With Little 5 just days away, the pressure is building up, and team Alpha Chi Omega is excited to hit the road. I fell in love with biking in the summer of 2013 when I purchased my first road bike, but since I was a varsity athlete for my first three years at DePauw, biking wasn’t my priority. It wasn’t until late last spring, when I decided I would put my lacrosse stick down for good, that I decided I would do what I’ve always wanted to do: ride in Little 5.
I knew I wanted to be involved in leading Alpha Chi Omega’s team and I wanted it to be well organized, prepared and strong. Last semester, I started gathering interest in potential riders and had everything finalized before we left for Christmas break. I wanted our riders to have the time to purchase needed items such as shoes, shorts and jerseys so we could begin training after Winter Term.
Training this entire semester has been an awesome experience. From indoor training workouts to 2.5-hour bike rides, it has been rewarding to see hard work pay off. Our team this year is all seniors and I’ve really enjoyed the time I’ve spent training with them this semester. Practicing turns, starts, endurance and intervals has really helped us feel confident and prepared as we head into race day.
I think the single most important aspect to a successful team and race is working together throughout the entire race and training process. I’m really happy with the way we’ve worked together thus far and practiced from the beginning and I’m excited to put it all out there come Saturday. I don’t think we could have prepared any better. I’m excited to see what happens on race day!
