I guess it was more implied than said. Several very close friends of mine rode from Los Angeles / Portland / New York back in 1974. One of them maintained his love of cycling and has put on more miles than I can count. We still go out on 25 miles rides about twice a week. Whenever I get into "gearhead" mode and start talking about my carbon bike or my new cycling computer that does this and that... he just gives me a friendly subliminal nod that says "you know you don't really need all that".
It always makes me stop and think about what cycling is really all about.