April 20, 2015, 10:13 p.m. -  Tanker Overflow

#!markdown You mean as close as Vernon is willing to get, which is a far different perspective from that of what you loosely call "this biz." Does "this biz" include NSMB forum participants? pinkbike forum participants? ridemonkey forum participants? local bike shop owners and employees? friends who gather to build trail and ride? formal riding clubs with dues-paying members? Vernon Felton isn't god. He's just some guy who writes and gets paid for it. He holds no magical insights. It's far more likely that people who pay attention to the stuff Vernon's trying-at-25%-willingness-to-criticize have more insights on what's happening than Vernon does. His perspective is skewed by trying to make a buck by not offending the people who pay his salary. A man can't see what his wallet won't let him. Pretty sad that Vernon is considered to be asking tough questions when he's just schmoozing with the folks that make his paid writing gig possible. You know. "The biz." But let's just say that's the best we can do and the best we can get, right?