMS)

Indiana University Emergency Medical Service was the name used by the collegiate, or campus-based, emergency medical service at Indiana University in Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana, from 1994 to 2009...

, a student organization consisting of emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and first aid personnel that provided basic life support (BLS) and first aid services, respectively. IU-EMS provided care for all practices and events throughout the Little 500 season. During the actual races, IU-EMS worked with Bloomington Hospital Ambulance Service (BHAS) to provide care not only to the riders but also to all other event staff and spectators. IU-EMS was renamed to Indiana Collegiate Emergency Medical Service (IC-EMS) in 2009.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.