Riders walk out on practice

Fifteen teams signed a letter protesting Team Major Taylor's participation in the 2002 Little 500. But that wasn't enough to get the rider's message across. Tuesday, 32 teams walked out of practice starts in protest. \n"The point was just to call the attention to people that have some authority that just about every rider is against Team Major Taylor being in the race," junior Riders Council member Patrick Thomas said. "The whole stupidity of this, everyone knows they're ineligible."\nPractice starts began as in years past. First-lap riders filed into the 11 rows of three and began to practice in preparation for race day. The pace car started and led the riders for two and a half of the three initial laps. When the pace car pulled off of the track, 32 riders laid down their bikes and walked off the track. \nThe riders were protesting the University's decision to allow Team Major Taylor to stay in the race. In March, IUSF said freshman captain Joshua Weir had been a Category 1 cyclist and was ineligible to participate under Little 500 standards. An arbitration panel reversed the decision, but IUSF subsequently received a letter from USA Cycling Federation confirming Weir had been a Category 1 cyclist. The arbitration panel reconvened but would not overturn their ruling because it had been final. \nTeam Major Taylor rider freshman Julio German was the team's lead rider for practice starts. German and the team had been notified ahead of time that the protest would take place, Weir said. Weir would not disclose how the team learned of the protest. Weir also said that he did not think there would be any problems for Saturday's race. \n"It doesn't bother me at all; they will do anything they can to get us out of the race," he said. \n"We aren't going to worry about them, we are just going to worry about the race and what needs to be done." \nIU spokesman Bill Stephan said IU respects the opinions expressed by the riders but the University has no intention of reversing their decision. \n"I think generally speaking we're aware that there is a number of riders who are not pleased with how things have been developing regarding Team Major Taylor," Stephan said. "But at the same time, I appreciate the fact that many of the same riders have indicated a desire to go forward with the race. A lot of riders have been expressing their views in the past week, some supportive, some not. But we respect their decision to do so in a civil manner."\nStephan said although the possibility of escalated protesting exists, he is optimistic the smooth continuation of the race would best serve all involved.\n"While there is a possibility protests could continue, we're hopeful that the focus will be on the traditional aspects of the race, to raise money for student scholarships," Stephan said.