1 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:10,680 You're listening to the Back Home Network presented by Home 2 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:23,440 Field Apparel. Welcome back to Crimson, Cascal 3 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:25,160 and Clavio joining you on the show. 4 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:27,200 It's good to have you folks with us again. 5 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:29,760 It is Thursday, April 18th. It's a beautiful day in 6 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:32,640 Bloomington. Gonna be about 80° down here 7 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:34,680 today. We've got the football spring 8 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:37,840 game coming up tonight at 8:00. Some of you I know are going to 9 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:41,440 be coming down for that, but of course that's not the only thing 10 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:44,240 going on this week. It is little five week in 11 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:46,640 Bloomington. The world's greatest college 12 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:50,120 weekend is actually here, and we're going to talk about that 13 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:53,200 throughout the course of this podcast, a complete little 500 14 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:55,680 episode. We've got some special guests to 15 00:00:55,680 --> 00:01:00,240 talk us through what we're going to see during the race and we're 16 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:02,840 going to hear a little bit from folks who have ridden in the 17 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:07,040 race before as we've got Katie Capusta de Victor joining us in 18 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:10,240 a little bit. She is our field analyst for the 19 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:13,640 race, broadcast on Friday for the women's race. 20 00:01:13,960 --> 00:01:16,320 And then we've got Matt Nogori and Zach Horowitz that are going 21 00:01:16,320 --> 00:01:19,040 to be joining us a little bit later on in the podcast. 22 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:21,520 They'll be our analysts for the broadcast on Saturday. 23 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:25,040 Those of you who are new to the show may not be aware of this, 24 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,680 but I've been heavily involved with Little 500 for about a 25 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:31,600 decade now, specifically with putting the broadcast on. 26 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:36,960 I'm the executive producer of the broadcast and it's probably 27 00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:39,080 the thing I enjoy the most throughout the course of the 28 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:42,320 year as we're able to get our students from the media school 29 00:01:42,320 --> 00:01:44,280 involved in that. We're able to get alums who have 30 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:46,320 ridden in the race before. We have a great working 31 00:01:46,320 --> 00:01:48,920 partnership with the IE Student Foundation, who of course is the 32 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:53,640 group that puts the race on, and this is always an amazing effort 33 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:55,680 by so many people. There's so much that goes on 34 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:57,600 behind the. Scenes with little. 500 that you 35 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:01,080 don't really know about. And we've been able, I think, to 36 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:03,240 put together a lot of really good media content throughout 37 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:07,000 the course of this spring that maybe gives people a better 38 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:09,840 sense of everything that goes on with little 500. 39 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:12,240 So we're looking forward to talking to you about all of that 40 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:15,960 today as I hope you get a chance to either watch the race. 41 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:20,520 It'll be on broadcast.iu.edu. That's where it is every year. 42 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:23,800 It's a live stream and it is done with the exact same 43 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:26,680 infrastructure that we use for our Big 10 student U broadcast. 44 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:29,400 If you ever watched any of those students in all the production 45 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:32,320 roles, students in most of the broadcasting roles, we'll have 46 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:35,440 Zion Brown as our play by play broadcaster for the women's 47 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:38,080 race. We'll have Austin Platt as our 48 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:40,000 play by play broadcaster for the men's race. 49 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:43,080 You may recognize both of those voices and names from our sports 50 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,320 coverage. And then in the field, we've got 51 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:49,800 Riley Woodall and Kara Adams as our field reporters working 52 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:53,040 alongside our former rider experts. 53 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:57,800 So we'll be starting at 4:00 for the women's race on Friday, so 54 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,160 be sure to tune in for that. And then 2:00 on Saturday for 55 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:03,720 the men's race should be an excellent time. 56 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:06,600 Before we get to our interviews today, I wanted to just remind 57 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:11,200 you all that Home Field Apparel is our presenting sponsor for 58 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:13,520 both Crimson Cast and the Back Home Network as a whole. 59 00:03:13,920 --> 00:03:16,200 And Home Field Apparel is the place to go for the finest in 60 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:19,720 college fashions, including little 500 fashion. 61 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:24,080 And if you haven't seen what home field apparel is doing 62 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:27,920 right now with their little 500 collection, they are expanding 63 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:32,960 it and it is incredibly exciting to see what home field is put 64 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:35,840 together. They've got, I believe, 8 new 65 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:40,840 pieces of little 500 apparel that are going to be rolling out 66 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:42,680 here. If you haven't already bought 67 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:45,040 the shirts that they put out before that they've had some 68 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:48,680 some really nice T-shirts, but it's expanding beyond that now 69 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:52,960 and you've got, you know you got a ringer tee, you've got some 70 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:56,120 short and long sleeve Tees. I believe there's a a a jacket 71 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:58,520 in there as well. There'll be a pop up store at 72 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:02,200 Upland here in Bloomington on both Friday and on Saturday. 73 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:04,840 So you want to come down and check that out if you're in for 74 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:07,720 the races or just in town for the the spring game or whatever. 75 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:11,760 But you can also order online at home field apparel.com use the 76 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:15,680 code Home 23. Get 15% off your first order. 77 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:18,760 Also just a reminder that we are on Sub Stack. 78 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:21,240 If you want to subscribe to the Crimson Cast Sub Stack, you get 79 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:25,440 our podcast sent to you for free and we'd love to be able to 80 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:27,840 bring you into the community that way rather than you having 81 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:30,680 to have you rely on going to social media to find what we're 82 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:33,320 doing here. And the nice thing about it is 83 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,600 you'll get connection with the rest of the Back Home Network, 84 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:40,200 which covers the entire constellation of IU athletics 85 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:43,360 and obviously a lot to talk about with basketball. 86 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:46,560 We talked about that on our previous podcast and and that's 87 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:48,520 another thing I'll mention is that if you haven't gone back 88 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:51,560 and listened to the last podcast that I did, we had a nice 89 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:54,440 conversation with Rachel Brown, who's another one of our former 90 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:56,200 writer analysts for the Little 500. 91 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,120 She'll be appearing on the women's broadcast on Friday. 92 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:02,080 So without further ado, we're going to bring in Katie Kapusta 93 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:07,080 to Victor, who is our field analyst for the race on Friday, 94 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:09,920 and then we'll have Matt and Zach joining afterwards. 95 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:14,640 As I mentioned with the last podcast, there's no like the the 96 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:17,000 order of this is essentially, you know, we want to get these 97 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:20,560 interviews out to you and there won't be like an ending on the 98 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:23,480 podcast necessarily. So the the interview kind of 99 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:26,800 stops abruptly with Zach and Matt, but that's by design. 100 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:30,480 Anyway, hope that you all have a good rest of the day and 101 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:33,560 hopefully we see you down here for the spring game, for the 102 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:35,920 women's little 500 and for the men's little 500. 103 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,880 And again, you can watch the broadcasts of the little 500 104 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:49,560 races at broadcast.iu.edu. And we've got Katie Capusta de 105 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,040 Victor joining us here on the show. 106 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:54,400 It's good to see you, Katie. I'm going to see you later on 107 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:57,120 this week as you're going to be doing the women's broadcast. 