I have 3 pairs of running shoes and 5 bicycles. I get more enjoyment, physical benefit and less angst about accidents (YES offroad too!) wearing any of those 3 pairs of shoes than riding any of the 5 bicycles. I'd say running is more fun Comrades has no cycling equivalent in the cycling world. Even the Jock can be completed with the absolute minimum training (ask me!). The Argus? pffft.... A mere fun ride! The comrades is most definitely NOT a fun run! Cycling elitist? Absolutely! but it has more to do with the attitudes of a lot of the participants, pointing and laughing at/about other bikes. Talking smack about their 'lack' of training, equipment upgrades blah blah. None of that with runners. The whole lot of them, from the running mailman to the running CEO/lawyer/doctor are way too humble for any of that. Poor vs rich? Rich is about more than having a lot of toys. Ever heard of "He is so poor, the only thing he has is money"? With running EVERYBODY is equal. Shoes do not make you faster, you cannot ride in bunches, you cannot watch the line the previous oke took. It is just YOU, your legs and the road/trail. No hiding NADA! NOTHING! NIKS! So yes, the more this types of stereotyping carries on the more cycling/cyclists paint themselves into a corner and have to pay more for cycling events due to lower numbers and high costs of staging events for all the reasons stated above. I loved cycling as a kid, I still like it as a MAMIL. I loved running as a kid, and I still love it.
