Cue the Italian operetta soundtrack —
The Cutters became the first back-to-back men's winners at the 58th annual Little 500 bike race at Indiana University's Armstrong Stadium this past weekend.
The independent cycling team inspired by the 1979 movie “Breaking Away” won the 200-lap relay bike race on the cinder track at the Bloomington campus on Saturday. It was the ninth championship for the team.
In Breaking Away, the Cutters team was made up of townies who beat all the snooty fraternity teams. While many of the teams racing this weekend are in the Greek system, all the racers have to be college students.
Rules
There are some other rules that don't quite match the action in the movie. For instance, the four-man teams must make 10 exchanges during the race. Also, cyclists can't use toe clips or grips, or any other add-on accessory to the provided bike (that means no taping feet to the pedals).
The bikes are single gear (46X18) bikes with coaster brakes.
One rider, senior Erik Hamilton, had competed in two earlier Little 500s, but chose to sit out a year so he could ride with The Cutters this year. He pedaled 60 laps to help secure the win.
Obama
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama took in some preliminary racing during the Little 500 weekend festivities on Friday. In addition to visiting the track and meeting with the women athletes, he also stopped by the Nick's English Hut, a local bar.
The next night, the Hut was the scene of a fight that involved two members of the winning team, according to the IU student newspaper. In all, police arrested 40 people over the weekend and issued 200 summonses.
See the Little 500 website, and check out Little 500 at wikipedia.
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