The sleepy town of Bloomington, Indiana hosts one of the great traditions in college athletics, The Little 500. The Little 500 is the biggest intramural event on the Indiana University campus and the largest collegiate bike race in the United States. The race celebrated it’s 61st running this past April. More than 25,000 people attend the race, which uses it’s proceeds to provide over $35,000 to students in scholarships.
Right now on Hoosier TV, you can watch the 2011 men’s and women’s races and a special HDNet-produced documentary that recaps the last six years of this incredible event.
The documentary, hosted by former riders Jason Sonneborn and Randy Strong, begins coverage in 2005, where a crash involving more than 15 riders marred the race’s start, an incredible one-two finish by Dodd’s House, a campus dormitory team, and Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI)
In 2006, Alpha Tau Omega, who finished second the year previous after being caught up in that terrible first-lap crash, was led by a dominant individual performance from Hans Arnesen and held the lead in the event from start to finish.
2007 was a tightly contested race in which five different teams had a real shot to win, but Cutters, an independent team led by Alex Bishop, prevailed in the end. You may recognize the team name from the famed Dennis Quaid movie Breaking Away, from which the current Cutters team is named.
Cutters again prevailed at the 58th running in 2008, winning their ninth Little 500 and becoming the winningest team ever in the event’s history. With about 20 laps remaining, the Cutters team burst away from the pack and dominated the rest of the way.
2009 brought great weather, a huge crowd and another very tight race until Eric Young, a Little 500 rookie, exploded out of the pack and brought home a third straight Cutters victory. The Cutters team faced a lot of adversity in this Little 500, two wrecks and a penalty in the last 25 laps, but the team still prevailed in the end.
The final race featured, 2010, was a rain-slicked affair in which the track became very treacherous. Cinders from the track were splashing and flying into the cyclist’s eyes even. Eric Young of the Cutters team was once again dominant at the end, establishing himself as one of the all-time greats, as he brought home a fourth straight Cutters victory.
This exciting and informative documentary truly celebrates the student athletes that make this event so special. Watch it now on Hoosier TV!
Fatal error: Call to undefined function get_secondary_content() in /nfs/c04/h02/mnt/65961/domains/watchhoosiertv.com/html/wp-content/themes/livewire/single.php on line 28