You're all beginners.
Picture 45yr old in first race (vets, natch) in 1985: - t-shirt with pocket sewn on back, proper shorts and what we in UK (of my generation) called plimsolls (gym shoes with v thin soles). Old fashioned toe clips. El-Cheapo bike. Get curious looks from vets (gnarled, shaven, lean, etc., etc.)
Waiting for start in two lines, me in outside line, left foot on floor, right foot, steep camber.
Thinks, "Haven't tightened up helmet" (old hairnet type).
Take hands of bars to tighten strap
Front wheel swivels down camber to left (UK, remember)
Front end of bike follows suit
Right toestrap really tight
Crash....to...floor
Nobody...says...a...word
Unique experience - silence both deafening and sardonic.
Realised why helmet felt loose
Was still in changing room
20 years later, still meet the occasional vet who says, "Weren't you the bloke who...?"