The bigger they are, the nicer they are. . .

Rode with a club in Santa Barbara (Hendrickson's for any who might remember) that included a couple guys from the PanAm Games team, later Olympics. A buddy and I hung with the pack for about 25 miles. The group stopped for water and headed to the hills but my buddy and I decided it was too much for us. By the the by, Rory O'Reilly (one of the team riders -- the other was Larry Shields) showed up with the worst looking piece of crap bike in the group. Shields trusted me to hold his bike while he watered up.

Don't let these folks intimidate you. . .in fact, you might ask them just what sort of promotional arrangements they have that are willing to advert for (fill in the blank) or are they just poseurs?

+1 for medium (large) format photogs. (Best answer I heard regarding "what lens?" "Bogen!")