A racer in the Little Little 499 celebrates after crossing the chalk-marked finish line at Showalter Fountain April 23.
(Alaina Davis/WTIU News)
It’s a sunny Wednesday at Showalter Fountain, where a few dozen students furiously pedal children’s tricycles for a plastic trophy and a year of bragging rights.
The Little Little 499 is one of the student-run events leading up to the Little 500 bike races at the Bill Armstrong Stadium.
The tricyclists gear up for the race April 23, 2025. In the foreground rests the signed winner's trike from last year's race. (Katy Szpak/WTIU News)
Indiana University’s Union Board held the 499 this year in tandem with IU Day, the university’s spirit day for fundraising. Organizer Khushi Monga, director of spirits and traditions on Union Board, said that was intentional to foster an inclusive atmosphere.
“There's a lot of training that's required that goes into for people who are biking for Little 500, so we decided to do a trike race where training is not required,” she said. “Everyone can join, and race, and have fun and it’s just a really cool thing to do,” she said.
The event included yard games and snacks for attendees. The race was followed by some anything-goes racing from roller skating club Wednesday on Wheels.
Union Board started the Little Little 499 last year. While it favors kiddie trikes, it draws inspiration from a tradition that the IU Student Foundation sponsored for nearly half a century.
The Mini 500
Before women could compete in the Little 500, they raced in the Mini 500.
Beginning in 1955, this race was held at Assembly Hall, and riders would race on tricycles — although these were adult-sized, unlike the 499’s three-wheelers.
A photo from the Mini 500 tricycle race. (Courtesy, IU Archives)
The event later added men’s and co-ed teams, which stoked sentiment regarding the event’s origins, created solely for women to have a race of their own. The Mini was criticized for being sexist, as women attempted to qualify for the Little 500.
The final Mini 500 was in 2002. A Student Foundation director said in a 2003 Indiana Daily Student article that they chose to end the event because it became “an at times unsafe and certainly not sober weekend, which is not the image IUSF wants to present.”
To this day, the women’s Little 500 race is organized differently than the men’s race, 100 laps to the men’s 200. Emily Carrico, interim director for the IU Student Foundation, told WFIU/WTIU News last year that some may see this as a slight to the female athletes, but that’s not the case.
“The women's race is so unique, because it's so quick, and it's so action packed,” she said. “If there's a mistake, you really don't have time to make it out. The men's race is a bit more forgiving.”
The tradition of the Mini 500 is not as well-known among today’s students, but some, such as the men’s Little 500 Cinzano team, still remember.
(From left) Jackson, Connor, Calvin and Ethan raced under the Cinzano team in the Little Little 499 on April 23. (Alaina Davis/WTIU News)
“[Their track was] a lot more intense than this track, 180 degrees, not like this one,” said Ethan Barrows, an IU master’s student and 2024 Little 500 rider.
A few members of the team competed in the 499 Wednesday, but none of them are riding Saturday.
“This is our race day,” they said.
Little 500 begins at 4 p.m. Friday with the 37th running of the women’s race. The men’s race will follow with the 74th men’s race starting at 2 p.m. Saturday.
