When yet another stranger made eye contact and greeted me, it occured to me that maybe it isn't just that I'm "in the midwest" - but maybe cycling creates the opposite bio-psychological effect that getting into an elevator does.
(Or, it could be cultural. A lady who *should* have waved or somethign when because a mess of construction cut us down to one lane and I ducked over to the sidewalk to let her by... had Virginia tags.)
You get into an elevator, and everybody looks up, down, firmly at the floor numbers. AFter all, you're stuck with those people for just the wrong amount of time. With cycling, it's safe. You're going to be GONE in 4 seconds - just time enough for a swift karma exchange.
Or maybe it's the "We're NOT CARS" kinship, I don't know. It's almost as uplifting as when I commuted by motorbike.