Foul weather doesn't stop riders

Even rain can't stop Little 500. No matter how much.\nIndividual Time Trials, the second of the Spring Cycling Series Events, began Wednesday with a beautiful sunset and semi-chilly weather but soon became a wet mess when rain and small hail pounded Bill Armstrong Stadium. Without the threat of lightning or thunder, the event went on as planned but not without a soggy track, freezing riders and lots and lots of rain.\nFinal results were not available at press time. For complete results, see Friday's Indiana Daily Student.\nThe time trials are the only Little 500 series event separating riders from their teams to test individual rider strengths. The event consists of 72 heats of four riders, who begin four-lap sprints at a corner of the track. Each rider starts from a dead stop and races against the clock. \nThe poor weather conditions could be a motivator or a disaster, depending on their outlook, said Rob Rhamy, IU Student Foundation assistant director and Little 500 coordinator.\n"The weather plays a factor both ways," Rhamy said. "Some people really cherish good conditions, and there are others that see this as a competitive advantage. They can come out and still compete and still ride their best regardless of the conditions. It just shows they are mentally stronger, and that's something else they can add in to their race day plans."\nRiders who competed before 7 p.m. had the advantage of sunny weather and a good amount of spectators, but once the rain began, the track became wet, and only the die-hard fans braved the weather. Rhamy said the weather would have an affect on the track, which would slow some of the faster riders. \n"The rain can slow the track down if it's too wet, so I think you may see the times later in the night being a little slower," he said. "I think as long as the riders keep some perspective on what conditions they went in with they can still see where they stack up against the competition."\nBut even a wet track and rainy weather couldn't slow Teter rider and senior Bri Kovac. Kovac, who placed fourth in the 2003 ITTs with a time of 2:47.54, took the track in one of the most competitive women's heats, including junior Kappa Alpha Theta rider Nicole Vincent, junior Kappa Kappa Gamma rider Meredith Horner and senior Alpha Gamma Delta rider Corey Bitzer. Kovac focused on the big picture when asked about her ITT performance.\n"It's always fun to do well, but it's four laps and one person, and the race is four people and 100 laps," she said.\nFor senior Cutters rider Jason Fowler the weather wasn't as much of a factor on the track as off. He said the rain began during his warm-up, which slowed the events and caused him to have to take shelter until his heat was called to the track. Fowler said the event is ultimatly for fun, so final times do not weigh heavely on the final race.\n"It's fun to see where you're at, and everyone has high goals and high hopes for it, but if you don't make them it's not the end of the world," Fowler said. "This just helps. Miss-N-Out, Team Pursuit, they all kind of build up, and the race is the big finale."\nHorner agreed even though ITTs are an exciting event, it is not a complete guide to which team will end up on top at the end.\n"As you can see, weather conditions, everything, there are so many different factors," Horner said. "If someone's sick, they might just not be having a good day, but a lot of (the events are) for fun, and I think that it can be a good indicator of good riders, but some days good riders have bad days"\n--Contact staff writer Katie Schoenbaechler at kmschoen@indiana.edu.