I was reading that article. I am a touring cyclist, not a racer, and to a very large extent I agree. Sure, the touring cyclist must have all his equipment squared away before commencing the tour. Who wants to be sidelined and back tracked by constant mechanical problems that should have been eliminated through preventive maintenance before the trip even began? Certainly not me. But, after the tour of thousands of miles begins---it is not about the bike; it is about the man or the woman on the bike; it is about his or her physical, mental, emotional fitness fitness to complete the ride. Lots of people begin who do not complete their intended journeys.
It can be compared to sailing. A bunch of us were shooting the breeze about sailing, and about how people had crossed the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in sailboats only twenty and eighteen feet long. One person seemed surprised. He said, "You mean boats that small can cross oceans?" Then somebody spoke up and said, "It's not about the boat. It's about the man in the boat."
Likewise, it is not about the bike. It is about the person on the bike.
Many times on tours I have been met with the wide eyed amazement of persons who asked me where I had come from. Some could not believe I had gone thousands of miles on a skinny tired bicycle. A journey of that kind is outside some people's ability to immediately comprehend.
