Spring Series expectations for ITTs

We came to qualify, and we did. After faulting twice and having to wait for a third attempt at the end of the day, my team played it safe and just aimed to qualify. The ladies of Theta Phi Alpha qualified 32nd with a time of 3 minutes and 25 seconds — a slower time than we felt capable of but good enough to allow us to move on to the race. I feel so proud of my team. For a group of all-rookie riders, Theta Phi Cycling has done pretty great.  

But before April 20th comes around and the 25th running of the women’s Little 500 commences, we have a little bit more to look forward to: the annual Spring Series.
According to IU Student Foundation’s 2012 Little 500 Series Packet, found on its website, the series “was designed as a fun pre-race activity for the riders to help them sharpen their skills and see what they need to improve.”

The series is optional for the riders, and many teams opt out of participating, but it should bring out some friendly competition and good practice for the riders. The series begins with the Individual Time Trials today. ITTs is an event in which four riders begin at each corner of the track and complete four consecutive 410-meter laps to achieve their fastest times. As opposed to other series events, ITTs are more individual, and each rider works to achieve his or her personal best.

As a rookie rider, I am not sure what to expect. We have prepared ourselves as best as we can for the event, realizing Monday at practice that the way we start the ITT is unique: The rider must start from a standstill, so someone is literally holding the bike upright until the starting gun sounds. The advantage is that everyone starts at the same time, but starting from a dead stop isn’t easy. It’s going to take a lot of muscle to get that bike moving to top speed.

As a rookie team, we have had to seek a lot of guidance from other teams and riders.

Our coach, Sam Stanford, a rider for the Cutters, has guided us with training workouts and has taught us a lot of strategy for the race. But we have learned the most from working with teams we meet on the track. Even though we have had a lot of guidance, much of what we have had to learn has come from ourselves. There is only so much you can learn from example. Much of riding you must learn from experience.

I am nervous about today’s ITTs. Anything can happen on the track. I could build up so much adrenaline that I exhaust myself too easily on the first lap, or I could take a bad fall. But putting those fears aside, I plan to take ITTs positively. They will be beneficial to my growth as a cyclist, and, most important, they should be a lot of fun!