The thing is that may beginners DO NOT do both. As for rational, are humans ever? It's like saying why can't we solve world-hunger? The US grows enough grain to give any man, woman and child on earth a loaf of bread every day. Instead, we pay our farmers billions a year to not grow on 1/2 of their acres and produce less than they have the year before. Rather than look at what should or could happen, let's look at what IS really happening instead. And that is, beginners are focusing way too much time and effort on equipment and not as much as they can on mental development.

They spend countless hours working to buy expensive equipment. Spend hours daydreaming about equipment working spreadsheets on grams-saved-per-dollar spent on lighter equipment. Endless tinkering hours tinkering with the bike. Hours in your life daily are finite in amount, once it's gone, it's gone forever; you can't make more, you can't buy more. Compare two identical beginning riders, both having fixed amount of time in their lives for work, sleep, eating, riding and the one who spends more time with the mental training aspects will have much faster improvement and results. I've just seen it happen time and time again with wave after wave of beginners.


Currently Cat-1? Trevor Thorpe, Adam Laurent, Casey Dillan, Marc Guerrin, Joe White, Joe Razo. Although I think only Trevor is Cat-1 right now. Casey signed up with some pro team. Adam went to the TDF and Marc & Joe Razo went to the Olympic trials for track. These two guys are polar opposites. Marc is built like a football linebacker and can crank out over 2000watts in spurts. He can reach 45mph from a standstill. Joe is built more like you and can barely crack 125lbs sopping wet. They both got close to exactly the same times on the 1km event with vastly different techniques. Marc went close to all-out from the beginning and his fastest lap was the 2nd one. Joe starts out slow and gets faster with his fastest being the last 3rd lap.

Sorry, I'm rambling. What it takes nowadays to win races isn't that much different than ever. The laws of physics and drafting hasn't changed. Cornering dynamics and rubber/asphalt adhesion hasn't changed. National TT speeds for 40k hasn't changed that much. It still takes about 2-3 years to get to cat-2 if you're on your game and 5-10 years to get to cat-1. In fact most cat-2s never make it to cat-1 and go straight to pro because it's so much easier. To get to cat-1 as a cat-2, you gotta beat the existing cat-1s, kinda a catch-22. As for cat-2s I know, there's way too many to list without a writing a tome here.


Final analogy, put any 1st/2nd year-racer on a top-of-the-line bike of any kind he wants and entre him in a 1/2/pro race. How do you think he'll do? Then put Boonen on a $350 bottom-of-the-line bike-shop bike and put him in a 4/5 race. How do you think he'll do?