Wow, roadies are a-holes...who knew?

[velocilex]

I've encountered the same phenomenon as GLC1968: roadie guys will wave to me if I'm out on my road bike, but if I'm on the Kona, I may as well not exist. Never mind I may have just ridden a metric century on it. Never mind that they may have bothered to lift a finger off their handlebars the week before. Now, the guys who do this are mainly college guys-- this is the home of the Little 500 and those boys are Very Important. /sarcasm. On this past Sunday a group of three of us older types (with very nice road bikes, I might add) passed a bunch of Little Five roadies setting up for a time trial on a country road. All three of us said "Hi" or "Good Morning" to the nine young men as we rolled by. Not one answered, so I said over my shoulder, "You can say hello. We won't tell." Little brats. I've not encountered snotty women roadies around here mainly because I seldom see women roadies.

But I have to wonder if this attitude is a North American thing. I cycled France for seven weeks earlier this summer on my Kona hybrid that I had modified a little for touring. I never came across a roadie who didn't wave and say "Bonjour"-- often, they waved first. One day, I encountered a group of four roadies with nice kits and gorgeous bikes going in the opposite direction as I was rolling down a country road. All of them enthusiastically waved and hollered "Salut!" (which I thought was great-- Salut is informal, you say it to a buddy or kindred spirit). One of them even said "Hi"-- must have been my helmet that gave me away! The friendliness of the French roadies made it even harder to come back here and deal with the snobbery. However, I still say hello to everyone. If they don't want to acknowledge me that's fine. Maybe I won't acknowledge them when they need help on the side of the road some time.

[Red Haired Girl]

Hmmmm, I must be riding in the wrong part of the country....or world! I've yet to even MEET another rider (okay, there were the two 10 year olds walking their bikes out the gate of their house, and they waved, btw), let alone be able to say hi. Now, granted, I've only ridden three times in the past 10 years (last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) for a total of 38 miles - but I suspect there aren't a whole lot of bikers (of the quadriceps variety vice the Harley type) in these here parts.

BUT, should I meet another biker one the road (yep, I ride a road bike) you can be sure I'll wave and say hello!

Lara The Red (or, LTR - as if I had one!)

[GLC1968]

LTR - where in NC are you? I'm in GSO and I kind of consider that 'central NC'...are you close? Maybe we could get together for a ride sometime!!

I see TONS of riders in and around town, but when we head out into some of the more rural areas for our long rides, we see no one.

[Red Haired Girl]

GLC, ya beat me to it! I was just noticing that we shared the same state (although how they can sing a song about the "Old North State" with, oh, almost 40 others further north is beyond me... ). Anyway, I'm also in the center of the state, little town called Aberdeen (it staddles US1, about 60 miles south of Raleigh). The residents/denizens of Aberdeen rather like our little town...the rich folks right next door in Pinehurst probably consider Aberdeen to be 'the slums'. Fie on them!

Anyway, I live in LA (as in Lower Aberdeen), the historic part of town.

I'd love to ride with somebody else (with the understanding I'm relatively new to biking). At a guess I'd say we're a couple of hours apart. Is that too far?

Oh, there's a photo of me in my new bike gear on another thread...Red's First Ride in 10 Friggen Years.

Take care,
Lara

[NJBikeGal]

I must say that on the RARE occasion, you can find a guy who is actually nice and curteous! I was out on a ride with a local club known for dropping people off the back and not stopping for mechanicals. Less than 1/4 mile into a B+ level ride, I blew a flat. I stop on the side of the road and look up to see the entire pack speeding away up the road. I turn back to fixing my flat and two guys show up next to me to help. They proceeded to be my riding buddies for the next 36 miles. They were great guys who actually cared to stop and help and then ride with me! Funny note: later on, we caught up to and passed the group that had dropped us. They were fixing a flat!

[jobob]

I don't really expect people to wave or call out hello all the time. More often than not I'll just smile and nod to someone I encounter on a bike, and if they say hi or wave I'll do so in return. If I pass then I'll call out, and say a cheery good morning and maybe a "howya doing" if it's an older person or someone who appears to be new.

What I consider rude behavior is more along the lines of zooming by very close with no warning, particularly on a narrow road with oncoming traffic, or zipping around me at a stopsign or a stoplight.

[KSH]

He started counting the roadies that went by and how many returned waves to his beatiful, cute little girl who was so excited to see others on bikes like her. 65 roadies passed them - not one single wave.

Yea, roadies have a bad rep of not waving and saying hello.

I know for me, when I can, I try to wave out to kids and cheer them on if they are riding. I want to be "one of the good ones".

But if I don't... it's only because I'm trying to keep my hands on my bike/brakes... or I'm very tired or focused on what I'm doing. Sometimes, if I've had a hard ride, I am zoned out and not really thinking about anything else but pedaling.

And out on the open road, when I see other cyclists across the road... I might nod my head, but I usually don't wave. Then again, I see a lot on the road sometimes... and it gets old having to wave that much.

What I really hate is when a pack of fast cyclists come out of no where to pass our group, and never call anything out. We aren't expecting it, and BAM! there they are. They could at lease say something.

Thus, if our group comes up on slower cyclists enjoying a social ride around their neighborhood, I always try to say hi or something to them.

I just think it's OK to cut people slack if they don't wave or say Hello to me. Maybe they saw 10 cyclists before me... maybe they are too tired to lift a hand... maybe they are having a really bad ride and feeling like crap... or just breathing too hard to even think about someone waving at them.

