The big race in Indiana.  An oval track.  Packed stands.  Over 80 bikes.

The Little 500 race is a historic tradition at Indiana University.  

The race, run annually in the Spring, sky-rocketed in popularity after a film about the race, Breaking Away, was released.  While most fans are familiar with the big day in April, what they do not know is that riders train and compete in events year-round.

The fall season is an opportunity for both new and veteran riders to get experience on the track.  With months in between the official Little 500 race and the start of classes the following year, riders use the fall season as an opportunity to re-acclimate to the track and get themselves back into riding shape.

Hank Duncan, an alum of the race and current Little 500 race director, emphasized the importance of the fall season not just for the riders, but for fans too.

“Going out and racing in these events, it’s not necessarily about who’s winning and who’s doing the best,” said Duncan.  “It’s just about being in person, being together.  The fans, alumni, you all bring the energy and it is absolutely wonderful to witness.”

The track that the race is held on is unique in its own right.  Made up of cinders, it provides an entirely new feel compared to riding on paved roads.  Already very easy to slip on, issues with the track this fall led to a higher chance of crashing due to the track being very loose.  However, Duncan and the IU student foundation worked together alongside the IU Foundation to carry out the necessary repairs to the track, and he believes it’s led to a fantastic fall series.

“After that bump in the road, we got it fixed, we got it going. The energy and the positivity behind the events that we’ve had has been wonderful, and I think overall we can all say that this semester was a rousing success,” said Duncan.

The fall series consists of three different races, time trials, street sprints, and cyclocross.  While these events can serve as a gauge of skill for some riders, the events mainly provide an opportunity for the riding community to come together and all ride in events with each other before entering into the winter training season.

Street sprints are held down a straight, paved road on campus and are structured very simply.  Whoever has the best 16 times advances into a bracket.  Then, it’s run like an elimination-style, one on one competition.

Cyclocross is a completely different race.  Riders compete on an obstacle course on grass.  The competition in this race is far more simple: first to the line wins.

Finally, individual time trials is the only event in fall series that is held on the race track.  Riders give an all-out effort for four laps, with one rider starting in each of the four turns on the track.

Duncan used this event as a final gauge for the quality of the track and was very pleased with the results.

“I would go up to them and ask them, ‘alright how was it,’ and, 100% positive feedback, positive reviews, that made me much more relieved,” said Duncan.  “And then, the entire event was wonderful, no crashes, safe riding, the surface held up very well. We were all happy.”

With the fall season now concluded, riders with do a majority of their riding indoors, oftentimes using aggressive training programs to make sure they are at peak fitness when they return to the track in the spring.