What's a Fred?

[Eden]

When I run into a male racer on the road all he does is blow by me without acknowledging me, maybe he is a jerk or maybe he is just in the zone but it still feels uppity.

OK.... I see this topic come up from time to time.... Why do you expect this guy to acknowledge you... I don't think he is a jerk or uppity. He just doesn't have anything in common with you except that he is riding a bike. You don't expect every car driver to acknowledge you when you are driving. You don't wave and say hi to every other person who is walking on the sidewalk when you are.

I know we are a subset of humanity because we ride, but to tell the truth I don't feel that means I have an instant kinship with every other rider on the road. Maybe its because there are so many of us out here, but I don't necessarily acknowledge ever other rider I see. That's not to say that we shouldn't look out for one another - I always ask cyclists if they need any assistance if I see them having mechanical difficulties etc., but I don't feel the need to personally greet everyone.

[Aggie_Ama]

OK.... I see this topic come up from time to time.... Why do you expect this guy to acknowledge you... I don't think he is a jerk or uppity. He just doesn't have anything in common with you except that he is riding a bike. You don't expect every car driver to acknowledge you when you are driving. You don't wave and say hi to every other person who is walking on the sidewalk when you are.

I waved and smiled at him/her first and they made eye contact, the way I was raised you acknowledge that. My Mammaw taught me we are all more alike than we want to believe, I had relate to a millionare and the person who can barely afford the roof over their head. She is a wise 90 year old, a sage if you ask me. If some stranger says hello to me on the street, I say hello, even if they were a seven foot tall green martian (who I would have nothing in common with but the location).

I honestly don't have anything against racers, my husband is one himself. I don't race, I don't understand training and I will never do it. Which means it will always be difficult for me to understand how returning a friendly wave or warning me when you are about to blow by me on a road is such an inconvenience. The roads I am talking about are not the ones with 50 cyclists out, it is the middle of nowhere county roads by me that I may be the only one they see for 30 minutes or the entire ride. I don't expect it every time but I am not sure the wave has ever been returned.

I don't hold a grudge about it and it doesn't keep me awake at night, I just find that road racers in my area tend to be less friendly than the mountain racers and I have been quite surprised by that. More surprised the mountain racers are so darn friendly! Maybe it is their recovery day since I ride one of the easier trails?

And I am generalizing and do not mean offense to the racers on this board. I thought I had something in common with the ones around me but I guess they do not look at this little Fredette the same type of person as themselves. That is a sad way to be IMO. We all can use the roads how we want legally, I won't hold it against the guy who thinks I am a dork and I guess if he knew I thought he was a bit uppity he wouldn't give a darn either.

[Eden]

I just think that you are putting a lot of burden on this person that he may or may not deserve. He may think you are a dork, then again he may not at all and I think it rather unfair of you to assign negative thoughts to him just because of how he looks and the fact that he did not greet you.

More plays into this than a bicycle. Where you grew up east coast, west coast, south - large or small town will all influence the way you interact with others. I was not particularly raised to talk to strangers... I grew up and still live in a large city and people will think you are pretty strange and forward to greet everyone.... Call me uppity if you like, just remember that not everyone's social norms are the same as yours.

If I'm greeted while riding I will certainly try to return the greeting, but there are probably plenty of times that I'm sure someone thought uppity road rider, when I probably was just not paying any attention to them. I think its great to see people out on their bikes and I certainly prefer to see them riding than driving- no matter what they ride or why they ride. That will never make me outgoing, and I still don't feel the urge to wave at all of them...

[lph]

I live in a country where pretending your fellow beings don't exist is the pinnacle of polite behaviour. You don't say hi to people on the street unless you're drunk, have ingested something illegal, or are slightly mad. So if somebody tried to say hi on the road to me while I was biking I'd probably be too busy wondering why and whether I should be worried about it to respond...

I'm being a bit facetious here, but not only. I would try to respond I guess, but I'd be mighty surprised and might just stare. But it sure wouldn't be because I thought the person looked like a Fred or a dork or whatever, when I pass people I'm usually deep inside my own brain and the only thing I'm thinking about is "which is the safest side to pass on?" I guess it is a training thing.

FWIW I'm having a blast, even though I'm not grinning. And sometimes I am

[TrekTheKaty]

Funny that we've slid off onto this topic. I frequent a Missouri Katy Trail Forum that discusses this topic frequently. Two different threads develop: bikers are either unfriendly or overfriendly AND should you say hello to fellow bike riders.

My sister is the one that says hello to every single person at our local bike path. We usually do 5 laps or 19 miles--so that is a lot of hellos. When I first started riding with her, she said hello to a "serious" bike rider (full team uniform--in the drops, looking very intense) that I recognized from a local bike race--couldn't miss his blonde ponytail. After he breezed by without acknowledgement, I told her he was a racer and probably concentrating on a workout--quit saying "hello." She became more determined, and after 3 "hello's" he smiled and waved to the two silly girls on hybrids. He always waves to us now :-)

Another serious rider explained that he didn't mind waving, but his rides could quickly become an upper-body workout on busy trail days.

OK, I'll accept that.

[Aggie_Ama]

Eden- I sure didn't mean for my comment to be taken as far as it was and you are right it is unfair of me to be judgmental while accusing the guy of being judgmental. Do I have my days where I feel overly sensitive to it? Most of them, that is me. I have I met the ugliest of the ugly riders who talk bad about slow riders even when they are present? Yup, my husband raced with that jerk in college. Have I met really, really nice racers? The majority of them I know are. Do I still wish the ones I wave/smile/say hi to would return the greeting back? Yup and that is me. I went to a college where you said "Howdy" to strangers to make them feel welcome on a large campus, that should say something about me and strangers. Are they jerks for not? Nope it is what it is.

And you are right, I am born and raised in the south. We are friendly to a fault. My grandparents (all three I was able be raised knowing) will/would talk to anyone that stood still. I grew up that way, I am not used to reserved people. They are as normal as a seven foot tall martian the way I was raised. I guess I expect people who live here to be like me but I forget many of the people here are not from here.

[wildhawk]

I say hi to fellow bikers on trail, and most respond in kind. Unfortunately, the issues I am running into are people who do not know proper trail etiquette - and the other day when my DH and I gave an audible “on your left” to pass a jogger she actually cussed at us. And for the past two weekends we have had a racer barrelling through a 10mph trail in our local park with earbuds on and he does not even bother giving an audible - just flies up on you quick and darts in and around walkers and other riders at a high rate of speed. He has frightened seniors walking and he nearly hit my bike in his haste last weekend. I guess he was “in his training zone” but that particular trail is a family trail with lots of small kids and seniors on it as well as bikers and rollerbladers. I say its o.k. to greet who you want and if they respond in kind, fine. If they ignore you, fine. But if they ride recklessly and almost run you off the trail, then that is another matter altogether. I was also raised in the south, so I am the friendly type. Just today we met a very nice fellow biker who told us about two more paved bike trails we did not know about. Our conversation was started with a “Hi, how are doing?” It takes all kinds to make up the world and everyone has their particular comfort zone when it comes to greeting others, but I have seldom seen someone not return at least a smile.

[wackyjacky1]

I don't feel that means I have an instant kinship with every other rider on the road.

I guess I'm of two minds here:

I actually do feel a kinship with other cyclists based solely on the fact that we're both on bikes.

But...

I am not offended when my nod or wave isn't returned. If someone is clearly in the midst of a hard workout, I don't really expect them to break their concentration to say hello.