Mezcla cycling team returns to the men's Little 500

Just as quickly as some Little 500 teams form, they can disappear — never to race again. 

“Couch” was formed in 2008 and last rode in 2009; “Posers” rode only three times from 1987-1989; “Team Funk” had its first and only dance in 1991 and “Vitalita!” in 2006 also came and left the field. 

The Mezcla men’s cycling team only raced for four years, from 1996 to 1998, and their fourth and final race in 2001. Just like the aforementioned teams, the Mezcla men’s team quickly formed, raced and disappeared.

The Mezcla — a Spanish word meaning “mix” — team was formed in 1996 from the La Casa Latino Cultural Center, an organization providing support for Latine students at Indiana University.  

The team aims to represent a mixture of ethnicities and promote inclusion in the Little 500 bicycle race. 

When Sebastian Breña-Ochoa, the captain and founding member of the new 2024 Mezcla team, was first informed about the original Mezcla Little 500 team, he told the Indiana Daily Student, “nobody had any idea about it.” 

Breña-Ochoa, a freshman at Indiana University, is a Latino student involved with IU’s La Casa Center. La Casa director Lillian Casillas suggested he should start a new team. 

According to Mezcla cyclist and IU junior Angel Hernández, the idea of forming a new team originated in September 2023, and they found enough riders to form a team just one month later.

“At the beginning, I thought ‘this might go somewhere, it might not,’” Breña-Ochoa said. “But I sent a message out to the Latin organizations, and now we have six guys on the team.”  

From there, the riders found a coach, bikes to train and race on, and many of the members attended spring rookie week — the two-week period where aspiring Little 500 cyclists learn to ride the track at Bill Armstrong Stadium and become qualified to practice and race. 

Competitive cycling posed a tough learning curve for the riders, who aimed to understand the physical and timely demands of the sport and the focus needed for bike handling.  

“I have a newfound respect for cycling — it’s really hard,” Mezcla rookie cyclist and IU sophomore Abdullah Abdulwahab said. 

But to Abdulwahab, it’s worth it.  

“Training for this means a lot more than training for something individual, because I feel like the goal is far beyond me,” he said.

For many of the Mezcla members, the only goal for the new team is to qualify for the Little 500, which would promote the team’s growth and diversity within the race. 

“Representing La Casa brings me a lot of happiness,” Breña-Ochoa said. “You don’t see a crazy amount of representation in the Little 500, so it’s a great opportunity to represent La Casa and all the people who are associated.” 

All Mezcla members are training hard and hoping to become fast enough to place among the top 33 teams at qualifications, which is the field limit for the Little 500. 

The Indiana University Student Foundation’s 2024 Qualifications sign-ups indicate there will be 39 teams fighting for the top 33 positions. To qualify, Mezcla will need to beat six other teams. 

“Hopefully by qualifying, we’ll get people from La Casa to come out to the race,” Breña-Ochoa said. “I think when they see the environment of the race, how big of an event it is at IU, it will motivate some people to talk to us next year.” 

Breña-Ochoa also mentioned that Mezcla would like to form a new women’s team. 

The Mezcla women’s team has a much more recent presence in the Little 500 compared to the men’s team.

The women’s team raced 11 times in the Little 500: first in 1997 — one year after the men’s team was established — 2004-2006 and 2008-2014. 

“We want this to be able to carry on into next year, and part of that is having a women’s team,” Breña-Ochoa said.  

Mezcla coach Michael Sears, an IU Jacobs School of Music graduate and Gray Goat cycling team alumni, reflected on the progress of the men’s team so far.  

“I’ve had a subset of goals throughout the year, but most of them have been met,” Sears said. “My goals now are to build sustainable financial input, relationships with sponsors, recruitment and uniforms.” 

Not having a network to rely on created difficulties in restarting the Mezcla team, Sears said. 

“Older teams have a pedigree and roster of people they can reach out to for funding, experience or advice,” he said. “So having a team that hasn’t existed since 2005, you have to rebuild all of those things.” 

Funding was a large part of establishing the team — Sears noted it cost about $4,000 to purchase essential equipment and pay race registration fees for eight people. The team initiated a funding campaign through GoFundMe and generated about $2,500 toward the total team costs. The remaining $1,500 was generated from team sponsors. 

Sears’ largest goal for the team, however, is “building a passion.”  

“You can always discipline yourself to work out, but what is really going to sustain you is ‘the why,’” Sears said. “I’m constantly asking riders what they want to get out of this and what they want to learn.”  

Despite the financial and physical challenges Mezcla has faced in rebuilding its team, it has brought them closer together. With each training session during rookie week, every workout on the rollers and each team gathering, the team grows in its connection and progresses forward to its goal of qualifying.  

“The Mezcla team has a deep dichotomy of love and a bond that has honestly been so cool to represent,” Sears said. “I’m excited to represent at events throughout Spring Series and the race and then hopefully years to come.”