The Mini 500 race, a humorous exhibition of engineering prowess at Tech, took place in a circuit around the Peter’s Parking Deck on Friday, Nov. 8. The eight-lap tricycle race saw a total of 60 teams take part, each competing in one of five distinct categories — Housing, IFC (Fraternity), CPC (Sorority), Clubs and Registered Student Organizations (RSO), and Enthusiasts.
The theme for the race and for Homecoming Week was “Legends of Homecoming” — which several teams chose to display in their costumes and tricycle decorations. Several tricycles were also modified with geared wheels, front tire replacements, padding and wheelbase extensions to ensure better rider comfort and performance. A tailgate before the race drew students and alumni in with free offerings. The tailgate was a new addition this year that saw vendors such as Tiff’s Treats, Shake Shack and NaanStop assembled near the entry to the race area before the event started.
“It’s always fun to be back here watching the trike race. The trike race was certainly going on in the ‘80s,” said Drew Clarke, EE ‘83 and former Chi Psi member watching the race. In fact, the race has been an almost 60-year tradition, starting in 1969.
Each team consisted of seven to eight members, some of whom participated as racers and some as pit crew. A line-up of volunteers from the Ramblin’ Reck Club called “pit bosses” were in charge of inspecting two pit crews each. After a build-up of anticipation, Tech president Angel Cabrera watched on as the Ramblin’ Wreck’s horn signaled the start of the race a few minutes before 5 p.m.
A few tricycles broke down moments after the start of the race, and breakdowns continued throughout the hour run time. Several tricycles could not make it up Freshman Hill, the most challenging uphill portion of the track. When the tricycles broke down, spectators launched into vicious chants of “Spike that trike!” to encourage the racers to let out their frustration. Although pit crews worked feverishly to repair broken tricycles, on some occasions, they could not fix the fragile vehicles.
“Spiking the trike can be dangerous because of metal shrapnel. One accident can seriously injure someone. It’s something we don’t want to see. Last year, lots of teams spiked their trikes. This year we made an effort not to encourage it and stressed with racers about the safety violation,” said Gal Ovadia, fourth-year CS and sub-chair of the Ramblin’ Reck Club.
The Georgia Tech Cycling Club won the race in the RSO category and was the overall race winner. The other winners were Phi Kappa Theta (IFC), Alpha Phi (CPC), RUF Build a Trike (Enthusiast) and FFaMily (Housing).
“Well, the first step was to build an overpowered trike that was within the rules. So we made the fork a little bit taller, made the trike longer and beefed everything up. We did lots of welding — three of us worked forty hours each this past week,” said Nathan Kleinschmidt, fourth-year MSE and a member of the winning team.
According to Ovadia, 15 out of the 60 competing teams were disqualified from the competition because their tricycles broke down irredeemably.
“The front of the tricycle has two metal parts that support the front wheel. They just immediately gave out due to the compressive load in the first lap. I think, as a boxer, the whole mentality is, it doesn’t matter if you get knocked down, it matters if you get back up. And so we got back up as much as we could, but now it’s just time to call it quits,” said Ivan Ayala, third-year AE and member of the Georgia Tech Boxing Club contingent that withdrew after four laps.
The organizers installed ten route guard personnel around the track to monitor the race and alert them in case of potential violations. To take care of injuries, EMS was stationed at the bottom of Freshman Hill. The club also coordinated with Parking and Transportation Services to block off roads, install cones and tow cars that were parked on the track.
For those who were unable to show up in person, Tech’s RotorJackets club live-streamed the entire race through multiple drone cameras working simultaneously. The crew used a combination of drones for mapping and cinematics. An operator switched feeds captured from these drones, one of which flew close to racers to deliver close-up shots.
“My favorite thing is getting a different point of view — getting above the trees, flying through the trees. This [drone] has a zoom camera which lets me do unique shots. It’s a unique way to interact with the environment, and because of how it records and streams, I can share that with anyone,” said Bryan Cochran, fifth-year PhD ME, a member of the RotorJackets and licensed drone pilot.
All in all, the Mini 500 was a satisfying continuation of an enduring Tech tradition. Months of planning culminated in an experience that students and alumni could cherish. “My favorite thing about the Mini 500 is that it’s a quirky tradition to characterize Tech,” Ovadia said. “We are probably the only school that does it right now, which makes it special.”
For more details about the race, visit reckclub.org.gatech.edu.