Hmm. I am trying to think how to phrase this so that I don't insult every cyclist everywhere ... I think in general, cyclists can be cliquish. (Maybe it would be better to say that people are cliquish, and cyclists are people?) When my husband and I are out together on our road bikes, the roadies are generally friendly enough. If I am out by myself on my road bike, male roadies are VERY friendly to me, not in an especially creepy way but just friendly. When I'm refilling my water bottle I get a lot of, "Wow, I wish I could get MY wife to ride" chit-chat, and if I'm stopped I get asked if I need a pump, I get hellos and nods and smiles, just general friendliness. But nobody else on the bike trail waves or says hello. The people on cruisers and mountain bikes, the people on old beaters, they just kind of ignore us.

If we are riding our old single-speed conversions, however, the roadies don't talk to us. They don't nod, they don't say hello, I doubt any of them would stop to help me fix a flat in those circumstances. Other people talk to us then, though. A lot of people around here ride bikes, but not everyone rides the same way. If I am riding my mixte around, the guys on fixies behave exactly the way the roadie guys do when I'm on my road bike. But I am pretty sure the fixie guys would not give me the time of day if I were wearing lycra and riding my road bike.

I noticed this a while ago and I try to make it a point to say hi to anyone with whom I make eye contact regardless of what they are riding. A couple of weeks ago when my husband and I were out on our road bikes, I noticed a guy on an old beater bike with a flat, and I offered him my pump, and he seemed completely floored that I had done that.

Exceptions to all generalizations: when I was first riding on my hybrid, trying to keep up with my husband on his road bike, and I was really dumb about trail etiquette, some of the older male roadies we ran into were incredibly nice and encouraging. In general I think the older guys are pretty nice.