I didn't miss training on my Specialized

I was just scrolling through the news tonight and I came across this gem, from the much revered bastion of news media that is the Vancouver Sun, by Gary Kingston:

If I hadn't so very publicly committed to doing the GranFondo, I might just quit right now. To be brutally honest, I'd rather run any day. It's safer. It's not nearly as frustrating. And it's less time consuming.
For my first cycling blog in a couple of weeks, not the cheeriest of openings, is it? But I'm just not having a whole lot of fun with this.
So where have I been since my last blog? Well, I've missed the last two Thursday clinic sessions while on holiday in the Okanagan and I'm way behind on training because I just haven't ridden that much. Golf, tennis, water-skiing and just laying around eating, drinking and reading seemed to take precedence. Plus, it was also 36C a couple of days when I thought about riding and that was just too darn hot.
I did ride back at home on Saturday, the first time on the bike in eight days. I got a flat on that day on a ride between Oyama and Vernon and got another one Saturday in Cloverdale, two hours into what I had planned as a three-hour ride. If you're counting at home, that's four flats in seven weeks. I know these ridiculously skinny racing tires on my Cervelo are prone to having tubes pop, but c'mon! And, of course, the only tube in my little seat pack on Saturday was the one that had gone flat the previous ride. That necessitated a call to my daughter to come rescue me.
It's getting to the point where I cringe every time I ride over any loose rock on a roadway bike path, fearing another tube is going to blow. That's not a fun way to ride.
And now, since replacing that tube on my front wheel in the Okanagan, my front brake is making a weird clicking sound whenever it's applied. I really do have to get the bike back into La Bicicletta Plus, I'm still struggling to get up hills that present any kind of a challenge. I'm convinced that the gearing on the bike is beyond my level of riding and fi tness.
Judging by the way the hill on 176th Street nearly killed me on Saturday, I'm going to need somebody pushing from behind just to get up Taylor Way, let alone the climb out of Furry Creek.
Anyway, I'll try to get to La Bicicletta on Monday or Tuesday and I'll keep plugging away at trying to improve my cardio and my legs.

Yeah.
So this would be my response:

This is a great article by Gary Kingston, in that it utterly is the epitome of the elite yuppiedom that is Vancouver. 

It’s a shame that it was Gary Kingston that so publicly committed to doing the Granfondo instead of someone who was appreciative of the time and effort it would take.  It reminds me of that kayaking phase a while ago where everyone ran out and bought kayaks that they used for like three weeks.  Trendy.  And it’s sad that Gary wasn’t “having a whole lot of fun with this” on a Cervelo, no less.

 Though – granted - I only did the 92 kilometre Mediofondo (30 kilometres short of the Whistler Granfondo) in the Okanagan last weekend, it too was my first.  And I did it on a hybrid.  And though, too,  I am a runner like Mr. Kingston (ten marathons including two Bostons and more than fifteen halfs), I was always appreciative that I was able to get up early in the morning and put in the time and effort that I know needs to be put into any athletic endeavor to make it hurt less on race day.

When passing people pushing their road bikes up King of the Mountain coming out of Summerland I was glad I hadn’t bitten off more than I could chew: and I never put it in the granny gear.

I’m not sure what is more galling: that Mr. Kingston is given space in the Vancouver Sun to whinge about his self-induced lack of training; or that he has a top of the line bike for his first Granfondo and it’s clearly above his skill level; or that he is whinging about his lack of training while riding a top of the line bike.

Hey Gary?  If you’re really hurting?  Hit me up.  I’ll swap you my hybrid with the granny gear for your Cervelo.  Maybe it’ll take some of the pressure off.