Team Cinzano Profile

s

The annual Little 500 men's race was not the "World's Greatest College Weekend" for independent team Cinzano. Because of a new rule

enacted by the IU Student Foundation, Category 2 riders would no longer be allowed to compete in the race. The ban made six riders ineligible to race and greatly affected sonic of the traditionally strong teams.

Team Cinzano could not even field a team because the ban affected two of its riders, sophomore Steve Logan and junior Jason Pierce, and destroyed its chalices of a competitive team.

Logan missed the race his freshman year because of a tendon injury and hoped to return to compete with Cinzano. But unless IUSF changes the rule, he will never race in a Little 500. "There are so man y other factors going into the race that being a Category 2 rider doesn't play as big of a role as people think. I don't think IUSF reall y realizes that," Logan said.

The United States Cycling- Federation ranks riders from Category 1 to 5 based on their frequency of racing, their placement in national races and their experience, with Category 1 representing the most exceptional cyclists.

IUSF issued the rule banning riders registered under the USCF's Category 2 to make the race a fair competition and to make riders feel they can participate without being intimidated. "We have seen a decrease in participation, and a lot of teams that had been participating in the past had a feeling that they didn't have a chance to win," IUSF Director Rita Erickson said. "There were so many far superior riders on the track, and it was becoming a race of individuals rather than teams."

Erickson said the Category 2 riders who were affected did not understand IUSF's mission and why they even had the Little 500. "Our mission is to provide an opportunity for any undergraduate to be involved in an intramural activity that raises money for scholarships for working students," Erickson said.

Pierce was one of those riders who was caught in the middle, and he will never know what it feels like to win Little 500. "The only reason I started racing USCF was to improve, so I'd have more of a chance to win Little 5. By cutting us off a year early , they're taking away my chance to do that," Pierce said. "There has been a lot of good riders who didn't 'yin until their senior year. I don't have a chance unless something changes."

Both Pierce and Logan moved from Category 4 to Category 2 in one year. Logan said that if a rider competes in a race every weekend and scores in the top half of the competitors, he or she would be a Category 2 rider by the end of the racing year. "I've worked so hard at this, and I've never gotten any recognition," Logan said. "It's nice to walk to class and have people say, 'Hey aren't you riding Little 5 for team Cinzano?' Now people say that, and I just get reall y sad."

Cinzano planned to continue to talk with IUSF, to write letters and to contact the media in order to try and have the rule revoked. Cinzano also did not allow an y other riders to participate with the name in order to make people aware of the rule and think about what was happening to eligibility of riders.

Logan and Pierce did not think IUSF realized how much Category 2 riders help the race. They help break up the pack and therefore, reduce accidents. Logan and Pierce said that just because someone was a good road racer, it does not mean they were going to do well in Little 500.

Logan believed that if there was an attempt to make the race fair, IUSF would limit the money spent by teams to train. Cinzano had a budget of $500 last year, and they had to find sponsorship. "Some teams have spent $10,000. One of their resources is money, and one of our resources is that we have always been able to get quality riders," Logan said. "The most important thing for us as team Cinzano is that we just like to ride. The recognition is nice, but not important, the money is nice, but not important. Fifteen thousand people watching you is great, but not the most important thing," Logan said. "I just love to ride, and it's sad when someone tells you that you can't do anything, especiall y something you enjoy so much." in

story by heidi kachmann

photos by robb hill