Senior Evan Lee sleeps sometimes.
One of the riders for the Christian Student Fellowship Little 500 team, Lee is also part of the Air Force ROTC and a member of the CSF leadership board and the IU Turkish Flagship Program.
Lee said while it can be tough to juggle all of his commitments, it has helped him grow more as an individual.
As an Air Force ROTC member, Lee is required to attend a three-hour class Monday and a two-and-a-half-hour class Thursday in addition to at least two physical training sessions per week.
He said the physical training sessions have shown him his true physical capabilities and helped him develop the strength to persevere when he’s on the bike.
“No one wants to be there at 6 in the morning, but you’re all doing it together, and in my opinion team bonding and camaraderie grows the most when you’re doing something that sucks with other people when it also sucks for them,” Lee said. “Mutual pain kind of links everyone together.”
Even on days when he attends training sessions, Lee doesn’t alter his cycling schedule to compensate. He’s made a commitment, and doesn’t make excuses.
“Sometimes I’m looking at five workouts in two and a half days,” Lee said. “I’ve built up a resistance to it. I get tired, but you gotta keep the engine running.”
In addition, Lee serves as the cadet vice wing commander, which means he is responsible for budgeting his entire wing and staffing all of the positions in his wing.
This will be Lee’s last year riding in the Little 500 race. He said he thinks his team is looking polished and ready heading into race day.
“We’re going into it this year with four guys feeling good,” Lee said. “This is a year that we’re serious. We want to get top 10, and I think if we’re there at the end, don’t count us out. We’re feeling good.”
Racing alongside him will be juniors Kevin Drake, Chatham Anderson and Austin Crouch.
An athlete his whole life, Lee said he loves competition. That’s what drew him to the Little 500 in the first place.
“Little 500 provides something that, unless you become a DI athlete, you don’t really get anywhere else,” Lee said. “That’s just the level of competition. It’s such high-intensity competition.”
One of his favorite things about Little 500 competition is the riders don’t compete to win a prize. He said they compete because it’s just something they do. They love to go fast.
“It’s this crazy thing where we’re doing it because we all just love the competition,” Lee said. “We love being first and rubbing elbows with the guys next to us, trying to go faster.”
While Lee said he is sad that this will be his last year in the race, he said he is looking forward to what is in his future.
After graduating in May, he will have a few months off before he heads to Azerbaijan in September to begin a nine-month program where he will be doing an internship and studying Turkish and Azeri.
Lee said he’ll be very busy in the program, but it’s OK because he’s used to it.
“Enjoy what you do because if you enjoy what you do, you never get tired of it,” Lee said.
