Bicycling is in Leo Frey's blood, so being part of the Little 500 is tailor made for the Valparaiso resident.

Frey ran Leo's Bicycle Works for 12 years, but he closed the shop in 2002. Last summer Martin Moeller, whose daughter Jackie rides for Teter, wondered if Fry would like to work for the team.

"Martin used to come into the store for bikes, and I would also fix them," Frey said. "He searched me down last fall, and said that the team wanted to be more competitive.

"It was a challenge, because I gave up the shop seven years ago. This was different, but it gave me a chance to keep up with my skills."

The Teter team is quite skilled. Moeller and her teammates have finished second the last two years, losing by just two hundreths last year.

"My dad has become a Little 500 fanatic, and he wants to do what he can to help us succeed," said Moeller, who is a senior at IU. "I was OK with this as long as we did things legal. I didn't want to get into trouble."

That wasn't a problem. Frey has worked on bikes for several years. He continues to do work in his basement. He followed the strict guidelines, but also had enough knowledge to know what would and wouldn't work.

"I wanted to give them the most bang for their buck," Frey said. "I lightened up the wheels to give them more rotations.

"I could have gone crazy with this, but I kept it pretty simple."

Teter won the pole for the third straight year, finishing in a record 2:35.54, almost four minutes faster than last year's time.

So far, Moeller, who is now the captain of the team, has been pleased with this arrangement. She believes the most important results take place today with Frey serving as team mechanic.

"He knows the bike inside and out, and he'll be able to help us with any problems," Moeller said. "It took me the longest time to get over last year, but I think he will keep us on our toes."

Moeller is not the only one feeling pressure. As the race nears, Frey's stomach is churning.

"It's one thing to do the bikes, but it's a whole another thing to be on the track and help out," he said. "I'm the pit crew, and I know how bad this team wants to win.

"Martin felt like I was the guy to help out, and I don't want to mess up."