The Little 500

Around Bloomington, Indiana, home of Indiana University and a fervent cycling community, the Little 500 is better known to locals as the “Little Five.”

The race is patterned after Indiana’s biggest race – the Indianapolis 500 – and was founded in 1951 by Howdy Wilcox Junior, the president of the Indiana University Student Foundation and the son of a past winner of the Indy 500. The race is run by 33 teams of four who run 50 miles of relays along a ¼ mile cinder track.

To add to the cinder track excitement, teams are provided a standard Little 500 bike with no toe clips, grips, water bottles, air pumps, untaped or unplugged handlebars, or any other add-on accessories. The Little Five is literally bare-knuckle biking.

It’s also quite the social event on campus.

The event is now a weeklong activity that includes a women’s race, the Little 50 running race, and more parties than you can shake the police department at – it is said to be their busiest weekend of the year.