La Valle was furious, caught on the broadcast slamming his hands in the ground and waving toward where the accident happened. When he finally got back to the pit, three-quarters of the track away, he collapsed on the ground. It took La Valle 16 seconds to get his bike moving forward again after he got up from the crash. He angled his handlebars right to get his wheel facing forward, then made his way back to the pit. He set his handlebars facing forward, but they had broken during the crash, and the front wheel hooked left. La Valle hopped back up, trying to get on his bike and maintain the lead. La Valle and his bike fell sideways and he landed on his handlebars as another rider flipped over him. But just as he thought he had made it into the clear, his back wheel clipped the other bike’s tire. La Valle saw the crash, saw a chance to ride as fast as he could before the yellow flag and break away from everyone else for good. Three teams in front of La Valle avoided the bike. On lap 147, the Jetblach rider went to make a passing move around turn four when his bike went out from under him, spilling into the inside part of the track. Senior Phi Kappa Psi rider Andrew La Valle is pictured during practice on April 1, 2022, at Bill Armstrong Stadium. He pumps his legs, pushing himself past the other riders, toward somewhere he hasn’t been before. On the track, he flies around turn four, trying to suppress the memories of 2021’s crash. La Valle only brings up the previous losses occasionally, picking his moments carefully when he wants to motivate his team. He’ll literally push himself to the extreme.” “He’ll sacrifice himself for three to four hours indoors. “He’s like no one you’ve ever seen train before,” Etnyre says.
Neither are his competitors, even when they’re going for shorter bursts. It could be the difference between winning and losing.Īs practice continues, La Valle pulls away from his teammates, who are no longer able to keep up with his pace.
When he’s struggling to finish the last few laps on his bike, La Valle thinks back to those last three years and how close Phi Psi has come. Other teams, practicing alongside Phi Psi on the track, move to the outside as Phi Psi flies past them.Įvery day is a battle for La Valle and his teammates. La Valle, from the back, lets out a gleeful laugh. Phi Psi rides its bikes in a line on the track, with Cooper leading the pack and Etnyre behind him. “If you come in thinking anything short of you’re gonna win, you probably won’t,” Etnyre says. The past three years have hit hard for the team, but they know they can’t afford to get discouraged. Phi Kappa Psi claimed the pole spot for the Little 500 race in last weekend's qualification rounds. The Phi Kappa Psi cycling team rides as a group during practice on April 1, 2022, at Bill Armstrong Stadium. They push themselves through harder workouts and more pain than their competitors, Etnyre says. La Valle, sophomore Kaleb Cooper and senior Carson Etnyre arrive at Bill Armstrong Stadium for a 90-minute practice.
#Phi kappa psi free
Training has consumed most of their free time since the semester began. Three weeks before the 2022 Little 500, La Valle and his team are spending their Friday on the track at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
0 kommentar(er)