108 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:00,480 You're our field analyst this time around. 109 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:01,520 It's good to have you back. How? 110 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:03,440 You doing? Oh my gosh. 111 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:04,720 I mean, yeah, it's a little five week. 112 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:07,760 It's the best week of the year. I'm so excited to come back and 113 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:11,480 I missed last year's race, so I'm just like itching to be back 114 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:14,440 in Bloomington in April and you know, kind of see what all 115 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:15,720 unfolds. It'll be fun. 116 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:19,800 Yeah, it should be a good time. I mean it's it's an interesting 117 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:23,240 set up. The weather's going to be like 118 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:25,800 kind of in the sweet spot. I was talking about this with 119 00:06:25,840 --> 00:06:28,240 people earlier. I mean, I would prefer a warmer 120 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:32,360 little 5 just because I like it being warm, you know, if I 121 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:35,200 decide that I need to go and like see people outside after 122 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,520 the race. But I've heard that the riders 123 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:42,080 prefer it to be a little bit on the cooler side, not not 124 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:44,520 freezing. But right now the forecast for 125 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:50,640 Friday's race is 62° with about a 10 mile an hour breeze, and 126 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:55,280 then on Saturday it's about 58° with about 9 mile an hour wind. 127 00:06:55,280 --> 00:06:58,160 How like as as a former rider, and I want to talk about that in 128 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:00,880 a second with you, but like you hear those conditions, what are 129 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:03,320 you thinking? I say that's pretty ideal 130 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:05,480 considering at least here in Cincinnati. 131 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:08,240 I think like weather in Bloomington, similar like the 132 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:10,680 amount of rain we've had this last week, you'd think like, OK, 133 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:13,840 that's also great for the track. But temperature wise and wind 134 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:17,320 rise wise you are looking near perfect. 135 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:21,240 I would prefer that woman's, you know, temperature over the 136 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:23,200 men's. That's like a tad cold for me on 137 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:28,520 the men's side on Saturday. But yeah, like mid 60s, low 138 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,160 winds, anything 10 or under I feel like is not like super 139 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:34,600 impactful on the race. So I would say that's pretty 140 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:36,000 good. I mean I'm with you. 141 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:39,920 I would love a little sunshine and like 70° but I get it when 142 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:42,440 you're moving and that adrenaline is like flowing 143 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:45,720 through you on that race day like you're just you're 144 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:48,680 sweating, you're hot. It's a it's a lot like of build 145 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:51,720 up and stuff. So if it's too hot, then yeah, 146 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:55,720 it's it's a little tough, but I mean Friday that if it stays 147 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:58,000 that way and no rain, I think we're cooking that's. 148 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:00,840 What? Let's talk a little bit about 149 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:04,640 your background with the race. So you, I obviously know you 150 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:08,120 because you were one of my sports media students and you 151 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:10,560 reported on the race, but you were also in the race. 152 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:13,960 So talk a little bit about, like, who you rode with, how you 153 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:15,920 got involved, like, give us the whole story. 154 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:17,760 No, I love it. Yes. 155 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:20,880 So this is like one of my most favorite things I tell people 156 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:23,960 about being at IU like I was part of Little Five. 157 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:25,520 It's just such a unique experience. 158 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:30,640 So I rode for fine you my sorority that I was in at IU and 159 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:35,640 I actually joined the team rookie week my freshman year, 160 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:40,440 which is in the spring. And I actually played club 161 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:43,799 soccer at IU my freshman and sophomore year in the fall. 162 00:08:44,159 --> 00:08:48,040 And a girl on my team who was a senior at the time who also 163 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:52,440 ended up, was also in FAIMU. Ironically, she was a biker and 164 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,640 someone I really looked up to and was like once I joined 165 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:56,960 FAIMU. She's like, you know, you should 166 00:08:56,960 --> 00:08:59,120 really join the bike team. Like, you're athletic, Like, 167 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:01,240 we've got a great group. You know, we're kind of 168 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:04,800 rebuilding this team. And so, you know, I kind of got 169 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:08,280 like pulled into this like Riku week having no idea I'm not from 170 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:10,200 Indiana. So I really had no idea what I 171 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:14,880 was getting into and ended up like, OK, well this sounds like 172 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:16,320 fun. Like I'll try it out. 173 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:17,960 And that's kind of where it started. 174 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:20,320 So I didn't race on the team that year. 175 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:25,720 I rode my sophomore, junior and senior year and then software 176 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:28,200 year was unique because I was like the newbie and everybody 177 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:31,200 else was like older and had a little bit of experience. 178 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:35,400 And my junior and senior year, I had to kind of rebuild at least 179 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:37,920 my junior year. And then was kind of the the 180 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:42,280 leader, which was fun and he kind of like making sure that 181 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:46,360 like what I joined and was building that up to you know 182 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:48,920 hopefully leaving it better than what we found it and stuff. 183 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:52,200 But and then I was part of Riders council my junior and 184 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:55,440 senior year, which is the like leadership group for riders. 185 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:58,600 Which is really cool because it gives you a chance to just like 186 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:02,480 meet people outside of your own team and have more of like that 187 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:06,440 community feel. Which I think just made Little 5 188 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:09,800 even more fun because I mean, Rachel, like, I know a lot of 189 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:12,560 people like Rachel Brown, you know, rode for Theta and they 190 00:10:12,560 --> 00:10:15,040 were like girls on Theta. So like, I got to know them when 191 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:18,240 I was writing and it just kind of just makes it feel like your 192 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:22,600 own little kind of clique and group, I guess, at IU and make 193 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:24,800 it feel a little smaller. So. 194 00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:28,600 But that's kind of how I got into it and who I rode for and 195 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:29,280 all that stuff. Yeah. 196 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:33,840 That's awesome. And you know, obviously as as 197 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:37,920 someone who you know, there's always these multiple classes of 198 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:40,520 riders and this idea of you've got some people that come 199 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:42,960 specifically because they're going to ride in Little 5 and 200 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:46,880 you got folks like you who you have an athletic background, but 201 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:49,200 you know this is a completely different type of thing. 202 00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:52,960 What was the adaptation like for you from a mentality perspective 203 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:56,400 once you saw how competitive the race could be at the highest 204 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:58,240 levels? Yeah, that's a good question. 205 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:02,960 I don't think people that really like Someone Like You and your 206 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:05,120 students spend a lot of time, you know, understand the race, 207 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:06,440 so they have a little better idea. 208 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:09,480 But like there's really not that many people that actually know 209 00:11:09,680 --> 00:11:14,680 how much work goes into teams that are, you know wanting to be 210 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:20,480 competing to be on the podium. So for me, I didn't, I did not 211 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:24,480 know that I I came into it like kind of green and whatever. 