This is, from my own experience, a great idea. I was into racing Mountain Bikes when I was younger but, because I was in college, I didn't have the sort of money to buy the better bike components that I wanted, to pay for the Race fees, and travel required for anything more than a few hours from home.
So I got a second part time job at a bike shop. I got Prorated deals on nice components, I learned from experts how to tune by bike. And to top it off, I met a lot of contacts that I made friends with who some times would split costs of going to events with me. To top it all off, I also got paid! It was a lot of fun. I even met a couple girls.
Got to learn some people skills though.