[SadieKate]

Warning, SadieKate is ranting again. A life lesson it’s taken a while to learn but made my rides so much more fun.

I think there are arguments on both sides of the waving issue. I also can get a little miffed over being ignored but I try not to expend anger and energy on it. I’ve realized over the years that everyone has their own agenda out on a ride and your expectations may not match up with the other riders’.

So s/he didn’t wave back? Were they perhaps lost in thought about a personal issue (such as a parent with recurring cancer or a child having problems in school). Are they riding sprint intervals and focused on maintaining a maximum pace? Are they chatting with someone else over a personal issue and listening to the friend’s response? Were they concentrating on a weird sound coming from their bike? From your car, do you wave at each and every driver on the road and expect them to wave back? The only time I see drivers wave at each other is rural farm roads. You do the one or two finger lift off the steering wheel and drive on. In the city (or on a crowded bike path), someone trying to wave at everyone becomes a nuisance and a danger because they aren’t concentrating on the congestion ahead.

My rides are so much more enjoyable since I’ve learned to laugh at people who actually look at you and then turn away but I don’t get angry or upset or call them names; they'd probably do the same thing in an elevator. I do call them names (and a-hole has definitely been the word of choice) if they do something unsafe which generally means they are riding the same direction as I. They pass on the right, pass too close, pass without warning, swerve in front of me, stop without warning, etc., etc., etc. Men and women are equally guilty.

This doesn’t mean you should stop waving but I hope you will become more sensitive to others’ agendas. As far as telling someone they should slow down and enjoy the ride more, why don’t you try a few rides with your legs screaming and your heart in your throat? Both have their place but you’ll find you can’t wave during the latter. You may also not be noticing the subtle finger wiggle from the bars. If you consistently expect more from me, I guess I’m an a-hole also. I fit the greeting or lack thereof to the circumstances of my chosen ride that day.

As far as the slams against men, both Mr. Jobob and Mr SadieKate are wavers par excellence. I’ve also been told by men that they are very careful about offering help to women because of the number of times they’ve been rudely snubbed. It’s a two-way street.

The upshot is, behave courteously but don’t get upset about a response that doesn’t meet your expectations. The other rider’s behavior isn’t necessarily wrong or discourteous but fits within their agenda for the day. Ride your own ride and find the zen of it.

PS - this in no way prevents me from maintaining the right to make sarcastic comments about people who look at you and then away, or wear earphones.

[Eden]

I would cut people some slack as well. I'm not sure about your area, but there are an abundace of cyclists around here. After seeing multiple threads on this and other boards about this same topic I decided to count the number of cyclists that I encountered one night. The ride was about 28 miles, with part of it being on the road and part on a dedicated bike/walk trail. I counted about 200 cyclists coming towards me that night. I didn't even count those that I passed. I did not wave or say hi to each and every one of them and I really don't think that makes me a snobby roadie. I will certainly reciprocate if someone waves and I if I see someone with a mechanical problem I will ask if they need any help, but I honestly don't think that I need to personally greet all 200 or so folks that I see in an hour and a half's ride even if we do share the commonality of riding a bike.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Strange... everyone I pass always exchanges greetings or smiles or nods with me, roadie, non-roadie, man, women, kid, whatever they are. I live in a fairly rural area, with lots of bikers. Is it a city/rural thing maybe?

About half the time I ring my bell, ching-ching, just before I say Hi or smile, and I always seem to get a friendly response. But I get friendly responses when I don't ching too.
Maybe some people are not getting enough time to see a big smile or hear a big hello and respond to it before the opportunity is past?

[Cassandra_Cain]

My impression is this thread has become more focused on whether people 'wave back' or say 'hi'.

Well I think it is only fair that this isn't always possible or a big deal - waving back/saying hi I mean. Oftentimes there is a median or divider along the road and I am definitely not even bothering to look at a rider on the other side, 50 feet away! Sometimes, as has been mentioned you can be totally zeroed in on your ride (or too busy sucking wind!) to be waving at people.

What irks me about roadies is, among other things:

A) Unsafe passing - you know, they go by you like you are standing still and give you all of maybe 3 inches with absolutely no warning, nothing. So much as slight move by me in one direction or another, maybe to avoid glass or something on the road, and crash thanks to this type nonsense by others.

B) Not helpful at all - you have a mechanical or whatever and dozens of riders go by w/o so much as even glancing at you, much less asking if you need help. So much for a sense of community.

C) Bike clubs and group rides - Despite having lived in several states, countries and places, I've yet to see a bike club make any real effort to encourage newer riders. All they do is parrot the same old tunes....you'll get dropped, dropped, dropped, if you can't go 728 mph, ride a roadbike, and keep up.

I have far less of a problem with people not waving or whatever, than the 3 things above which to me are a much bigger deal.

So my conclusion is that roadies are, as a group, not much better than car drivers and motorists. It is all me, me, me.

Indivdually there are some great people, on this board for example, but on the road I don't expect it.

[CR400]

I try not to let it bother me if somebody doesn't wave. Another thing I thought of was most of the time I recognize people by their bikes not by face. So it could be they don't always recognize you because it is a different bike.
I have also been known to ride my road bike in a regular pair of shorts and a tee shirt even on training rides, so other roadies I see don't see it coming when I blow past them. You know all that she can't be a serious cyclist she isn't in spandex thing.