212 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:27,480 And as a freshman, I think, you know, I still didn't quite 213 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:31,120 understand, but we actually, my freshman year find me was in the 214 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:33,680 Sprint finish and they finished I think 4th or 5th. 215 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:39,400 And so then when you see that happen and you're like whoa like 216 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:43,680 this is intense, like you see it coming down to like just like 217 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:46,200 like the hair of the dog, like it's just so close. 218 00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:51,720 And so for me just to understand like after that I was like okay, 219 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:57,080 like you know this is, this is a lot of work and even like as 220 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:00,120 each year I feel like we kind of built it up a little bit more 221 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:04,400 like my sophomore year we went on a spring break trip which was 222 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:06,920 you know, great, it was great training, we bonded and 223 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:09,360 whatever. But that's not, that's not 224 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:11,040 kosher anymore. Like if you want to be 225 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:14,440 competitive, you're staying in Bloomington on spring break and 226 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:17,280 you're using that extra track time because track time is so 227 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:20,080 valuable. So you know, you kind of live 228 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:22,960 and you learn as you as you go. So junior and senior year, you 229 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:26,760 know, we stayed in Bloomington for spring break, which I mean 230 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:29,080 that's not really a spring break. 231 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:32,680 You know, you're, you're riding twice or you know, more times a 232 00:12:32,680 --> 00:12:35,760 day. You're exhausted, you've got 233 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:38,200 cinders all over your knees and elbows and stuff. 234 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:41,640 So I think, you know, there was a moment where I was like, OK, 235 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:44,200 this is intense. But I also think like as I kind 236 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:49,120 of went, we gradually increased how competitive we wanted to be 237 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:53,600 in the field. So let's talk a little about the 238 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:55,560 race this year. You know, it's it's been 239 00:12:55,560 --> 00:12:57,760 interesting kind of coming out of COVID, obviously. 240 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:02,320 We had that weird COVID race in 2021, which was in May. 241 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:05,360 It was just a throwback to the 60s era, basically. 242 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:09,800 And then you know the the women's race has really gotten 243 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:13,040 interesting just in terms of it's gotten more competitive. 244 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:15,600 You've got a full field this year for the first time in a 245 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:19,080 long time. I mean, it feels like women's 246 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:22,960 sports is having a moment in general across the country, and 247 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:25,920 this is just kind of like another example at the Indiana 248 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:29,760 level of that very thing. And it makes my heart so happy 249 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:34,200 to see a full field. It's been a while and I just 250 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:37,960 love and even seeing new teams that I'm like who is this team? 251 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:39,840 You know, they weren't there when I was writing, you know, 252 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:45,360 just to see that is fantastic. I mean it just it goes to show 253 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:48,600 like this is like going in the right direction like you 254 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:52,200 mentioned COVID, I think and it even for our team, for finding 255 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:53,600 you. I mean, it was really hard to 256 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:57,160 build up after that because it you, you use the race as a 257 00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:00,480 recruiting tool every year like your freshman, they get to see 258 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:03,720 the race like I did and you realize, whoa, like this is so 259 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:05,200 awesome. I want to do this and when you 260 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:08,880 don't have that for a year and really too because you know 261 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:11,120 there weren't fans allowed in 2021. 262 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:14,520 It's like it's tough. So to see it kind of on the 263 00:14:14,560 --> 00:14:17,920 upswing and like you mentioned you know the the women's sports 264 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:22,320 just it's been so fun to watch and to cover on my side and to 265 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:25,960 see it like also happening at IU at little 5I. 266 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:30,640 I just hope like it continues, you know, like not only do we 267 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:33,360 want to fulfill, but we want to fulfill of competitive teams. 268 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:37,360 And then I think the women's race for a long time has been 269 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:40,360 OK. You've got a handful of teams 270 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:43,480 that are really competitive that could actually win this race 271 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:46,720 wouldn't wouldn't it be nice in a couple years we see you know, 272 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:49,120 a little bit more like the men's side, like maybe you've got like 273 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:51,960 1012 teams that are really competitive and you don't see 274 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:53,840 this pulling up the pack situation anymore. 275 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:57,920 You see teams really levelling out and I think as a as a former 276 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:00,480 rider and as just someone that's viewing the race, that's what 277 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:04,200 you want to see it go. Yeah, and look, I think 278 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:07,920 sometimes people, I've all, I've, I've often had to try to 279 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:09,960 correct people who, you know, sometimes forget that the 280 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:11,920 women's race is part of the weekend. 281 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:14,760 And it's like, no, this is actually, from a spectator 282 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:18,840 perspective, I think my favorite of the two because there's no 283 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:21,200 fluff like it is. It's 100 laps. 284 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:24,040 It is. There's very little time for 285 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:29,720 mistakes and the pacing is so hectic and and you know what? 286 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:32,440 What what I find interesting about it is like how quick it's 287 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:34,800 over. It's like an hour 15, hour 20. 288 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:38,600 So much gets packed into those 100 laps that you blink and you 289 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:42,480 miss quite a bit of things. I think it's it is even more 290 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:45,040 chaotic when you're riding. You're like, what's going on? 291 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:47,120 What's happening? He's doing this and it's just 292 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:49,400 like, you're screaming, you're yelling, you've got things on 293 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:51,920 the whiteboard and it's just like, it's over and you're like, 294 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:55,560 wait, that just happened. I agree with you though, because 295 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:58,680 I mean, as much as I like and before, like, OK, like maybe the 296 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:00,440 woman's race needs to be a little longer. 297 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:02,800 I feel like when you watch the men's race, you've got this 298 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:04,560 little, like, lull where you feel like you can go to the 299 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:07,520 concession stand, you can get a snack, you can go grab a T-shirt 300 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:08,800 from the booth. You don't really feel like 301 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:11,040 you're going to miss a ton. The woman's race. 302 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:14,040 You need your eyes on that track, like the entire time 303 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:17,320 because you things can happen in an instant. 304 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:20,760 And I'm excited I think like you know this year me being on the 305 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:24,080 field and kind of this field analyst role, I'm hoping that we 306 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:26,640 can kind of like catch some of those, you know, things that are 307 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:29,840 happening in the moment. You know, is a team going off 308 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:32,440 the front who's exchanging, you know what's what are those 309 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:34,840 conversations on the field in the pits happening. 310 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:38,600 But yeah, it's it's hectic down there as a rider. 311 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:40,480 It's it's, it's even more hectic. 312 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:42,160 It's it's it's a lot of fun though. 