Former Cutter rider goes greek

Junior Little 500 rider Kyle McClurg said he believes he has something to prove.

“I kind of feel like I was chewed up and spit out, in a sense,” McClurg said.

Former two-year Cutters rider McClurg switched to Alpha Tau Omega this year because of his desire to see what greek life was all about. He wanted to join ATO his first year at IU, but because of his desire to ride for a good bike team and his uncertainty as to whether greek life was right for him, he decided to ride for the Cutters.

In the end, McClurg could not escape the desire to go greek.

“I did it for the bike, but there were other reasons outside of the bike why I decided to go greek,” McClurg said.

Some of his reasons include his longing for a family atmosphere with fellow riders, which some independent teams – like the Cutters – lack, ATO rider Robert Perez said. Also, one of his friends was an ATO member, and he helped show McClurg the greek experience and pull him into fraternity life.

“Just because he was a Cutter once doesn’t mean he can’t be an ATO,” Perez said.
“He mostly had the greek mentality about life, and that’s what brought him to the frat.”

McClurg said he feels he brings a variety of skills and advantages to a team, being a year-round rider who was on the winning Cutters team for the past two years, although he did not race for them in those years.

“I believe I’m a hard worker,” he said. “I feel like I know what it takes to win.”

ATO came in third in the race last year with only three riders. They failed to qualify in 2007 and won in 2006. A member of that winning team, Steve Ziemba, who currently rides with McClurg, said McClurg adds experience and strengthens the team.

“He’s seen both of those structures of teams, independent and greek,” Ziemba said. “Next year, when he takes over, he’ll be able to hopefully keep things going.”

McClurg said he will not continue to ride once he leaves IU. He and his teammates put in 300 days of training a year for one spring day.

“We train all year for this one event,” McClurg said. “In the summer, I am riding for April 25.”

Team members said they will make no predictions about the race, but they did say that ATO will be there, and they will compete.

“There is no secret to the Little Five,” Perez said. “At the end of the day, it depends what happens in the race and who’s ready to do it.”

McClurg agreed with his teammates and said he will give everything he has to make his brothers at ATO proud.

“I feel like I do have something to prove to them and myself,” McClurg said. “We are going to train as hard as we can to be there in that last lap.”