Dave Blase is an American

cyclist Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

whose story served as the inspiration for the film '' Breaking Away''.

Little 500

Blase attended

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

in Bloomington, Indiana from 1958 to 1962. In his freshman year, he started cycling and joined a team for the

Little 500 The Little 500 (also known popularly as the "Little Five"), is a track cycling race held annually during the third weekend of April at Bill Armstrong Stadium on the campus of Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind ...

bike race. He quickly became a dominant rider and was recruited by the

Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania in 1852. The fraternity has over ninety chapters at accredited four-year colleges and uni ...

fraternity. However, eligibility rules for the race were changed to require transferring team members to sit out one year. Blase continued to ride in outside races waiting to become eligible to ride for Phi Kappa Psi, a move which precluded him from competing the following year when a new rule was enacted requiring those who participated in outside races to wait one year to become eligible. Blase spent that year off campus and returned to ride in the 1962 Little 500. Blase led Phi Kappa Psi to a victory, riding 139 of the 200 laps himself.

''Breaking Awa''y

''Breaking Away'' was written by Steve Tesich, an Indiana University graduate who served as an alternate rider on the Phi Kappa Psi Little 500 Team in 1962. He was teammates with Blase and used him as an inspiration for the Dave Stohler character in the film, and for the overall story. Like Blase, the Stohler character developed an appreciation for Italian culture and the Italian cycling team.

After Indiana University

Blase cycled professionally after leaving college and became a high school biology teacher in Indianapolis, at Thomas Carr Howe Community High School and Arlington High School.USA Today, "Breaking 50 in Bloomington, Ind., the Little 500 bicycle race outpaces even its own 'Breaking Away' myth", April 7, 2000. *National Public Radio, "Interview: Dave Blase Discusses the Little 500 Bicycle Race and the Movie Inspired by the Race, "Breaking Away"", April 12, 2000. *Josefa Beyer
"Blase of Breaking Away Glory"
''Nuvo'', April 20, 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blase, Dave American male cyclists Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)