Originally Posted by
Happy Feet
True.. but the tone may have been set when you joined their group uninvited and while some may have been socially polite, others may have just been waiting for you to leave because you were never part of the group to start with.
I'm not saying that as a criticism, just as an example of reactions not being so cut and dry. Yes we can speculate about their social skills all day but what about those of injecting oneself into an activity already in progress on the fly. It sort of forces someone to either be polite or appear overtly rude. Kinda like waving at every cyclist that passes (which I tend to do). Creates a forced obligation or perception of arrogance. Some people dont care and others resent the imposition.
We focus on them but why do we create the obligation? Why do I think every stranger cyclist should wave to each other and why did you think you should just attach to that passing group without knowing who they are.
A couple of things here. I asked if I could join their group and was told I could. Then when I did, I was far enough back that I could have easily been ignored. Where there group had an average gap between bikes of maybe a half bike length, I was about a bike and a half or two bike lengths behind the last rider.
The observation that us cyclists can be a socially awkward group wasn't borne of this single episode. Most of the miles I put on, I put on during solo rides, constantly processing the interpersonal dynamic that plays out among the various users and groups of users of the path.