The Collins Cycling Women’s Little 500 team has been very busy this semester! We started the season off by hitting the beautiful hills of Bloomington to begin our training. We began the semester riding four to six days a week, and now we are in the full swing of six day a week workouts. All of our returning riders (Andrea Balzano, Cailin Kennedy, Jory Kleemann, Tabitha Sherwood, Casey Vaughn) participated in the IUSF Fall Cycling Series events and did a great job representing Collins Cycling. Tabitha placed third in the Individual Time Trial and second in the Street Sprints. Some of the girls also rode in the annual Hilly Hundred, which is a 100 mile cycling tour rode over two days in southern Indiana. Our veterans riders aren’t the only ones working hard though.
We have gained five spirited rookies (Meredith Baker, McKayla Bull, Leigh Dukeman, Rachel Horton, Kate Samson), who have proved to be great additions to our team. The veterans are working with the rookies to teach them the ins and outs of cycling, and before they know it, Rookie Week will be here! Between long and difficult rides, to just hanging out as a team, we have all become close friends. We are excited for what this year will bring, and we are already looking forward to the spring semester.
In the season ahead, we will strive to continuously improve our cycling abilities. Although being a competitive team and performing well on race day is extremely important to us, we ride with the goal that every girl walks away with a memorable experience. We know that by the end of the year we will be more responsible and have better time management skills. We will develop an even deeper love and respect for the sport of cycling, and the Little 500 will hold a special place in our hearts. Most importantly though, we will create lasting friendships that we developed on the Little 500 track at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
We all have a busy couple of weeks in front of us, but that’s not letting us push cycling to the side. Our workouts are a top priority, and we are exciting to get the spring semester going!
Ride on,
Collins Cycling
Collins Cycling 