Not your ordinary Spring Break for Little 500 riders

Right about now, road trips, beach parties and other things that should probably be left out of print media are running through students’ heads in hopes of spring break quickly approaching.

It seems as if this week can be broken down into three groups of people: the ones all but on their way to the Sunshine State, me, who is unconventionally off to Cleveland come Friday and the ones training for Little 500.

These guys’ and gals’ trips down south have nothing to with the typical college life.

For the riders, spring break debaucheries like excessive calories, lounging around during the NCAA Tournament and festivities on St. Patrick’s Day are polar-opposite routines of what they will go through during what we tab as vacation.

Indiana University sophomore and Greenfield, Ind., native Eric Hulse will make his first Little 500 appearance next month as a member of the Pi Kappa Phi team. The team, which qualified 13th and placed 17th a year ago, will take its talents to St. Augustine, Fla., to prepare for April.

“This is the biggest week of training for us before qualifiers,” Hulse said. “We do two-a-day workouts with endurance rides usually in the morning and hard sets in the afternoon. We also focus on making a lot of clean, fast exchanges.”

For those who may think it’s a spring-warrior type of thing, think again. For members of the Pi Kapps team and countless other greek and independent riders, it’s a year-round commitment that they hope will pay off through a spot on the track come race day.

The year-round training, differing in levels of intensity and forms of physical conditioning, is to build a level of conditioning allowing for optimal training in the spring when the race nears. The winter presents obvious adverse circumstances for training, so riders try to maximize on the opportunities fall presents to keep some sort of physical fitness intact.

“In the fall and winter we try to be on the bike five to 10 hours a week,” Hulse said. “Usually we are either in (our fraternity house) on rollers or at the SRSC on the stationaries. If you don’t have a solid base, you can’t train efficiently when it’s time to get on the track.”

For some, it’s a new experience breeding both excitement and nerves. Pi Kapps lost all of its members from last year’s team due to graduation and eight riders studying abroad. For Hulse and the rest of the newcomers, it’s an event that can’t come quick enough.

“We needed guys to step up and fill spots and with my background in running in high school, I figured cycling would be a perfect fit,” Hulse said. “I couldn’t be more excited.”

With just less than two months remaining until race day, the “season” begins for the Little 500 riders. When you think about it, much of the time consumption aspect, as it relates to school and training, is similar to those of school-sponsored sports, minus the publicity.

This week let’s raise one of our drinks, whether it’s in Ft. Lauderdale or a frozen tundra like Cleveland, to one of the biggest sporting events in the college world and the athletes who put in the yearlong efforts. Cheers.