IMHO, cycling is a very strange sport in this respect with very few equals. Name another activity which has a professional organisation and has media coverage; football, rugby, tennis, snooker, darts... all of these things are by their nature competitive games. If you partake in them, you would probably be so inclined to follow the "pros" on the telebox doing the same.
Cycling is fairly unique in its active diversity; that it has a professional racing counterpart to an activity which for many is either a means of transport, or a leisurely and relaxing activity - quite the opposite of racing. If you don't cycle to "perform", then its perfectly fair that you might not "get" or be interested in the professional racing form of the activity. It'd be akin to saying if you drive a car then you should have an interest in motor-racing.
For what its worth, I've cycled on and off all my life, but I am only a recent convert to "pro-peloton" fan.For ages I didn't get it, the world seemed confusing and irrelevant to me, not helped by the fact that a lot of its traditions and language are based in its European heritage. Why would anyone want to watch a group of guys on the road for hours on end, especially when nothing appears to be happening, they are just riding along in a group.
It changed for me when I accidentally watched the first stage of the '07 TdF in London. My satellite box was broken and it was all I could find on TV that had the possibility of any remote interest. I gave it a bit of time, initially thinking of what else I could be doing, but then I saw my first ever attack and thought "hmm, maybe there's more to this". I then watched as multiple attacks came and were caught, all the time trying to understand what the commentators were on about. A few days later when out on my bike again, being a competitive soul I found myself unwittingly comparing myself to what I had seen and heard; top speeds, average speeds, distances, climbs etc. I then went back and slowly caught my first group sprint, winning breakaway, peloton-splitting mountain, autobus and so forth, and from there was hooked. It was then a journey (which I'm still on) to learn this strange language, the use of metric over imperial, a never ending stream of tactics (oh, that was intended, now I see) differences in races etc which as I've gotten deeper into the nuances of the sport, my enjoyment and appreciation has increased exponentially. Just a group of riders cycling along the road indeed.
It did take time. I fairly quickly figured out what the peloton was, it was only last year that it dawned on me that a bidon was a water-bottle! By the end of the '07 tour I got why on individual stages random people would be "winning" the day, but then not be anywhere near the top of the table (or general classification, I soon learned), or why conversely, the guys in GC contention weren't winning (and apparently unconcerned so) every day, but it took me another year or two to recognise the differences in respective cyclists' strengths, training regimes and season plans to understand why just because they had done well at le Tour, they weren't a shoe-in for the classics or whatever.
But thats just me. As I've said, I can quite understand why others just wouldn't buy into it.
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- amateur or pro ? There is an incredible feeling as the peloton rushes past - almost everyone is smiling, exhilarated by the speed, sound and sheer beauty of it - takes ones breath away. I have only seen very low-key races on the road but still 'caught it'. 
