Is it about the bike?

Yesterday I saw an article in VeloNews about how Lael Wilcox had set a new Fastest Known Time for the Arizona Trail. A record that is now mired in controversy because a film crew followed her in contravention of a race rule that prohibits outside support and specifically mentions media crew. There's much grumbling on social media with polarised support for Lael on the one hand and the Race Director on the other. 

Controversy aside, what initially caught my attention was contained in the opening sentence of the VeloNews article. The article goes on to dedicate all of paragraph 3 to the same topic—the bike. Here is both the opening sentence and paragraph 3. Bold highlights are mine: 

On Thursday, ultra endurance cyclist and bikepacker Lael Wilcox got off her Specialized Epic Evo at the Arizona-Utah border after a very long ride.

Wilcox set her record aboard a Specialized Epic Evo with RockShox SID 120mm front suspension, Zipp 3Zero Moto wheels, a 2.6 Specialized Purgatory tire up front and a 2.35 Ground Control in the rear, and SRAM AXS (30T chainring, 10-50t cassette) shifting.

If you didn't know any better you'd think the bike did all the work and Lael was merely the jockey. That does Lael a great disservice. She is an accomplished and powerful athlete. The bike she rode was merely the instrument she used to craft a result. 

Bike manufacturers do all they can to encase their offerings in success stories. Specialized will no doubt hope to piggyback off Lael's achievement just as big bike brands attach their sponsorship to the top teams of the ABSA Cape Epic where a win can hopefully lead to an ant trail of wannabe riders outside local bike shops wanting to buy the "best bike".  The Cape Epic win this year by newcomers Speed Company Racing no doubt generated an unexpected windfall for Orbea even if Orbea rue the lost opportunity of not backing the team by tagging their brand onto the team name as brands have done with other teams that were expected to win. 

It's obvious that top riders attract sponsors and apart from the occasional anomaly it's not sponsors that make top riders. That doesn't stop people from spending wads of cash on bikes and brands that have "proven" success. 

Most of us are overbiked. By that I mean we have more bike than we have talent. If I get on a Specialized Epic Evo I might feel like I'm Lael Wilcox until it came time to turn the pedals at which time the charlatan within me is soon outed. The same tool doesn't correspond to the same output. 

The Mona Lisa is the most well known painting in existence. I've been to the Louvre Museum and joined the throng of visitors crowding around the painting. When I look at the image I'm captivated by Leonardo da Vinci's talent. Do I look at the painting and give credit to the brushes he used or the pallet knife he used to mix his paint or the array of sponges he used to create the image? Obviously not. If I was an art aficionado I might have an interest in the tools and medium employed but that wouldn't distract from appreciating the end product. 

Anyone with an interest in 2 wheeled pedal powered shenanigans is familiar with the Lance Armstrong/Sally Jenkins book It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life. As for the assertion that it's not about the bike, I agree. In Lance's case it transpired that it definitely wasn't the bike that propelled him to infamy.

We love our bikes and we are passionate about the technology. The interest in who rode what in what race has people drooling over images of race rigs posted online. We compare notes, wrangle over what's best and poke fun at each other's choices. A case in point is my apparent dislike of gravel bikes which I have referred to as abominations. Do I dislike them? No. They have a legitimate place in cycling as do time trial bikes, road bikes, mountain bikes, cyclocross bikes and the newcomer greatly disparaged and equally loved E-bikes. The obvious exception to belonging is single speed bikes… I jest. 

I posit that it's not what bike you have but what you do with it that counts. 

At life's end you may have had half a dozen "best bike ever". Stand back and join the throng and see what your bike life image looks like. For Lael it might mean creating a legacy of someone who set records and won races. Creative expression has many outlets that includes painting, song, dance, acting and many other forms. Whether it's on public display or the unseen unvoiced personal appreciation of the great outdoors find the bike activity that feeds your soul and then decide if the image is a testimony to the tools used or the adventure wrought using those tools? 

To suggest that Lael's achievement was predicated on her using "a 2.6 Specialized Purgatory tire up front" is like crediting Leonardo da Vinci's choice of painting knives for his art. 

Get a bike, any bike and any number of bikes to craft the bike life image that expresses what a bike can do to enrich your life.