Originally Posted by
jralbert
...Having commuted full-time for several months now on a 20km one-way route, I've come to recognize a lot of people I share the route with, and I'll exchange a full-voiced "good morning" with several different dog-walkers, old folks on scooters, and lycra-clad speed racers who've come to form parts of the community I now consider myself a part of. That sense of community has become a rare bird in our culture, and I'm always delighted to have a piece of it, especially when the cost of entry is as low as a momentary greeting.
I too have had several routine greeting encounters on my early morning commute over the years, and I have even learned some of their names when I have met them, usually other than on the commute.
If I don't know their names, I give them nicknames, like
"Good Buddy," an oncoming serious cyclist riding in the opposite direction, and the
"The Stalker." (The stalker drove a windowless van in the opposite direction, and gave me a friendly toot when passing.)
It's always going to be a good day when I pass a runner also going in the opposite direction known as the
"The Fleet Goddess." 