And therein lies the rub, and where it gets toxic. As mentioned earlier, cyclists who aren’t riding fast or wearing lycra are looked down on and treated as “less than” by those cyclists who do. I see it every time I ride my bike. Every time.
RON FRAZELLE
This quotation comes from this very enlightening opinion piece:
Op-Ed: It’s Time for More of the Bike Industry to Evolve Beyond Toxic Racing Culture
Now, I am not a cyclist. In fact, I think cycling is stupid. It's not my thing. But the cyclist that wrote this opinion piece has touched on a subject that I have discussed here on various occasions. This would be the subject of marketing especially as it pertains to fitness and outdoor activities. Magazines and websites market these activities as sports as they drive up the price on unnecessary products and drive out the fun and pleasure. The consequence of this is that people choose to remain on the couch instead of getting old fashioned exercise like they used to before all of this craziness took off.
I have already seen this with walking versus running for fitness. Walking is an activity. Running is a sport. For some reason, running is seen as good exercise. People hate running, so they throw in the towel on fitness not realizing that walking is the better way to go.
The "toxic racing culture" is a product of marketing. Sports are nothing more than spectacles of marketing. They inspire people to buy the same gear and apparel as their sports heroes. It could be a pair of Air Jordans, a bike like Lance Armstrong, or name brand ski apparel like your favorite skiers. The irony is that most of the people who buy this crap don't do anything approaching what their heroes do. It is all vanity.
Those of us who have learned to reject this vanity get used to being looked at with disdain and derision. This comes when you reject the mindless herd and chart a new path. For me, the new path is really just the old path of common sense.
In the 1990's, I had a friend who drove a basic Nissan pickup truck. It was the small truck, so it was good on gas mileage. But it didn't have four wheel drive. It was not a sporty truck for off road adventures like a Jeep. It was as basic as a basic truck gets. When I asked him about the four wheel drive thing, he gave it to me straight. "Why do I need four wheel drive when it never leaves the pavement?"
My friend was absolutely correct. He needed a vehicle for light hauling and the daily commute to work. That's it. There's no snow in Florida, so he had zero need for the four wheel drive. It made an impression on me, and I resolved to buy the same kind of truck for myself.
Marketing is not aimed at showing you what you need. It is aimed at making you want what they have to sell to you. When it comes to bicycles, I think those utilitarian Dutch bicycles are awesome. They are not sporty, but they are great for transportation. They should sell those bicycles here in the USA, but they don't. The American public is too brainwashed to buy utilitarian bicycles.
I see the same thing with mothers and women who buy and drive meaty SUVs instead of sedans and minivans. They tool around in these off road vehicles that never leave the pavement. This burns considerable gasoline. That is a high price for vanity.
It is a real liberation to be set free from the mental prison of marketing. You begin to see all of the propaganda and manipulation for what it is. You realize that doing things you love to do doesn't take a lot of money. And you can ignore the herd.
