Discussion Room

We’ve noticed everyone has taken a liking to talking about the race. So we’re giving you a place to do that, and just that.

Feel free to use this area to discuss anything and everything about the Little 500 — Qualifications, Spring Series, the race itself.

Please, no character attacks. Trash-talking is great, but slandering people isn’t. Let’s keep it clean. Or your post will be deleted.

 

 

3,629 thoughts on “Discussion Room

  1. If you don’t think Gray Goat is an absolute contender this year then you are a dumbass who clearly has no clue what’s going on in the peloton.

    • Gray goat is for sure a contender. No one disagrees with that. Will beta be? That’s a big question mark. Will sig chi be straight up ass still? Yup their rookies blow hard. Will BKB be any good? probably . Will cutters be any good? Probably. Will phi psi be good? No north or Wes but probably. Will 3PH be good? Eh 10th place is their ceiling. Will forest be any good? No they blow.

    • The real question is how Gray Goat got 2 kids that should be ineligible to be eligible with Andrea by protesting the minimum GPA requirements. Sounds like they’re the real dumbasses if they can’t make grades.

      • It’s sad that those kids have GPA’s that low. It’s a shame they let them ride, it reflects poorly upon little 5 to allow a bunch of morons with .2 GPA’s to ride.

      • Who was it this time? Would be a real blow to Gray Goat if it is one of their returners from last year

      • Neither of their returners. From what I’ve heard, their senior and rookie that just completed rookie week.

      • When oxygen is flowing to the legs, it can’t always make it to the brain. We do our best to counteract this by feeding our riders good brain foods like cage-free avocados and a cup of cinders daily. Muffins keep them docile at night.

  2. Women’s Power Rankings
    1. Theta- Defending champs, best coach
    2. DG- Best rider, great depth. Race like idiots though
    3. Ski- Best depth
    4. Theta Phi Alpha- 2nd best rider and solid program
    5. Independent Council- Most slept on. Rising star

    • Theta- Have lost some experience, although they seem to do a great job of reloading every year. Agree with their coach assesment. They always mix it up.
      DG- have a lot of experience on the track. Lost no one. They may be the deepest team 1 thru 4.
      SKI- I think Ivy may be the strongest all around rider on the track.
      Theta Phi Alpha- Good to see another strong team out there pushing the others.
      Independant Council- Haven’t followed them. Not sure
      What other teams could throw a wrench into the works and insert themselves into the fray? AXO has been consistnetly good the last 5 or so years, What about AGD and Teeter this year. Any new teams that could be a surprise.

  3. After a few days at the track and seeing some workouts…here are my top 10 ITT Predictions

    1. Logan Tisdale Gray Goat
    2. Rob Krahulik SAE
    3. Xavier Martinez BKB
    4. Noble Guyon Cutters
    5. Tom Settle Sig Ep
    6. Albert La Valle Phi Psi
    7. Kurtis Greer Delta Chi
    8. Robert Oehler Jetblach
    9. Ahaan Singhal 3PH
    10. Andrew La Valle Phi Psi

      • Let’s all calm down here. While this post is filled some garbage hot takes, this poster has their reasoning. Curious to know it actually.
        @ITT Predictor can you elaborate as to why? Mainly how you think a freshman 3:00 fall ITTer will beat Ben Harris who you left off of your list. As well as Jake Richards, Caleb Langley, and Robert Oehler. Why did you leave out these elite riders for like 5 names most of us have never heard before?

    • Three reasons to explain this list:
      1. ITT predictor only saw about 30 minutes of track practice so far.
      2. Cutters propaganda was the motivation behind that post.
      3. Crack rock.

      • @fasttracknot How do you conjure up the idea that it’ll be a slow race? Don’t you think the top-tiers will try to keep the pace hot from the start to get rid of the inexperienced riders who have had little to no time on the track?

      • You’ve answered your own question. “Don’t you think the top-tiers will try to keep the pace hot from the start to get rid of the inexperienced riders who have had little to no time on the track?”. Not that their not going to try to keep the pace fast, but in doing so without track practice time the inexperienced riders may well cause crashes and yellow flags which will slow down the race.

  4. Any major notes from today’s crit? Here’s some things I noticed:
    1. Langley seems to be finding his form at the right time. If his team can get him to the finish he could have a shot at out sprinting Noble (and thats a BIG if after seeing the rest of his team at the crit). After today he’s noticeably a better sprinter than Settle, Tisdale, X, or Krahulik.
    2. Fergus Arthur and Griffin Tichenor could give Nick’s a solid team if they’re able to transfer their road skills to the cinders and have another body to give them some rest in the pack.
    3. Hank Duncan and Forest may not be as scrubby as people think.
    4. GG was a bit underwhelming for having this persona as a “road centric” team. Maybe they’ll be a bigger threat on the track than people assume.
    5. Cutters and BKB didn’t race so hard to stack them up against what was a successful race day for other Little 5 teams, curious to see where their “A Guys” would’ve landed in these races.
    6. Theta didn’t look very deep today and missing a star of Rachel Brown level finishing strength. Big question mark going into Spring Series.
    7. Coppens seems to be head and shoulders the best female rider in the Little 500 field. I would say DG is now the clear favorite.