313 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:45,040 That's great. So what are you expecting out of 314 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:47,560 this race? We we've seen spring series is 315 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:49,800 over. You know, we've we've seen who, 316 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:52,640 who's on the pole, We've seen who the best riders have been in 317 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:55,360 IT. TS You look at all of this and 318 00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:57,680 as a former rider and as someone who's been an analyst on this 319 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:01,040 race before, what strikes you or what sticks out to you? 320 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:05,520 So it's interesting as much as I like don't want to see a team 321 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:09,560 come off the front, I mean it kind of feels like this might be 322 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:13,440 the year once again. But what I think is really 323 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:15,640 interesting, you've obviously got teeter, they've so strong 324 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:18,800 returning all of their riders and really controlled the pace 325 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:20,520 of the race last year for a good bit. 326 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:24,079 And I sure they are feeling slighted like that, just fell 327 00:17:24,079 --> 00:17:25,680 through their fingertips last year. 328 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:30,160 And then you've got Theda, who's just but historically very good. 329 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:33,920 And you've got Audrey on them and a senior leader that I've 330 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:36,400 heard them. You know, coaches on their side 331 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:38,720 saying this is one of the best riders they've ever had come 332 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:42,200 from their entire program, which is very, very high praise on the 333 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:44,760 Theta side. You see these two teams, I think 334 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:48,680 it'll be very interesting to see one teeter maybe wants to come 335 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:50,840 off. Is Theta going to be following? 336 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:54,360 I think there's no question that they are because you don't want 337 00:17:54,360 --> 00:17:59,280 that one person leading off. My question though is who is 338 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:03,680 there a team that might be able to kind of swing their way in 339 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:08,120 either keeping them from doing that or staying up on them and 340 00:18:08,120 --> 00:18:11,360 trying to create a bigger pack? I just don't think that there 341 00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:16,440 are other two teams that are like so strong that if Teeter 342 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:20,200 and Theta or just teeter went off by themselves that they 343 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:22,640 could catch up. It'll be also interesting to 344 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:24,080 really see the timing of all this. 345 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:26,520 I think. I think Teeter will be very 346 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:31,920 strategic and when based off of who's on the track at what time, 347 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:35,200 I don't think Teeter will care who's on the bike for them. 348 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:38,320 They've got 4 great riders that really can do what they need. 349 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:42,480 It'll be who's on the bike for Theta, who's on the bike for DG 350 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:44,920 or Novus or some of these other top teams. 351 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:48,680 Is it when their third or fourth rider goes on that we're going 352 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:51,880 to exploit that and show that we've got four strong riders? 353 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:56,000 So I don't know, I I always love to see it unfold. 354 00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:01,680 But yeah, I'm not the biggest fan of like one team for Lat 40 355 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:04,800 off and like watching that, but it really there's a lot that 356 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:09,200 goes into it and it's always fun to see how it all unfolds and 357 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:10,920 you never know. I think that's the beauty of the 358 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:14,400 race is like I might be saying all the stuff, but it might not 359 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:16,360 happen. If I see something completely 360 00:19:16,360 --> 00:19:19,240 different, there could be a rack in like the 1st 10 laps that 361 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:22,800 changes the entire course of the race, which is just what makes I 362 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:25,040 mean little 5 in sports in general so fun because you just 363 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:27,120 you can't predict what's going to happen. 364 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:28,720 Yeah. No, I mean, I mean just the 365 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:31,600 history of of the recent history of the races, we've seen all of 366 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:33,040 the things that you just described. 367 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:35,680 You know, we've had a team a couple years ago go off the 368 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:37,880 front and you know, by the time everybody realized what was 369 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:39,800 going on, they had black the field twice. 370 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:42,160 It's like well, OK, that's the rest of the day, but then you 371 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:44,520 know you've had holes open up randomly in the track because of 372 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:46,160 weather conditions. I don't think that's going to 373 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:48,520 happen this time because it's rained. 374 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:50,160 It's going to be dry for a couple of days. 375 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:52,400 It's not going to be overly hot. So that should help keep the 376 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:55,760 track stable. And you know it's, I think 377 00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:59,880 there's, there's there's so many uncertain variables when you're 378 00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:03,280 dealing with this many riders and this many teams in that 379 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:05,200 confined of a space. It is the one thing I'm really 380 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:08,920 curious about with the women's race because up up until last 381 00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:12,600 year you've generally had somewhere between like 20 and 25 382 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:15,120 teams. Going, you're going to have 383 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:18,960 eight additional teams or 9 or 10 or whatever you want to use 384 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:21,760 the number as out on the track, which is going to create some 385 00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:24,120 larger packs. It's going to create some slower 386 00:20:24,120 --> 00:20:27,800 traffic at times. And those are factors that you 387 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:31,200 can't always predict in terms of you may be doing everything 388 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:33,640 right and someone may be just trying to get out of the way of 389 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:35,840 somebody else and it creates a chain effect that you're not 390 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:38,000 expecting. And that happens every year. 391 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:41,640 I mean, I think about like, am I I hold my breath every time I 392 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:44,440 watch either the men's or women's race for the 1st 12 laps 393 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:47,200 because that's usually like maybe the set, the first set for 394 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:49,520 most riders. It might be 10 to 15 laps at 395 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:52,800 least on the women's side. And I hold my breath because you 396 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:57,480 just have a mix of riders that you know, might be on some of 397 00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:01,120 those bottom half teams that aren't as experienced or it's 398 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:02,840 their first time starting the race. 399 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:07,000 There's so much nerves, there's so much adrenaline that 400 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:10,600 something really that's when things can really kind of go 401 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:13,040 sideways. I think when you have a bigger 402 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:17,520 pack like that when you add in like you said, you know those 403 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:22,000 extra teams that's extra teams that have not ridden last year 404 00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:26,880 have you know don't have as much experience you'll it'll be 405 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:29,000 interesting to see. I mean just how fast maybe some 406 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:31,360 of those top teams really want to get out of the way. 407 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:33,400 I think that's always kind of the hope. 408 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:36,360 But at the same time you want to save your energy a little bit 409 00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:40,360 like let's use maybe some of these teams that are you know in 410 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:46,320 pole position 789 to 15 that are decent and let's use their them 411 00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:49,000 to kind of help pull and and pull the pack. 412 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:53,040 But yeah, I mean, you you mentioned all of that about 413 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:56,040 anything can happen that happened my senior year, someone 414 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:58,040 right in front of me. Just. 415 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:01,200 Divvied a little. My front tire hit them. 416 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:04,760 That changed the race entirely for us in one second. 417 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:09,960 So you hate to see it, but it's always a possibility, especially 418 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:14,600 with extra teams this year. Well, it should be a lot of fun. 419 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:17,240 We're looking forward to having you back on the broadcast. 420 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:21,560 For those who want to tune in, we're going to start at 4:00 on 421 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:25,920 Friday and you can TuneIn broadcast.iu.edu. 422 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:28,920 I will actually, for those of you who are watching this, I 423 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:33,840 will put the link into the the bio or the whatever the 424 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:35,280 description. They call it a description. 425 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:38,000 Katie then did the description underneath the video on YouTube. 