Hello Orbit,
I recognize the reactions of people in your description. All those endless stupid questions and so forth. When I started riding a recumbent two years ago, the frequency of silly questions hostile reactions was very high. I was hit by a plastic bag filled with water and urine and I met laughing idiots everywhere. Now two years later I can see a clear change in attitude: Nowadays the most frequent question is where to buy. People greet me instead of laughing at me. I think this change in attitude is due to increasing knowledge.