The 90% rule
 

On the MUP as I ride by on my lowracer, I try to give everybody I meet a wave or smile. 90% of men give me an icy stare, 90% of women beak into a big smile and say something like "wow", and 90% of kids goggle in open mouthed amazement and say "WHOAAAAAA."

Do you have similar reactions? any theories of why men are so much less friendly or interested to someone on a recumbent?

Mars, the guys think you are laying down on the job...

For me that's pretty close. I like to think that women find me attractive on a bent. ;)

Well, I can dream, can't I.

I ride a lowracer as well, and I get the same icy looks, generally because I am passing them so fast they get pissed.

Then I've had the opposite reaction - had a guy call his wife at the ending point of the tour and tell her to keep me from leaving - he wanted to see what passed him and he didn't get a good look! It was a fun conversation.

Man, if there's a place lowracers don't belong, it's MUPs, which generally have a 10-15 mph speed limit. My favorite 'sheltered' riding place is one of the Detroit area Metroparks, which has a 2-lane park road looping around a lake. Traffic is not bad, and the speed limit is only 35 mph. Moreover, the traffic is virtually all people going to or from their walking, biking, picnics, etc, and all the drivers are pretty laid back. There are MUPs that more or less follow the road, and that's where the walkers and bladers tend to stay, leaving the road for the bikers. It's fun to blow by a group of uprights that are out training; sometimes they chase for a while, sometimes they just gape.

They're all probably just afraid you all will get together to form yet another special interest group and try to raise taxes to flatten all the hills :)

Maybe that's it! After all, everyone knows we can't do hills...

Kensington? If I'm ever back home, I'll have to check that place out.

If you were female, those figures might flip-flop a bit. :D