426 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:42,760 So broadcast.iu.edu, 4:00 We'll start the broadcast. 427 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:48,720 We'll have Zion Brown and and Rachel Brown up top doing the 428 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:51,640 play by play. And then we'll have Katie in the 429 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:55,400 infield with Riley Woodall and Kara Adams as we cover 430 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:58,040 everything in that area. It should be a lot of fun. 431 00:22:58,120 --> 00:22:59,680 Looking forward to seeing you out here again. 432 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:00,720 Thanks for joining me today. Thanks. 433 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:04,160 All right. And continuing on with our 434 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:08,720 little 500 preview podcast, we've got our two analysts for 435 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:12,160 the men's little 500. We've got Matt Mcgorry. 436 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:16,280 We've got Zach Horowitz. Guys, welcome to the broadcast 437 00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:18,840 crew. You you're both in your first 438 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:21,600 year with the crew and and this is always a fun time bringing 439 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:24,520 people in. It should be a lot of fun this 440 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:26,000 year. Really fascinating race. 441 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:29,280 We're going to talk about the race a little bit later in terms 442 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:32,360 of what we're expecting this year, but let's introduce you to 443 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:34,480 1st and and get everybody on the same page. 444 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:37,960 Zach, let me start with you. Give the folks your background 445 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:41,080 and history as it relates to coming to IU, like where you're 446 00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:44,080 from originally and how you got involved in the Little 5. 447 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:49,520 Yeah, definitely. So I'm from Carmel IN and I've 448 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:54,040 been there as long as I can remember grew up there and you 449 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:58,360 know never really desired to go to IU but somehow ends it up 450 00:23:58,360 --> 00:24:02,960 there and had an amazing experience at IUI was in a 451 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:08,000 fraternity in AE Pie and I started the bike program back up 452 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:13,080 through AE Pie and had a great time leading the bike team 453 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:18,400 through AE Pie for three years until finally kind of going 454 00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:21,880 independent and creating our own independent team through Knicks 455 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:24,480 English Hut. We created a team called Knicks 456 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:29,200 English Cycling neh which was amazing and yeah my little 500 457 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:34,120 experiences or was you know it's ages ago now it was amazing. 458 00:24:34,120 --> 00:24:37,880 I I was incredibly blessed for all the experiences I had and 459 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:40,560 all the people I met. Matt, how about you? 460 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:46,320 I come by the way of Alpharetta. GA actually grew up there my 461 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:49,400 entire life. Decided to have this crazy idea 462 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,280 of going to engineering school at Georgia Tech and as a 463 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:55,640 freshman, waking up at 8:00 AM for Calc 3 very quickly 464 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:57,320 understood that that wasn't quite the math. 465 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:01,560 That was was for me by happenstance happened to find 466 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:04,440 Kelly School of Business and started evaluating business 467 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:06,240 schools. Once I've learned that you could 468 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:07,920 use math to make money, I was hooked. 469 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:10,040 Line and sinkered into the business curriculum. 470 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:12,400 Transferred to Indiana. Fun fact. 471 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:15,600 Actually, I had never been on campus when I transferred to IU. 472 00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:17,880 Never visited, just heard great things. 473 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:22,240 Was really excited frankly kind of struggle to find my home 474 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:24,400 within Indiana. I did a run club and that was 475 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:26,920 great, but was looking for something a little more involved 476 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:30,480 and by happenstance happened to run into a high school friend I 477 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:34,360 never even knew went to Indiana. He invited me to join his bike 478 00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:37,120 team Jet Black. So I ended up racing for Jet 479 00:25:37,120 --> 00:25:40,240 Black in 2019. Unfortunately had my COVID year 480 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:43,960 cancelled in 2020, but then I was fortunate enough in 2022 and 481 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:47,680 2023 to come back and be the mechanic for Team Delta Zeta on 482 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:50,680 the women's race side of things. So certainly excited for the 483 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:53,400 race. It's something that I'm always 484 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:56,480 looking forward to this time of year and excited to see what 485 00:25:56,480 --> 00:26:00,040 happens and what I'm starting to call April absurdity here on 486 00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:02,680 Saturday. Your your comment about waking 487 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:06,200 up at 8:00 AM for calc 3 and realizing that's not the math 488 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:08,040 for you. Sadly, that's how I felt about 489 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:10,560 waking up at 9:30 for Finite. Which? 490 00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:14,080 Is why I went into the media as opposed to business. 491 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:16,080 I think you were still well ahead of me on that front. 492 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:18,080 No that that's that's great guys. 493 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:21,960 It's it's fascinating to me always with Little 5. 494 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:25,960 Like the obviously the competition's awesome and you 495 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:28,200 know watching the teams come together and and hearing the 496 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:30,320 riders. But just the the sheer volume of 497 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:32,920 background stories that we hear from people involved in the 498 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:37,040 race, men's race, women's race, the alumni and and you know all 499 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:42,480 of the things that make up the kind of character of the little 500 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,840 500 you know and and hearing your guys's stories. 501 00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:48,880 I mean I've I've heard 1000 different variations on like how 502 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:50,800 we got there. Everything from I knew I we 503 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:53,560 wanted to come to IU because I wanted to, you know, riding 504 00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:56,120 Little 5 to. I never even knew Little 5 505 00:26:56,120 --> 00:26:57,520 existed. And I happened to run into 506 00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:01,800 somebody randomly on the street. And I've I've always fascinated 507 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:04,600 at how much people want to stay involved with the race long 508 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:06,400 after it's over. It's just not something you see 509 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:09,440 that much in a lot of other things that people do on campus. 510 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:12,760 That's a great point, Galen, and I think some of it is like the 511 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:15,400 sense of community. You really get through the race. 512 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:19,600 Not only are you coming together at this great time in April with 513 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:22,800 the rest of the campus, but the entire year as as like a 514 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:26,320 community and as a as a group of teams, women's and men's race, 515 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:28,600 you're making friends or going on social rides throughout the 516 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:30,760 summer. You're coming to the track in 517 00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:34,560 the fall for for fall series. So certainly it it feels more 518 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:37,880 than just a one day in April for for my involvement and how I 519 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:40,360 think through the race and certainly something that I've 520 00:27:40,360 --> 00:27:43,120 foreseen myself being involved with for some time, giving back 521 00:27:43,120 --> 00:27:45,080 for something that afforded so much to me. 522 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:49,560 It going off of what you said, Matt, it is such a massive 523 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:52,560 community. You can call it an event, but 524 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:55,400 it's really a lifestyle for anybody who partakes in the 525 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:59,000 Little 500 experience. It's like if you give it your 526 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:01,720 all, if you buy into what the Little 500 is going to offer you 527 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:06,280 as a writer or even a mechanic or a coach, you're going to make 528 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:08,680 amazing memories. You're going to have incredible 529 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:12,680 friends over the years and it's just an amazing community. 