Do you like talking on the road or not?

[SouthernBelle]

Thank goodness I'm not the only who speaks to cattle and goats.

[teigyr]

I guess most of us talk to our bikes too?

[roguedog]

you gotta focus or you gotta breathe?

pppppphttttt

Hey, were you ridign the cindy with me?? or did you just hear me all the way up there :PP

We need more smileys!

[run it, ride it]

Oh goodness... I talk to animals, too. 'Specially when I'm running. I try to convince the geese they should be more scared of me than I am of them (ha!), and there are these two horses in a paddock on a back road who ALWAYS spook when I run/cycle by, so I try to shout up to them before I turn the corner so they don't bonk their poor heads on their feeder!

[Thorn]

I used to talk to animals and then....we were hiking in England where the walking paths often pass through pasture land. We walked through the gate and down the path, cattle on both sides of the path. Being the animal chatterer, as we passed them, I talked to them saying stupid things like, "Don't mind us, we're vegetarian." "Nice day, isn't it?" etc. etc.

After about 100 yards of that, DH said, "uh....we're being followed." Sure enough, several of the cattle were now following us down the path. We kept walking and I kept talking, now, more out of nerves than just animal chattering.

The longer we walked the more cattle followed us. We stopped to chat with 2 guys and one of the cows came up behind me and nudged me along. It was getting a bit unsettling and the guys were very nervous as well. By the time we'd reached the end of the pasture, we couldn't get over the stile to get out of the area because the cattle were blocking it (http://www.cassandrathorn.com/images...WayGroup_P.JPG) We hopped a barbed wire fence.

Later, this city girl learned that cattle like to be talked to and will follow anyone who chatters with them. I've learned my lesson....no talking to the animals unless there is a fence between them and me.

Hmmm...maybe that's why I bike more now....the animals can't follow me?

[RoadRaven]

Thank goodness I'm not the only who speaks to cattle and goats.

LOL... of course, I neglected to mention this aspect of my chatter.

I usually say hi to some of the animals too as I pass too... mostly cattle, cause I like them.

[CR400]

Depends who I'm with and what the goal is for the ride. Yesterday I rode with a friend who is just getting into cycling. So we rode at a pace it was easy to talk, well for me anway not sure about her, but she seemed ok. If I ride with the top guy on our team I don't talk becuase I usually have to devote my time to keeping up and breathing. Unless he goes slower then we can talk. It also depends how I feel is it a get down to buisness day or a social day.

[margo49]

I ride alone.
But I have wonderful conversations with friends in my head.
I also talk to Salsabike and uforgot a lot about the countryside, flowers, birds, etc!

[10ch]

I ride alone.

margo49, you sound like such a cowgirl. Awesome t-shirt idea.

[KSH]

Just wondering what everyone's opinion was. I find that if I ride with someone that I can talk to (men don't get this) that I can go further, faster and have a lot more fun riding. I know there are a lot of very serious riders out there that don't like to "chat" on the road...what is your preference?

I like to chat, but I can't chat if I want to focus on going fast. I realized that the fast riders aren't rude, because they don't chat. They are just focused, and it's hard to chat when you are working hard.