    • 1. Pretty bold take to say Langley is a better sprinter than people who weren’t even racing in the same race as him. Noble is still in a class of his own in a sprint anyway.
      2. I 100% agree. And his name is Zach Horowitz. Can absolutely be counted on to eat laps and reliably sit in the pack, maybe more.
      3. I disagree with this. Hank raced the D’s race…not exactly any World Beaters in there.
      4. This “road centric” team shit comes from jealous frat teams on 33to1 who hate IUCC. Goats are clearly training for Little 500. Tisdale, Richards, Dunsford are a dynamic trio and will be huge threats on the track
      5. I completely agree. BKB and Cutters are soft for skipping this. BKB even showed up during the crit after doing base miles in March. If you’re still doing base miles this late, you’re in trouble.
      6. They had 4 in the top 10…I wouldn’t worry about Theta depth, especially with Knapp in the pit
      7. Agreed. Can’t see anybody beating her in ITTs or MNO this year. Best rider + elite supporting depth is going to be a dangerous combo all spring.

  5. After seeing some TP style workouts think grey goat is a strong contender in that event and looking 4 or more riders deep. Cutters obviously in discussion. Thoughts?

    • GG and Jetblack seem to be the only teams with pace lines running consistent laps that are below 38 secs they also both seem to be the deepest teams in the field this year with what looks like 5+ riders that are all looking like top 25 in the field. Cutters definitely the biggest threat overall but if one of their top 4 sustain an injury that might be it for them

  6. With Ben-ge drink Harris in the boot and Beta looking like a bunch of crack heads on the track, the Phi Delta failed clones could be the deepest Greek team…sad year for all of the alum that fund mediocrity.

  7. Debuting from running to cycling, Thomas McArtie flexed early with fall ITT’s and been clipping consistent 35’s for 10 lap sets. Seems like a true shocka brah. Stay tuned to some other up and coming Rooks

      • Forest in a lame attempt to gain publicity for a team as relevant to the mens filed as Sweet Potato Club is to the women’s field. Front Row will be a combination of BKB, Cutters, and JETBLACH. Beta, sigep, and GG can be in there as well. Any of those 6 teams.

  8. 1. CUTTERS- Return 3/4 members from last year’s pole winning quals team and have the best 1 lap rider in the field
    2. Jetblach- Delts has always been a solid team at quals and Jetblach is an extension of that same program. Oehler is as fast as anybody in the field not named Noble Guyon and gets up to speed quickly.
    3. Gafambi- Beta always shows up on quals and this years team has both experience and speed.
    4. BKB- A first or 2nd row team fairly consistently, BKB has 2 sprinters with great pop in X and Strobel. They should be able to find 2 others to throw down solid laps.
    5. Bears- Langley is in the conversation with X, Oehler, Tisdale, and Harris for 2nd best sprinter in the field and this team is well coached in quals runs.
    6. Phi Delt- The only true Greek team in the top 6, Phi Delt has been throwing down quick fly laps all spring and seem to have found their mojo as a Little 5 team again. Could see them finishing first all the way to 10th in quals though.

  9. Nevermind who the top 5 riders are, who will make up the first three rows of quals, which teams are strong on race day yada yada yada. I need to know who will don the best #qualsstache on Saturday. Lets return 33to1 back to its former glory and talk about the things THAT MATTER!
    I heard Renier can grow a mean one, but not much intel about the rest of the field.

    • #qualstache is up in the air, but best race day stache is locked down. Coach Welch is gonna shame everyone and it won’t be close

    • DG = the team that talks mad shit about each other, well maybe just one, and plays nice face to face… catastrophe on race day here we come…

      Xoxo

    • Have it on good authority that BKB has been taking PEDs to enhance their qualstaches, including Rogaine and mustache dye. While it is not explicitly illegal, this behavior is discouraged and dishonest. Help us Andrea Balzano, you’re our only hope

      • I thought them, gray goat, and the ladies on forest just superglued their shaved off leg hair under their noses to make it look like they could actually grow a mustache? #caught

  10. Thoughts on Quals team going to be race day teams?

    Looking at GG… Billy seems tough and shows he is strong with this L5 shit. Jack + Jizdale with experience and being strong seem in. Hansen being Hansen will race. Seems like the Quals team is set to be a solid race day squad for the goats. Sorry Jake. Karma sucks.

