snobs or not?

[Eden]

This discussion seems to come up rather often these days. I have to say NO- if someone does not wave at you does not make them a snob. I think that it is as unreasonable to expect that every other cyclist on the road/path acknowledge you as it would be to expect every other person on the sidewalk or in a car to acknowledge you when you are using the same mode of transportation as they are.
Everyone is out there for their own reason. They may be wrapped up in thought, they may be working hard, they may just be shy, they might be afraid to take their hands off the bars to wave. They might just be wondering who is that waving- do I know them?
Personally I don't acknowledge every other cyclist on the road. It has nothing to do with what they are riding, how they are dressed etc. If someone waves to me I do my best to acknowledge them back, but we have thousands of cyclists maybe hundreds of thousands around here. I don't consider them all my personal friends just because we all ride bikes. If that makes me a snob, well then I'm a snob, but I hope that people don't judge me based on a second of passing on the street.

[SadieKate]

One of the most recent discussions is here. http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...hlight=roadies

Of course, this in no way prevents more discussion of this same subject again and again and again . . . there is probably some social experiment that could be done to figure out why we expect waves when we're pedaling and not when we just have foot to the car pedal.

[Cassandra_Cain]

Yes, this definitely does come up often and I know of a couple of threads where we've discussed the subject before.

Maybe it keeps coming up as it tends to be one where people hold strong opinions.

My own have evolved the more that I have been riding and go something like this....

Quite honestly, I ride for my own enjoyment and to train for races. I do not leave my house with any idea or sense of establishing camraderie or some feeling of sister/brother-hood with other riders. Nor am I looking to make friends or strike up conversation with cyclists on the road.

Inevitably, I'm out training and pushing myself, so other riders, by and large, don't much show on my radar. If someone waves and I'm aware of them then I'll usually wave back - unless I'm sprinting or in a hard interval - but I no longer go out of my way to acknowledge people.

We all have different reasons and motivations as to why we ride.

I know in some activities, people feel a sort of kinship to others that partake in the same sport/hobby. The reality, IMO, is that we are all out there following our own goals. You can even see it in this forum - some want to lose weight, some want to do a certain mileage, some just want to spend more time with their BF/GF/hubby/wife/etc....some want to win a race - all very individual goals.

I simply do not read anything into someone waving or not waving.

[Adventure Girl]

This discussion seems to come up rather often these days.

<<Sigh>> Yes it has been covered several times. Do we really need to rehash this again?

6 pages here:
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=10248

4 pages here:
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=10527

And these were within the past 2 months.