I like both running rivers and white-water rafting and kayaking. I have never has the urge to prove myself against ever-harder rapids, or to ride waterfalls and such .... but I have run some stuff which was pretty exciting.

I have done some of those "turn yourself inside out" bike rides, where you try to keep up with the fast guys to the point that every moment of the ride is a battle not to slow down. Some people live for that, but I didn't like it so I don't do it anymore.

Racing doesn't hurt cycling any more than pro soccer hurts all the other soccer programs, and in fact the popularity of pro soccer spawned all those youth and school and local leagues. Pro softball stops amateur and sport softball, or pro pool leagues have caused every neighborhood pool hall to close. Pro tennis, many years back, led to a surge in popularity which led to public courts being considered a normal sight.

The people who paddle for adrenaline or whatever, will always seek harder runs. People who like to go fast will always try to push harder .... go look at the thread about people's changing attitudes toward cycling and see that some old guys are still trying to go faster even while their bodies decay. Others like to tool around the neighborhood at seven miles per hour every evening.Other people will always prefer to load a cooler and a camera and paddle lazily along flat water.

Yeah ... the "bike industry" which encompasses everything from sporting goods chains to boutique custom frame builders, still builds beach cruisers and cheap big-box bikes and fake racing and MTB bikes and real racing and MTBs, and everything in between and some stuff beyond.

Shoot, there is still a market for a whole variety of 'bents and trikes. I don't see those guys racing on TV or getting endorsement deals.

And racing Barbie jeeps hasn't sopped sales of normal Barbie jeeps.

All these "Big Bike " conspiracy threads are a screaming joke.

Yes, bike manufacturers want to make money and they want to promote the highest-profit products .... no one thinks it is a conspiracy when auto makers pay to have SUVs in all the popular movies and TV shows. And the funniest part is ... there is an actual "conspiracy" which includes the government, big oil, and city planning, which keeps everyone car-dependent .... but we are all worried that alien lizard-people are forcing us to buy evil, soulless, demon-clone bicycles.

Go anywhere where anything is sold, and your only options are what people choose to sell. Not many US supermarkets sell English chutney or any of the popular Dutch or Danish brands, and very few sell anything authentically Asian or South American. I cannot think of every seeing a store selling live insects for human consumption despite a large portion of the world's population eating bugs.

Are all these conspiracies?