530 00:28:13,360 --> 00:28:17,160 Yeah it's you know I mean I I haven't watched it from afar for 531 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:19,680 a long time And then being involved over the course of the 532 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:21,560 last several years in the broadcast it's it's been 533 00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:24,440 fascinating kind of seeing all these stories filter through and 534 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:27,320 and as we were I was joking with Zach a little bit beforehand 535 00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:30,680 like people that we we interviewed on on broadcast that 536 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:33,880 I was producing or now back on the broadcast as as part of the 537 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:38,880 production which is delightful. I love it you know as we as we 538 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:41,520 you know the the month of April is always a fascinating one in 539 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:45,520 in Indiana the weather changes so much you know and but that 540 00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:50,840 period between spring break and Little 5 in in normal years is 541 00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:54,120 it's just like a whirlwind. You know for those of us on 542 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:56,840 campus, I know for me especially being involved in it, it feels 543 00:28:56,840 --> 00:28:58,840 like you know one day we're starting Qualls and then the 544 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:01,560 next day the the green flag is dropping for the race. 545 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:05,080 When when you guys think back to your own experiences in the 546 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:08,200 race, like what is it like for you as a rider going through 547 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:10,960 that period. The anticipation of knowing you 548 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:12,680 know you've at least got a chance to be in the race. 549 00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:15,640 If you're in the final four riders on your own team, you 550 00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:18,760 know right to the point where you're you're lined up and 551 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:20,240 you're going through introductions. 552 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:21,800 Zach, let's start with you on this. 553 00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:23,720 Like what's what? How do you, how do you manage 554 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:26,320 those emotions and those thoughts over time? 555 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:29,640 It's tough, especially at the very beginning. 556 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:34,320 Like, I can think back very vividly to, you know, my first 557 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:39,600 race or my first quals in 2016. The team was brand new. 558 00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:42,480 I had basically no experience on a bike. 559 00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:49,000 And yeah, it's it's really nerve wracking, like the moments 560 00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:53,480 before the race, even before falls, like the night of sleep. 561 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:58,760 Prior to these massive events, you're just like not able to 562 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:00,160 sleep. You're just thinking about 563 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:02,600 trying to be able to execute the next day. 564 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:07,960 And yeah, another thing I think about when I think about nerves 565 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:13,960 within the race are like the feeling that you have as a rider 566 00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:18,800 starting on the bike for those first few laps to actually get 567 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:21,440 the race going. Like those. 568 00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:24,520 Just thinking about it makes my heart start racing, you know, 569 00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:30,360 Like those moments are so high stake and it's just so exciting. 570 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:36,800 Matt, how about you? For for me having candidly race 571 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:40,240 race once a large part of of spring series, we had a very 572 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:44,440 competitive team in in 2019 and it was trying to both do what's 573 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:47,680 right for myself. Obviously you train all year. 574 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:51,240 Definitely have your focus and goals on being on the race team. 575 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:53,480 When you know you're going to be that three or four rider. 576 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:56,280 When your team is 5 or 6 deep though, it's it's kind of like 577 00:30:56,520 --> 00:31:00,200 you know how how do I work with my best friends and not upset 578 00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:03,520 anybody and still do what's right and still try to be that 579 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:06,200 that top four riders. So for me it was kind of keeping 580 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:09,320 my head down, making sure I was doing everything I could every 581 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:11,560 single day. I woke up to get 1% better and 582 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:14,560 be ideally a rider on a race day team. 583 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:19,200 And fortunate enough for me, I was selected as a rider and kind 584 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:22,000 of Zach, you you mentioned it, it's kind of ironic count. 585 00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:24,840 You go to the track in the fall, you go to the track a lot more 586 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:28,280 in the spring, You spend so much time there, you raise Qualls, 587 00:31:28,280 --> 00:31:32,040 you get through team pursuit, missing out Itts and the reality 588 00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:34,320 is that the race, like you've been on the track, racing 589 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:36,080 against people the entire spring. 590 00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:38,760 But something certainly feels different when you wake up on a 591 00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:41,080 Saturday and you know there's going to be thousands and 592 00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:43,880 thousands of fans. So for me it's it's like telling 593 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:46,400 myself that it's another race, another time on the track. 594 00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:49,360 I've done this many times before, but it's hard not to get 595 00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:52,080 lost in in the moment and gravity and brevity of the whole 596 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:54,680 situation. It's a totally different 597 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:56,920 feeling. Like you're saying, we've been 598 00:31:56,920 --> 00:32:01,200 there so many times, we've spent countless hours just. 599 00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:03,880 And if my memory serves me correctly, I'm pretty sure you 600 00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:06,800 have to log a certain amount of hours to actually waste. 601 00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:11,440 Everybody puts in the time. But like you're saying, Matt, it 602 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:14,400 just feels different. There's something in the air. 603 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:17,520 There's something about the the small changes that they're just 604 00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:20,520 being like pit boards and like you know, really clean lane 605 00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:22,840 lines and stuff like that to make you feel that something is 606 00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:25,960 just not not wrong, but like different in that different 607 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:27,520 environment. It's not just showing up to the 608 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:30,640 track to get some laps in after a Thursday, it's a a full on 609 00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:33,800 production at that point. It's also fascinating to me. 610 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:35,760 I mean and you guys are relatively recent riders. 611 00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:38,480 You know, you're racing in, you know, 17/18/19 that period. 612 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:44,040 But I mean I I remember calling the race in 2001 on student 613 00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:49,200 radio and you know, I've seen videos of of races before that. 614 00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:51,720 And really, I mean there's little changes like you 615 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:55,160 mentioned, but like the the core experience hasn't really changed 616 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:57,920 a whole lot. And that is in and of itself a 617 00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:00,960 really fascinating thing to think about given how almost 618 00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:02,920 everything. Like you watch a football game 619 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:06,800 that was televised in 2003 or a basketball game looks like a 620 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:10,120 different sport and and yet you watch a little 5 from that 621 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:13,720 period and it doesn't really look like it's altered that much 622 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:16,840 from what that experience was. Totally. 623 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:19,440 And you know, I I think there has been some things that have 624 00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:21,040 changed about the race over time. 625 00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:24,360 You know, people have really optimized kind of the logistics 626 00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:27,680 of in the middle of the race, bringing extra handlebars, extra 627 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:30,000 wheels, etcetera. At the end of the day, it's 628 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:32,360 still 4 riders on our team, 33 teams. 629 00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:34,680 Format hasn't changed and I think there's something really 630 00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:38,000 powerful and strong about that. I was doing some research 631 00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:41,200 earlier this week. Little 500 is older than the 632 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:44,040 Indianapolis Colts or the Indianapolis Pacers. 633 00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:46,880 Predates both of those organizations and for me it 634 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:50,960 feels very powerful that in in kind of an essence, the format 635 00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:54,200 has stayed kind of the same. Riders who are going to ride 636 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:56,920 this Saturday have ridden in pretty much the same race that 637 00:33:56,920 --> 00:34:01,200 Riders back in 1951 rode in. I find that so powerful and just 638 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:03,800 again, part of the aura of the race, I think. 