    • Word on the street is he’s already lining up a transfer to Mother Bears where he can display his top 10 ITT and all-star rider potential on a live stage for all of his fans in Bloomington, and give up road racing all together to avoid being lapped again.

    • Still very upset FIJI didn’t let me join their pledges in the elephant walk. I tried 4 times and got shut down 4 times…

    • Sounds like someone’s salty… Jake’s a strong rider and an even better teammate. Maybe you should let your legs do the talking instead of anonymously shit posting.

  11. How did we go from talking about staches’ to bashing two riders, who are both great guys and extremely critical to their teams?

  12. That feeling when your older sibling complex is bigger than your dick, and you feel the need to bash your own blood on an anonymous website to people that don’t care about your insecurities @joshrichards

  13. I devised a model to analyse the who would win in a Little 500 fight to the death. Here are my published findings:
    1. Richards Brothers- These bros are the hot topic of the night for certain. My model predicts upwards of eight broken bones. Jake walks away the winner after laying into both of Josh’s collarbones rendering Josh incapable of delivering another strike. Jake breaks both fists in the simulation but that is nothing compared to the sweet taste of victory.
    2. LaValle Brothers- The most lopsided prediction made by the model. Ultimately Andrew trips over his own feet while running frantically towards Albert. Albert uses the leverage from his inherent lank to land devastating kicks to Andrew’s sternum.
    3. Krahulik Brothers- Both Joe and Rob end up ripping each other’s arms off Chimpanzee style. Joe’s superior “Gorilla Warfare” cannot be matched by his kin. A close fight according to the odds but dominated by Joe in reality.
    4. Thompson Bros- Ben fights with discipline and flawless technique. Unfortunately, Ben’s technique means diddly when hes up against Matt’s renowned street style. Ben is unable to match Matt’s genius improvisation in the octagon. As Darwin or some other guy said “Survive and advance,” Matt does just that in lieu to a resounding victory.

    • Ahhh, but more importantly, what happens if each set of brothers battle each other melee style? Tag team any different? Do Krahuliks get to use Andy as their ring side manager?

    • Hello friends. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’d like to continue my night of Game of Thrones catching up in peace. Thank you. Happy Qualidays to all 🙂

      • One more thing. Let’s stop the shit talking on here. It’s idiotic. There are a lot of good jokes on here, but posts often cross the line. We’re all good people in person- just act like it when you’re online, too.

  14. Takeaways from quals:
    1. Quals time assignment shows to be very important.
    2. The track is fastest either super early or fairly late.
    3. Slow/uneven/loose track makes the negative impact of weak riders more dramatic. Quals times are decent indicator of strength of 3rd/4th riders.
    4. No teams cut from qualifications means races will have more sketchy riders.

  15. Women’s Quals Results Takeaways:
    1. Ski looks to be better/deeper than previous years. Definitely a top team this year.
    2. Usual competitors mostly performing up to expectations.
    3. Melanzana needs more track practice.
    4. Theta seems to be struggling to fill the gap left by Rachel Brown.
    5. No clearly dominant team. Good competition for race day.

    Tier 1 teams (unordered):
    – SKI
    – DG
    – Teter
    – AXD
    – Cru

    Honerable mentions (unordered):
    – CSF
    – AGD
    – AXO
    – Theta?

      • Danger is everywhere. From another perspective, theta, phi mu, tpa, and melanzana will all be starting from middle positions in rows they probably believe are less than ideal. They won’t be navigating to the front gently.

    • Good analysis. Track conditions where okay for the first few teams, although the track was icy. Middle of the day was horrendous. No one was getting a good time then. After the last rolling and to the end of the day the track was in the best condition of the day. Picking times was, and is always, a bit of a crapshoot.

  16. Men’s Quals Results Takeaways:
    1. Track conditions very inconsistent between times. Worst vs best track conditions during the day was probably a difference of 5-10s for the same 4 riders.
    2. Forest with a very respectable time for a team often disregarded by a good portion of the field. Undoubtedly the strongest dorm team this year.
    3. Cutters is noticeably more deep than other strong teams.
    4. SAE and Gray Goat slower than expected for historically top-quality teams.
    5. Spring series results needed to make more detailed predictions.

    Tier 1 teams (unordered):
    – Cutters
    – Phi Psi
    – BKB
    – SigEp
    – Phi Delta Theta

    Honorable mentions (unordered):
    – Forest
    – Gafombi
    – NEH

  17. Gray Goat did not show well yesterday. Placed 24th at 2:43 and lil baby richards is doing wheelies around the track afterward on his pwetty pink bike, so rad bro. Keep killing it.

