I disagree with the premise of this thread. Who advises anyone to spend $10,000 to get started? Almost nobody. And as for what to buy, what to wear, or how to train or ride, people give advise in response to questions from other people. It is sort of the point of forums like these. If the answer to every question is, ride what you like, spend whatever you feel you can afford, and wear whatever you feel like, it would make for very short discussion threads.