639 00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:06,680 It really is. And just like the bikes that we 640 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:09,520 ride, this race is as simple as it gets. 641 00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:11,679 There's not a whole lot of rules, right? 642 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:15,800 You know, there's there's really, it's really simple. 643 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:20,760 And you know, what it makes me think about is we had some 644 00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:23,440 alumni that would work with the a π cycling team back in the 645 00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:26,560 day. And I would have conversations 646 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:30,480 with them about like their experiences in the race back in 647 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:33,639 the 80s or whatever. And they're telling me these 648 00:34:33,639 --> 00:34:37,480 stories and it's crazy because like, I can picture exactly what 649 00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:41,760 they're talking about and it's a totally different time, like 650 00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:44,840 literally 40 years prior and I know exactly what they're 651 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:46,280 referencing. It's amazing. 652 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:49,440 Two things I'll pick up on on what Matt said. 653 00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:51,840 Not only is the race older than the Indianapolis Colts, it's 654 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:54,880 older than the Baltimore Colts, who of course moved to Indy 655 00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:57,600 because the Colt the Baltimore Colts started in 1953. 656 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:00,200 Little Five's been around since 51. 657 00:35:00,720 --> 00:35:03,960 The NBA only was founded in 1946. 658 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:07,160 So, so Little 5 is almost as old as the entire National 659 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:10,160 Basketball Association. That's that is remarkable stuff. 660 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:14,400 And I love all the random, you know, the the the little bits 661 00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:17,680 and pieces of history. I do a whole lecture on Little 662 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:21,880 500 in my class which a lot of times people are like, why are 663 00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:25,440 we even learning about this? But I my argument's always been, 664 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,680 this is one of the most important cultural touchdowns 665 00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:30,960 that you have at Indiana University and it's been around 666 00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:34,800 for 3/4 of a century. And you know the little things 667 00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:39,640 like in the 60s, you know that in addition to the race, you had 668 00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:43,760 a whole thing on Lake Monroe called the regatta where they 669 00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:46,560 would bring, they would, they would have a boat race, they 670 00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:49,920 would have bands playing on platforms out on Lake Monroe. 671 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:51,880 Everybody would camp out on the shoreline. 672 00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:55,520 This was still when the drinking age was 18 you know and and you 673 00:35:55,520 --> 00:36:00,720 know so just about I can't imagine today and keep in mind 674 00:36:00,720 --> 00:36:03,040 the race happened in May. Back then the race always 675 00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:05,360 happened on the Sunday of of Mother's Day weekend. 676 00:36:06,240 --> 00:36:08,640 I can't imagine going to Lake Monroe in like mid-april. 677 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:10,080 That just seems like a terrible idea. 678 00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:15,160 But I I I am trying to imagine the scene now with with IU 679 00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:18,280 culture going down to Lake Monroe for something like that. 680 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:20,480 But that, that, that's the stuff that's out there, if you dig 681 00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:23,320 about this race a little bit and all the different things that 682 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:26,160 have happened in and around it and just the way that it's kind 683 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:28,600 of been ingrained in IU culture over the course of time and. 684 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:33,160 I kind of view it like baseball sometimes, big baseball fan, you 685 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:35,640 know, there's there's always stuff that happens in a baseball 686 00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:38,640 game that you're like, how has this never happened in the 687 00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:41,200 history of the sport before? And I feel like it's the same 688 00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:43,880 with Little 5. There's always some new, you 689 00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:47,120 know, phenomenon at the race or something, an incident that 690 00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:50,040 nobody's ever seen before. It feels very new and and to 691 00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:53,280 your point, Galen, there's so much, you know, nuanced history, 692 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:56,000 specific history. I tell people all the time 693 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:58,440 there's an Academy award-winning movie about this race. 694 00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:00,440 A lot of people aren't even aware about that. 695 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:03,840 And, you know, certainly view that there's a lot of if you 696 00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:06,320 want to shine the magnifying glass into all the little 697 00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:09,560 corners, you can find so much interesting history that really 698 00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:12,280 is at the core of Indiana University's ethos, to your 699 00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:15,480 point, Galen. Let's talk a little bit about 700 00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:21,600 the race this year as obviously, you know, the men's race has so 701 00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:25,240 many kind of, you know, interesting twists and turns. 702 00:37:25,240 --> 00:37:27,320 You've got a lot of strong teams, you've got a lot of 703 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:30,640 strong riders. As you look at the different 704 00:37:30,640 --> 00:37:33,160 storylines that are out there right now and what we've seen 705 00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:36,800 through Spring series so far, what sticks out to both of you 706 00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:40,720 as far as what the audience should be looking for as we go 707 00:37:40,720 --> 00:37:45,200 into the broadcast on Saturday? I can take it first, Zack. 708 00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:47,160 I think it's going to be a strong race. 709 00:37:47,200 --> 00:37:49,960 I think that throughout spring series we've seen lots of teams 710 00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:52,600 kind of ebb and flow and perform and underperform. 711 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:54,920 I think there's a lot of other teams who probably trained 712 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:57,560 through spring series and we didn't even see how strong they 713 00:37:57,560 --> 00:37:59,320 really are going to be this Saturday. 714 00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:02,760 So I think in terms of how I'm thinking through the race, I 715 00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:07,120 think it's going to be a lot more kind of nervous and anxious 716 00:38:07,120 --> 00:38:09,720 than than last year. With SIG up attacking so early, 717 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:12,400 I kind of viewed that as as a more aggressive move. 718 00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:15,520 If I'm not jinxing the race too hard, I think it's going to be a 719 00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:17,880 little more predictable this year with a stronger field 720 00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:22,480 overall, a lot of more marking going on, a lot more kind of cat 721 00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:25,000 and mouse type games. But then I expect it to all blow 722 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:27,040 up at some point. You know, if I had the crystal 723 00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:29,480 ball, I would love to love to report when, but that's part of 724 00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:32,160 the beauty of the race. Zach Curious what what you 725 00:38:32,160 --> 00:38:34,160 think? Yeah, I mean, first of all, I 726 00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:36,640 think that's everything you said is totally accurate. 727 00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:38,080 I think. I think it's going to be a great 728 00:38:38,080 --> 00:38:42,360 race to call when you have so many potential teams in 729 00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:45,800 contention. It has, you know, the potential 730 00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:47,520 to just be a very, very exciting race. 731 00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:51,920 But what I will say is that, and correct me if I'm wrong, but 732 00:38:52,240 --> 00:38:55,400 there was no successful qualification from BKB last 733 00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:56,400 year. Is that correct? 734 00:38:56,680 --> 00:38:58,080 That's right. Well, yeah, that was the big 735 00:38:58,080 --> 00:38:59,440 shock. They didn't make it. 736 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:01,880 And then, of course, this year, they're back with a vengeance. 737 00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:05,320 I was going to say I'm, I'm just excited to you know, be there in 738 00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:10,040 the infield and to to witness, you know how they approach this 739 00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:12,840 race having not been able to participate last year. 740 00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:16,640 And I saw that they had a massive alumni turn out last 741 00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:21,040 year and of course they weren't even in their in the race. 742 00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:25,360 And so I imagine their entire community is just ready and 743 00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:27,840 excited to see them back on track. 