I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, the wind blowing against my cheeks, and the pedals under my feet. My leg muscles tightened as I pushed harder around the final turn on the track. I knew I wasn’t going as fast as I could, but my nerves prevented me from going any faster. I had never been able to stop in front of the starting line before, and now I was going to have to do it in front of hundreds of people.
It was 6:45am on March 26 and the day of quals (qualification round for Little 500). I had woken up before my alarm went off with a knot in my stomach, a wave of nausea, and pure terror. No one in my house was awake, yet as I anxiously paced in the hallways. I wasn’t sure if I could complete the task that lay ahead.
Slowly members of my sorority, Alpha Epsilon Phi, woke up for our new pledge class’s initiation and wished me luck. They told me they had full confidence in me, but I couldn’t get my nerves to subside. As I sat through initiation my nerves kept building up. I couldn’t sit still and I thought I was going to be sick.
I didn’t understand why I was so nervous. I had played numerous sports before and had been in performances with tons of spectators but none of the nervousness I had in the past came even close to what I was feeling.
Finally initiation came to an end, which led to a quick brunch and all of my sisters going to Sigma Pi for our pair. Unfortunately as social and rider, I was unable to attend and decided to sleep away my nerves.
Fast forward to 2:30pm, time to warm-up at the track. With the bikes attached to the trainers, we pedaled until we were warm and stretched until we were called to registration. As we were guided through the steps, bike pick-up and warm-up, the knot in my stomach got tighter. Members of my sorority and fraternity members from Sigma Pi started cheering as they called us to the track.
I was the first of four riders to begin. I stood behind the line, ran with the bike and hopped on. Luckily, I didn’t fall and embarrass myself … first fear over. As I slowly completed my pace lap I picked up speed before I hit the line.
While I continued at a less then satisfactory speed, the line was approaching and my biggest fear of falling overwhelmed me. This was the moment, the moment that I would have to jump off the bike at full speed before the line. Nothing could pass the line or our time wouldn’t count.
“Set your pedals!” screamed our student coach Rachel Mason, as I neared the line. Those were the only three words I had heard since I jumped on the bike, I had blocked out everything else.
Upon hearing those words, I quickly set my pedals and glided into the transfer zone for a bike-to-bike exchange. I immediately broke once I felt a hand tag my arm. My left leg came over the bike and both feet were on the ground. The bike and myself were upright, and behind the line. VICTORY!
As my teammates went around the track to complete the round I felt the knot in my stomach release, but my disappointment rise. My official lap time was six seconds longer then my best practice run. Bummer.
Although it felt amazing to finally complete what I had been training for, I knew that the Little 500 race wasn’t for me and this is where my career as a rider would end. It was a good run, a lot of fun and something I will never forget.