recon455

Lame prizes are so much more fun than money/gift cards or actual cycling stuff. If you get a child size sweater, you're going to remember that race a lot better than getting $50.

ridethecliche

Not if that $ 50 buys me two child sized sweaters.

Kai Winters

While money and good stuff is more valuable I agree that the "lame" prizes are more memorable. I really don't remember prize money except it was nice to buy a good lunch and fill up the gas tank but I do remember, very well, how cool it was to win the loaf of bread and to get the bag of apples.

botto 

i prefer trophies.

merlinextraligh

Purple marbled bar tape.

merlinextraligh

I have trophy engraved "First Place Charleston Criterion, 1996"

botto 

good for you.

Creakyknees

a watermelon (prime) and a 27 inch heavy ass tire. same race.

any of you Texas guys remember Tom Boyden? yeah.

saratoga

15 min massage. I passed on it after finding out there was a 60 something guy performing said activity.

challaday

In my very first race ever, as an intermediate back in 1982, I won a package of Oreos and an old fashioned "wind-up" alarm clock with the Nabisco label on the face. Guess who sponsored the race?

waterrockets 

Purina?

KendallF

The Bring It On series in Alachua was giving out giant foot long sausages for primes a year or two ago. Kensuf probably had something to do with those...NTTATWWT.

carpediemracing 

Those are actually kinda good. Heh. Never got a chocolate one though, just the red and greens.

I won a stack of prizes at the Bobby Phillips race in Baltimore - all merchandise plus I won 2? cash primes. Merchandise include NOS stuff like XXXL jersey, mini pump that didn't work, first gen Michelin clincher (they blow off rims), a real turkey (we donated that), some arm warmers, some other stuff I can't remember. Oh, big shorts. My leadout guy and teammate is tall (66 cm frame, post at max height) but some of the stuff was too big for him.

Old Lyme Crit in CT. Held once. I won the Cat 4 race and all the primes (I was a Junior). Chrome bread pan was the memorable one, I still have it. I actually used it to serve the fruit cakes that pop up around Christmas time. I got some other stuff but I forget what they all were.

Snickers bar. Prime at the Groton Crit. Maybe another race, but I think Groton.

6th place mug at Jiminy Peak RR. Very interesting, along with a check, both in the mail. Interesting because I did one lap of the race, got in my car, and drove home. Apparently I got picked for 6th in the race. Unbelievably no one protested. I mailed it back, as nice as it looked. For much of the year guys would come up and congratulate me on my 6th at JP because it was like Rasmussen winning a field sprint on the Champs or Petacchi dropping Contador on the slopes of the Alpe.

cdr

Creakyknees

Frequent primes at our local Tuesday nighter include a bag of pasta from Colavita, and a quesadilla from a local restaurant. I never sprint for those.

cslone

In a cat 4 race from that same team I won 14 cliff bars. 7-9 of them were expired. Later in a Cat 3 2nd place I got a handful of expired 'not for resale' Cytomax packets(samples). The winner got like $15 and a bunch of Cytomax.

Kris Flatlander

A large loaf of sourdough bread and a loaf of garlic bread. They were both within 2 days of expiring so I power-ate the sourdough with a ton of Nutella.

bayareawheeler

There is a local race that has a "flaming toilet seat cover" pretty cool custom paint job...thought I had won that but I had missed the cover and won 3 cases of corona, specialized saddle that is still sitting in my garage, small wicker basket with tea in it and for most aggro rider some wine...but i wanted the "flaming toilet seat cover"

i had to go get my car to pick up the primes...missing the 4's

gsteinb

Strangest thing I won? Pcad's respect. Interestingly it was also the shortest lasting thing I won as well, as he quickly realized he was in the race and the self loathing kicked in.

challaday

Actually, we had a dog back then, so winning dog food would have been quite useful. My parents would have seen the value in that, which they were slow to coming around to with my "strange bike habit."

A conversation at the dinner table my parents had (with me sitting there as well): "My lord, mother, the boy is shaving his legs and wearing those tight fitting shorts. The neighbors will think that he's gay."

My mother's very supportive response: "That's not the reason they think he's gay."

Um guys, I'm sitting right here!

They learned to be very accepting and supportive of my "strange bike habit." This was made much easier for them when I brought home girlfriends, thus assuaging any fear of my *****exuality.

aicabsolut

salon hair products

and the best was winning absolutely nothing for being 2nd in a "2-place prime"

Homebrew01

I won an "all-in-one" cheapo tool kit. The kind that comes in a little pouch with crappy stamped tools .... "Gee, thanks" .... kinda clashed with my Campy Toolbox

Last year the premes at a race were t-shirts. No mention of size or style. I was careful not to win.

Sorry, that's all I can remember.

benajah

I always wondered about that...why T shirts as prizes are always XL, seriously, even at a bike race?

sxevegan

I won a book my Stedman Graham. I was a little irritated because I was off the front for a long time and only got one prime...a book.

The next day (same race) I was a suunto t4 HRM for a prime. Much better!

outofshape

I won the flaming toilet seat, it's in the hall bathroom as we speak.

Metzinger

Let's face it: for most of the races people do, it's not about the prize, it's about beating your friends.
How else could one rationalize going balls out for a 2-for-1 Arby's Barfwich coupon prime?