    • Did you happen to see the track conditions for when they went? They were pretty brutal. A lot of teams struggled with it. I look for them to quickly move up at the beggining come race day!

      P.S. don’t know what the BS is with Jake Richards, but I think it should stop. No need to bash other riders. We are all out here just to showcase what we have been working on all year!

  18. What are people thinking with one week to go? Gotta favor guys like guyon and langley are good bets. Any other strong sprinters not on here?

    • Not sure how it’ll shake out, but I’m guessing the final will end up as Guyon, Langley, Martinez, Settle, Jaggard, and Tisdale

  19. For those nosy riders out there asking, the reason I shortened the spring calendar by a week is because we can’t have the 69th Little 500 on 4/20 (ask Gronk). This was my decision and was done in bad faith to cause many wrecks so the men’s race is shortened to 100 laps. I will be issuing 20 second penalties to any teams that send me another email asking about this.

    • It’ll be tight, but I think on the men’s side the depth goes to Cutters, BKB, or Gafombi. Each with 2-3 top 10 ITTs. On the women’s it’ll be tight between DG, Ski, and theta. All of them too with 2-3 top 10ers

    • A number of teams could do it if they’re all feeling good.

      Cutters could sneak Noble, Victor, and Coulter.
      Beta could with Renier and Jaggard.
      Gray Goat with Tisdale and Hansen.
      BKB with Xavier and Buck.
      Sig Ep will have Settle in there, maybe a 2nd?
      Phi Delt could sneak a guy or two in.

      Guess we’ll see how it plays out

    • Cutters are solid lock for 2 in Coulter and Guyon. 3 if Grossling has a good day/ fast track. Hubregtse is a wildcard I could see beating Grossling and landing in the top 10 as well. Hubregtse beat Coulter in ITTs last year.
      Goats are also a solid lock for 2 with Hansen and Tisdale. I could 100% see Richards sneaking in towards the back end too. What he lacks in pop, he makes up for in an engine that can churn for 4 laps.
      BKB could sneak 3 in. X is a lock, Strobel is a probable. They also had 2 rookies who raced quals + Rosati (9th in fall ITTs) and could have 1 land in the top 10 among those 3.
      Gafombi is a lock for 1, probable with 2.
      Sig Ep has Settle + Shit.
      Phi Delt has Beaumont (probable) and Austin Curtis (possible)
      Phi Psi has Albert (lock) and a lot of top 20 potential, but I don’t think top 10.
      Forest has a shot if Hank has a very good day because I think McKay is possible.
      Bears could get two as well. Richards was a 2:27 ITTer last spring and Langley is a lock

  20. Already an interesting mix. Xavier Langley and noble at the top. No shockers there with Tom having a lack luster time for Tom, good for anyone else but not great for him. Some big names did not look so good tonight:

    Rob from SAE
    Colten R. Of beta
    Coulter of Cutters
    Fiore of Sig chi.

  21. I’ve been doing workouts on the track since it opened, even on some real cold days… can someone explain to me why I’m coughing up a fucking lung after 4 laps?? Ik im not the only one… rumor is cutters poisoned the track

    • I am de fastest rider of all times. Hanna coopens powa is nothing compared to my powa. I challenge every female and male little 500 rida to a race. Meet me at these coordinates tomorrow at 1 am.

      23°N 13°E 

  22. Womens spring standings after ITT’s

    1. 12 pts. Big Congrats to DG. 2nd, Fourth, and Sixth. Looks like they were taking it seriously this winter. Each of their top 4 riders improved their positions from last year, Bignal by 28 spots.
    2. 32 pts. Props to Teters Lauren Britt. An outstanding effort. A mild surprise as she was 12th last year. Their rookie was ninth also.
    3. 39 pts. SKI did not perform as many expected.
    4. 48 pts. AXO are consistently in the mix and put up a good performance.
    5. 50 pts. Melanzana performed well and may have surprised a few.
    6. 73 pts. Independent Council probably the biggest surprise overall.
    7. 76 pts. Phi Mu was about were you’d expect.
    8. 96 pts. TPA has no support for Kamplain.
    9. 98 pts. Theta had no one to pick up the slack for Arakawa, who is out with a concussion and may miss the race. On the outside looking in this year.
    10. 103. AXDi. A descent night. Maybe can build on it.

    Overall it was a great day for racing although the track was a little slower than expected. Started to get a little loose in the corners late on, but no one hit the cinders.
    And what was up with the BKB rider showing the girls how it’s done. That was a head scratcher.

    • The BKB rider in a women’s heat was another IUSF screw up. There was a no show in turn 2 and the IUSF members put him in not realizing everyone else on the track was a women and men just went. I will say IUSF has been doing better this year on screw ups in comparison to previous series.

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