etiquette, and what not.
 

ok, so I have had a few awkward moments with fellow bikers. the other day i was treking up the williamsburg bridge and i passed a dude on a pista going pretty slow for what its worth, and i looked back and just smiled as like a "hello there fellow fixie rider"-smile, and i may be wrong, but i'm pretty sure he interpreted it as like a "ha! slow poke!"-smile, cause the next thing i know...im riding pretty fast and he is riding on my ass, normally i just let people pass, but for some reason i felt like hauling ass and "beating" him at our unproclaimed race(...btw, if you are out there on this forum, sorry i'f i came off as rude, and if you for some reason just realized you were late for something and needed to go fast)...but anyway...i normally just like smiling at and acknowledging other bikers esp. fixie riders...but i don't want to be rude or look like i'm trying to show anyone up by passing them or pulling a trackstand at a light. anyone ever run into this...found any appropriate passing etiqutte? or ..yeah...

A nod is pretty appropriate for any situation.

I usually just shove an old pump in their spokes, but only if they pass me
:p

I give the "hand still on the bar" wave.

hahaha! its a battlefield, everyman/woman for him/herself!

i just like to pass gas when I'm overtaking. (adding insult to injury) makes the roadies remember not to draft;)

Yeah me too.

I tend to just throw an arm up in the air and yell something ridiculous...like "way to ride a bike" or "whoooo!!!" or something to lift spirits and/or make me look like an ass...

-jason

I swerve at them and scream "No brakes! No brakes!"









And I don't even ride fixed.

...a gentle pat on the rear as you pass them generally gets their attention...maybe not so much for those racers in diaper pants...

I like the wave from the brow.

I think it could have just been that he realised he was losing his pace or something and then decided that he'd pace himself to you since you appeared to be going at a pretty good clip. I'll stay with the occaisional roadie who passes me if I'm on my geared bike.

i....don't really say anything if i'm riding my track bike.

if i'm on my roadie and i'm i'm in the hills, i tend to wave at just about everyone, and i'll say hello, or some other generic pleasantry. but try to start a conversation and i'll either drop back out of earshot, or surge ahead...mostly it's the latter.

i'm not a very social guy unless i'm working.

Stand out of the saddle, tilt the mini-brim of your skull cap, and hit em' with the full "Ciao!", coupled with a big wave. I guarantee there won't be a person who will draft you after some sh*t like that.

I always wave or at least nod to the fixies I see on the road and actually anyone on a bike in general.

I usually say either

Buon giorno
Salve
Mandi
or Ciao

Depending on which town I'm in and how old the rider/s are.

Roadies in full pro-team kits scare me- and they are considered a huge fashion faux pas even among roadies. I passed a guy mashing along (with his knees splayed out) in a full super Mario zebra kit with the matching zebra-stripe team bike and matching Mario facial hair... I think he even had the Aqua-Sapone TT booties... anyway, he started "racing" me as a good hammerhead will, then had the nerve to criticize my cadence- until I explained to him there was no shifting or coasting
:eek:

i think we all need to be more like the courier in boston who screams WOOOOOOOOOOOO (or the occasional "wheres da partay atttttttttt", usually on fridays) everytime he passes another messenger. he rides that red toys-r-bike with socks over the pedals. i'm sure you other boston guys know who i'm talking about. whenever i see him and he woos at me, i can't help but return the favor.

nuqneH?

I'd say be friendly but get used to that reaction (finding them racing you) IME it takes years sometimes for some cyclists to find that being passed is a matter of relative pace and not a critical statement on the size of their genitals. :D

i was riding home one day and this guy on a road bike started riding along side me, asking me about my fixie. turns out he has one too, etc. etc. anyway it was a friendly conversation. then we come to a pretty steep hill, and so i offer him: "well, you can go ahead on up this hill" figuring that he can just downshift and spin his way up that sucka.... but then i beat him up the hill..... oops. apparently he wasn't as strong as i thought.. i felt kinda bad, but he just said "you da man!" and rode off.

so i was going up the manhattan bridge on the way home yesterday, like i always do -- ~15 up the hill, ~25 down. i pass this guy on the crest as i'm getting up to speed. i'd been pacing myself so as not to be a jerk on coming up to him. he looked over his shoulder i'd say every 30 seconds and was wobbly as hell. when i finally overtook him i zoomed by, and i guess this was his cue to race me down the bridge.

the guy sat on my wheel.

i asked him what the hell he was doing, and he replied simply "i like to go fast." obviously not fast on the uphills, though. either that, or he likes to swerve around to take both oncoming and outgoing lanes also.

i think he's the same kind of person that doesn't let people off the train or elevators first, just pushing their way in. it still bothers me, i'm not sure why.

I used to see that guy all the time and I always wondered what his deal was so I asked a messenger buddy of mine. Rumor has it that he was in prison for a long time and when he got out the only job he could get was as a courier. Supposedly, the guy is just so happy to have a job that he just sings and shouts all day long. I always see people shout "Brooklyn" at him and he comes back with a "WOOOOOOO".

you talking about the guy on the big trike?

Man, where did I see him just the other day? I noticed the socks and was like, nice.

Anyhow, he can't be a courier if he was in the clink. You gots to pass a criminal background check to mess in Boston. People with a record have to be cabbies instead.

Personally, I think we all need to be like the guy who rolls around the South End and Jamaica Plain sidewalks on the adult trike hooting at the top of his lungs. Clearly he's not all there, but that dude's alright in my book!