Yeah, I figured this out as a teenager. We had a half-marathon through rough terrain (gravel, sand, tree roots etc.). I had my 200€ bike from Facebook and a sports t-shirt from school. I felt very out of place with all these big men in their tight spandex suits and decked out bikes.

I passed most of them and finished 13th out of 130 (which is not amazing, but definitely not bad).