First Race Experience - Valencia
By Lou Bon

Grand Slam Podium Finish!

So after a year of hanging onto the back of the Tuesday and Thursday rides, it was time to see what this racing stuff was all about. After numerous discussions on the merits of Cat. 4/5 (more fun) versus Masters 40+ (ex-pros will hammer you, but very smooth) I pre-registered for Valencia Grand Prix as a Senior 4-5.

I had second thoughts when I awoke to the sound of rain, but figured it might be dry in Valencia. Wrong. Arriving at 6:45 for the 8 AM first race, I was greeted by 10 La Grangers huddled under a tent, with no race organizers in sight. By 7:20 there were about 20 riders standing around under the tent or umbrellas as the rain started to taper off. The gist of the discussions I heard were as follows:

"This thing isn't going to happen"
"Dude, you don't want to be out there on a wet course for your first race."
"The race organizers don't have their act together."
"I walked the course. There are freshly painted crosswalks out there that are so slippery, people are going to be crashing."
"Let's go have breakfast."
"This is why I never pre-register."
"I didn't see any Medical/First Aid area set up."
"Dude, it's early in a long season. You don't want to crash with a bunch of first-time riders on a wet course."
"I'm not going to pay $20 bucks to race you guys. I can do this for free on Tuesday and Thursday."
"There's a Denny's right down the road."

At this point, a car comes to a quick stop and a guy jumps out frantically asking, "Where's the registration?" We point to the tent where the race organizers have finally gotten set up and a small line has formed. This man goes running up the hill to get in line, afraid of being late. We look at each other and someone says, "That's the kind of guy who will be crashing in these conditions".

That did it.

I was on the podium with a third place finish of my Grand Slam breakfast at Denny's. Jeremy took first with a Lumberjack Slam, just nipping Nate with a Super Slam (eggs scrambled). Ken finished his Turkey Club in the pack.