…
now, one day i was told by the store’s owner that i was going to lead a group of 10th graders from a nearby school to ride the fort snelling riverbottom runs and that we were lending them demo bikes from the store’s floor. there was this one kid that got a raleigh m-40 ($295 low-level entry-level mountain bike) and i shit you not he muscled and kept pace up and down technical singletrack against me on my $3k customized whip.
after that i implemented a program wherein i would advise gram-shavers to devote more time to riding and less time to reading the in-depth bike magazine articles about this year’s lightest and fanciest gear.
Back in the day when I raced motocross, it was filled with similar humbling experiences. I lined up next to guys with bikes that were 10 years older than mine and then got absolutely rocked by them.
At the amateur level looks can be deceiving. It’s the rider, not the bike. The photographer, not the camera. However, there is definitely a skill level that equipment and setup begin to make a big difference and that’s true for many things be it photography, mountain bikes or motocross.
I reached that point towards the end of my racing. That’s when it gets expensive, very very expensive. I hope I never start road racing.
