When I used to ride a lot, I'd talk going up hills. I wouldn't necessarily require an answer, I tried to be sensitive that way. Ex-DH hated it and said it was rude because I wasn't out of breath and he was. To me it was good because I tried to ride a consistent pace uphill; not too fast and not too slow and it took my mind off of the fact I was tired.

When I did a 129 mile club ride way back when, I was basically on my own because there weren't many riders. A rider who did a lot of doubles (WAY out of my league!) started talking to me. We were out in the middle of nowhere and it was nice. He was complimentary about my riding too which is always great The ride was killing me and as we were going up a hill at mile 100, he pulled away. That whole hill (5-7 miles) I felt horrible and I knew I still had miles to go before the finish. I cried for a bit (as I was riding which required talent!), thought about stopping but I didn't know when I'd see a SAG wagon and stopping isn't really me, and questioned my sanity for riding. I felt sick, tired, and like I sucked because this guy was so much better. At the top of the hill, the guy was there waiting. I still remember this, he said "I'm sorry, I thought you were right behind me. You are a strong rider and I was fighting to make sure I was going fast enough." Lie or not, it made me feel SO much better. As he talked to me through the rest of the ride, I still felt sick and I couldn't answer quite as I wanted (one word answers) but it got me through that ride.

I guess there are all sorts of different answer here. I would love to talk more on the bike trail but it's difficult because of the wind and a lot of time it's single file. There are times I don't feel like talking, granted. But then again, there are times that talking has made all the difference in the world.