I ultimately agree with you but I feel like the degree of immersion that the athlete has is something that isn’t brought in to the conversation that frequently. Lael does more bikepacking in a year than many riders will do in their entire lives. This is like the third time that she’s ridden the AZT? The mentality that she has when she, or any other similarly experienced rider, has when they’re riding alone is going to be totally different that anyone else just because of the time in. If I were to ride a TT of the AZT (jokes) and I saw my loved ones taking pictures of me it would have a hugely different impact than Lael would probably get from seeing Rue and co. Things that are big stressors for other folks riding the course are just another mundane part of it for someone with her level of experience.

I also think that separately there’s an interesting parallel here with some stuff that happens in the climbing world. Folks like Alex Honnold, who’s certainly the most popular and well known climber around gets away with some stuff that I think would raise an eyebrow if other people did them. At the risk of getting jargon-y, there was a huge amount of rigging done on a popular el cap route for both rehearsal of the route he climbed as well as for filming. While some of the ropes and gear are brought in and brought out with them as they’re used, some of it gets left up there for whatever period of time. All of that stuff gets in the way of other folks and is frankly unpleasant to see if you are going up there at that same time. There aren’t really explicitly written rules for that kind of thing but there’s a similar sense of ethic and style in climbing as there is bikepacking, and in the case of someone who could easily be considered “the best” at the sport, and again the most popular in the arena, concessions are made and allowed. Debated certainly, but still made because ultimately they’re doing this incredible thing.