744 00:39:28,080 --> 00:39:31,760 The the pre race BKB tailgates always a a fun one to stop by. 745 00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:34,240 I'll I'll probably try to swing over there at some point on 746 00:39:34,240 --> 00:39:36,320 Saturday myself if if it's going on. 747 00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:39,600 Yeah, I mean yeah, you just you look at the you know and it's 748 00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:43,280 interesting because obviously when when you're whether you're 749 00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:46,240 talking about the Little 500 or the Indy 500 or any race 750 00:39:46,240 --> 00:39:50,880 qualifications don't necessarily mean that those are the absolute 751 00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:55,120 strongest teams. You know, So looking at, you 752 00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:57,880 know, the race from from the standpoint for those of you who 753 00:39:57,880 --> 00:39:59,880 haven't watched it a lot or haven't really thought about the 754 00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:02,760 strategy like it's really about. Who's in contend? 755 00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:04,360 Who can stay in contention long enough? 756 00:40:04,360 --> 00:40:07,120 Who can stay on the lead lap? Who can avoid accidents? 757 00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:09,760 Who can, you know, not lose tremendous amounts of ground? 758 00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:12,960 But then who has the strongest riders of the teams that have 759 00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:15,600 survived to that point that they can put on the bike in the last, 760 00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:17,480 you know, 5 laps, 10 laps, whatever. 761 00:40:18,240 --> 00:40:20,520 And that's always the thing, I think, with both of these races, 762 00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:22,880 but especially with the men's race, like it always feels like 763 00:40:22,880 --> 00:40:28,120 it comes down to three or four teams and you can you think you 764 00:40:28,120 --> 00:40:31,400 can guess as far as which team is going to play the strategy, 765 00:40:31,400 --> 00:40:33,320 right? But you never entirely know 766 00:40:33,320 --> 00:40:36,000 because they're just 1000 small variables, as I was talking 767 00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:39,360 about with Katie earlier on the podcast, that can play into 768 00:40:39,360 --> 00:40:42,600 things something as simple as the direction of the wind and 769 00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:45,120 whether it's coming into your face, you know, coming, you 770 00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:47,960 know, into Turn 3 or going out of Turn 4. 771 00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:50,880 That's the kind of thing I think is fascinating and a lot of 772 00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:53,400 times gets lost on people who haven't had a chance to watch 773 00:40:53,400 --> 00:40:55,440 these things intently or be in them like you guys. 774 00:40:56,760 --> 00:40:59,240 Completely agree Galen, and you alluded to it. 775 00:40:59,240 --> 00:41:03,480 It's a Total War of attrition, 200 laps over 50 miles, never 776 00:41:03,480 --> 00:41:06,640 going to win the race in the 1st 100 laps or so, but certainly 777 00:41:06,640 --> 00:41:09,000 can lose. It is is a common saying and so 778 00:41:09,640 --> 00:41:13,040 completely agree that I view, you know, potentially a little 779 00:41:13,040 --> 00:41:14,760 bit colder weather. It looks like it won't be 780 00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:16,760 raining as much. That could tear up the track a 781 00:41:16,760 --> 00:41:19,240 little bit. I certainly think that it's 782 00:41:19,240 --> 00:41:22,680 going to be somewhat kind of predictable, but then a bomb is 783 00:41:22,680 --> 00:41:26,360 going to go off at at some point and the races is certainly going 784 00:41:26,360 --> 00:41:28,960 to blow up. Especially when you get a lot of 785 00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:32,680 teams who are very deep and strong and and realize that 786 00:41:33,240 --> 00:41:36,240 typically that helps them like commit to their strategies more 787 00:41:36,480 --> 00:41:39,880 robustly and I'd expect some fireworks to play out 788 00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:43,240 definitely, for sure. Absolutely. 789 00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:50,080 And I would say, and I remember thinking about this when my team 790 00:41:50,080 --> 00:41:52,240 and I would ride back in the day and even when we would 791 00:41:52,240 --> 00:41:55,880 communicate with other teams. The stronger you are as a team, 792 00:41:56,040 --> 00:42:02,720 right, the more you're hoping for perfect weather, right? 793 00:42:03,080 --> 00:42:06,480 Because you just want to be able to go out there and do what you 794 00:42:06,480 --> 00:42:09,920 can do best. But, you know, sometimes if 795 00:42:09,920 --> 00:42:11,800 things. Obviously we're not expecting 796 00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:15,000 any rain or or terrible weather, but if the weather's crazy, if 797 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:18,720 the track's in poor condition, you know that it definitely 798 00:42:18,720 --> 00:42:22,040 wouldn't favor a team that wasn't previously favored by any 799 00:42:22,040 --> 00:42:25,040 means, but it certainly increases their probability of 800 00:42:25,040 --> 00:42:28,640 success, right? Like if you can just stir up 801 00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:31,840 some craziness. Obviously nothing illegal but no 802 00:42:31,840 --> 00:42:36,280 impeding penalties. But yeah, you can make something 803 00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:39,240 crazy happen. Then you got a shot and like 804 00:42:39,240 --> 00:42:44,480 like you said, Galen, if you can make it through, you know, 95% 805 00:42:44,480 --> 00:42:49,720 of the race and you are in those last 2015 ten laps, you got a 806 00:42:49,720 --> 00:42:54,480 shot, anything can happen. But to that point, if you're at 807 00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:58,960 lap 170 and 180 somewhere around that mark and you don't think 808 00:42:58,960 --> 00:43:04,640 you have a sprinter capable of out sprinting anybody, maybe you 809 00:43:04,640 --> 00:43:06,720 just make a break and you go for it. 810 00:43:06,720 --> 00:43:09,320 Because it's at that point, it's now or never. 811 00:43:09,320 --> 00:43:11,960 You know you're going to get beat out in the last two laps. 812 00:43:12,560 --> 00:43:15,040 You give it a shot, everybody's there to win, so. 813 00:43:16,160 --> 00:43:18,160 Last thing I'll ask you guys about, so you mentioned the 814 00:43:18,160 --> 00:43:22,520 weather, so it's 58°, looks like it's going to be sunny, really 815 00:43:22,520 --> 00:43:26,200 not a lot of chance of precipitation, about an 8-9 mile 816 00:43:26,200 --> 00:43:29,840 an hour wind. How do you rate those conditions 817 00:43:29,840 --> 00:43:32,280 in terms of of riding like what is ideal? 818 00:43:32,280 --> 00:43:34,360 And and how? Close are we with those those 819 00:43:34,360 --> 00:43:38,040 particular conditions? I would say that's pretty close 820 00:43:38,040 --> 00:43:42,320 to ideal, except for that I would prefer it to like mist in 821 00:43:42,320 --> 00:43:43,960 the morning or something to that effect. 822 00:43:43,960 --> 00:43:47,000 I think moisture with the track is one of the most important 823 00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:50,960 elements, more than wind, more than temperature as well. 824 00:43:51,680 --> 00:43:54,640 Moisture is what keeps the cinders compacted, keeps the 825 00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:56,960 cinders kind of performing more like concrete. 826 00:43:57,400 --> 00:44:00,680 As that moisture decreases and it becomes drier, it functions 827 00:44:00,680 --> 00:44:03,320 more like sand. And so we've all seen races and 828 00:44:03,320 --> 00:44:05,120 if you've watched the race before you've seen those like 829 00:44:05,120 --> 00:44:07,880 divots that form and and like mini little sandbanks. 830 00:44:08,520 --> 00:44:11,960 For me that's the only thing that's that's missing 8 to 9 831 00:44:11,960 --> 00:44:16,160 mile an hour winds. Not too bad high being 58 on on 832 00:44:16,160 --> 00:44:18,880 Saturday, that's fantastic. That keeps riders cool. 833 00:44:18,880 --> 00:44:22,400 It doesn't mean that they still of course have to hydrate with 834 00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:25,160 the sun being there, but they won't be just sweating buckets 835 00:44:25,160 --> 00:44:27,200 necessarily. What I'm most concerned about 836 00:44:27,200 --> 00:44:29,520 though is is definitely the moisture on the track and I 837 00:44:29,520 --> 00:44:31,600 think that's going to be one thing I'll be keeping an eye on 838 00:44:31,600 --> 00:44:34,680 throughout the race. Yeah, As long as that track 839 00:44:34,680 --> 00:44:37,880 stays compact and with consideration to track 840 00:44:37,880 --> 00:44:41,040 conditions that we've seen in the past, this is as good as. 841 00:44:41,320 --> 00:44:44,440 Yet I, you know, I think the, I think the ladies are going to 842 00:44:44,440 --> 00:44:47,080 get some moisture in the morning on Friday, so that'll help the 843 00:44:47,080 --> 00:44:48,600 track there. We'll see if that carries over 844 00:44:48,600 --> 00:44:51,360 to Saturday. But yeah, I know that the race, 845 00:44:51,680 --> 00:44:55,360 the the COVID makeup race, the one in 2021, I think if if you, 846 00:44:55,400 --> 00:44:57,720 if anybody was there or well, nobody was there. 847 00:44:57,720 --> 00:44:58,920 I was one of the only ones there. 848 00:44:58,920 --> 00:45:03,480 But if you watch that broadcast, the the the way that the track 849 00:45:03,800 --> 00:45:07,040 with the heat 'cause it was in late May and the lack of 850 00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:10,520 moisture reacted, you had a lot of divots, you had a lot of 851 00:45:10,520 --> 00:45:13,000 accidents as a result of track conditions and and that's 852 00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:14,160 exactly what you're talking about. 853 00:45:14,160 --> 00:45:15,200 So I I think we're avoiding that. 854 00:45:15,200 --> 00:45:18,560 It's rained or going to rain like all week here except for 855 00:45:18,560 --> 00:45:20,720 the race days. So we should be in pretty good 856 00:45:20,720 --> 00:45:23,440 shape on that front. But well, guys, I'm looking 857 00:45:23,440 --> 00:45:26,080 forward to hearing you both on the call. 858 00:45:26,320 --> 00:45:28,360 Matt, you're going to be up upstairs. 859 00:45:28,360 --> 00:45:31,840 I believe you're going to be calling from from the top with 860 00:45:31,840 --> 00:45:34,400 Austin Platt, who's our play by play broadcaster. 861 00:45:34,400 --> 00:45:37,760 Zach, you're our field expert. This is a new position that 862 00:45:37,760 --> 00:45:39,720 we're trying out. Katie's doing this on the 863 00:45:39,720 --> 00:45:41,160 women's side, you're doing on the men. 864 00:45:41,320 --> 00:45:44,280 So we can get some more insights on what's going on as we see 865 00:45:44,280 --> 00:45:46,400 what's going on in the pits, we see what's going on with with 866 00:45:46,400 --> 00:45:48,560 strategy. So really looking forward to 867 00:45:48,560 --> 00:45:51,280 having you both on and I appreciate you taking the time 868 00:45:51,480 --> 00:45:53,120 to talk with us on the podcast today. 869 00:45:53,400 --> 00:45:55,600 Absolutely. It's our pleasure, Galen. 870 00:45:55,600 --> 00:45:57,160 Looking forward to it. All right. 871 00:45:57,440 --> 00:45:58,480 Matt Magori. Yeah. 872 00:45:58,480 --> 00:46:00,600 Matt Magori, Zach Horowitz joining us here on the show. 873 00:46:00,800 --> 00:46:05,920 Be sure to tune in. Go to broadcast.iu.edu, 4:00 PM 874 00:46:05,920 --> 00:46:08,720 start for the women. That's when the broadcast starts 875 00:46:08,720 --> 00:46:10,200 on Friday. And then for the men's 876 00:46:10,200 --> 00:46:13,800 broadcast, 2:00 start Eastern Time for all of that. 877 00:46:14,520 --> 00:46:16,680 Again for Zach and Matt, I'm GAIL and Clavio. 878 00:46:16,680 --> 00:46:17,960 Thanks for joining us here on the show.