I acknowledge people I pass only because they also are human beings.. It doesn't have to be the wave, just a nod or a smile is sufficient..
Sometimes when i've had a bad day, just an acknowledgment from another human being speaks volumes....
Trendy... Sure we are, but no less than my friends in our Audi S4 club and Forum. The key is to recognize other people and their level of passion for what we do... Every year we have a drive / cruise called Avantoberfest.... We meet in Danbury CT head up to Limerock Race track than head up to Stratton VT via backroads, stay for the Octoberfest then drive home the next day. This year we'll expand that to drive up and over Smuggler's Notch ( Stowe VT ) then drive back home late Sunday or monday morning....
It's cliquish, all Audi's, ( some uber expensive, mine isn't it's a b6 2004 S4 ) but the point is it's a group of like minded individuals... It's also a family outing for some as they do include wives and kids..
I wear my Cox Steadman's kit because it is my club, not because it is resplendent of a limited membership.. I run Campagnolo Chorus on an older Cannondale which at this point has 60,000miles from 8 seasons of racing and 3 trips to France /Italy.... That surely doesn't give me bragging superiority rights over anyone....
Early 90's I lived in New Haven CT, rode /raced unnattached mostly, but had a friend who was post grad at Yale... his name was Olaf, we met on the road.. Anyway he shows up for a group ride one morning.... On a MTB with slicks... The amount of snickering and skewed looks was quite amusing... No one could drop him, he also contested the final sprint and blew up everyone... Comes to be he was german and had raced for the national team, when he 1st told me his name I replied " Like Ludwig " to which his response was " Not as Fast "... We also had an african american rider by the name of Beethoven Brown, I think he was the 1st i can recall on limited edition Campy Record, Colnago frame and Carbon wheels. He's a Neuro surgeon also at Yale.... Both of those people were two of the most unassuming humble riders I have come across...
Here's a good example of why being an elitist doesn't work.... We had a group ride out of Sleeping Giant Park and one day this guy shows up on an Eddy Mercx, full Motorola kit, the works... Bruce ( name may have been changed to protect the innocent ) goes up to him and says...
" Who do you think you are ...??.. Lance Armstrong ?? " the reply was " Yes... indeed I am " it was and we have never let Bruce live that one down....