SingingSabre 

The companion thread to this one.

Tell me about when you've been cheered on, cheered at, or generally encouraged while riding!

I tend to get more "Woo!" sort of comments from passing drivers than anything else.

One time, while at a four way stop, a very nice looking woman shouted "I want your body!" at me.

What are your stories?

apricissimus 

Stopped at a red light, a police cruiser pulled up to my left and the cop in the passenger seat complimented me on my bike. He said he wished the police department would give them that kind of bike instead of they ones they do get (I was riding Bianchi Volpe).

apricissimus 

There was another time when I was stopped in some heavy stop and go traffic around a construction site, and a nice guy in his semi (no trailer) started talking to me about how he wishes he were on a bike right now, and how he still has his old ten speed. We talked for a solid 3 or 4 minutes, though over the noise of his truck, I couldn't hear most of what he was saying! I just kept nodding and smiling because he seemed like a nice guy.

StokerPoker

A woman at the grocery store said she thought my trailer was sexy.. Ok, she said cute, but still it made me feel good.

coldfeet

Is that the top half of a shopping cart?

StokerPoker

it sure is!

markhr

Some of my peronal benefits
"Nice butt" yelled from a car full of ladies
"Wow, that's cool" from office colleagues
slimmer waistline
lower resting heart rate
healthier appetite
better, deeper sleep
converstions with random cyclists at stops
waving to other road users and getting a smile or a wave back
getting more than 1m passing distance from vehicles
having cyclists blow past me through red lights only to stop at the next one because I did

markhr

That, Sir, is cool.

Cyclaholic

Last Friday a young guy in a small red car beeped his horn (one short beep) as he approached from behind. I see his window come down as he comes up beside me and my middle finger was already primed for a response when he called out "wow, cool bike" and gave me the thumbs up. Then he fell back a bit and paced me for a while. It was a bit of a worry because he was holding up traffic.

About 40 minutes later I'm on the train with my bike and at a stop half through my journey the same guy gets on the train. Woah! talk about random! I didn't recognise him but he recognised the bike (it's a recumbent - extremely rare here) and we started talking. Turns out that he's an architect and was blown away by the whole design/concept of a recumbent bike as he'd never seen or heard of such a design before.

Stujoe

As I was leaving work yesterday, a mailman in his truck started honking and waving at me as I was getting ready to turn onto the road from the parking lot. I really didn't catch a good look at him to see if I knew him or not and I am not sure if he was encouraging me or what. I am just glad he didn't shout "I want your body!" at me.

no motor?

I got a compliment on my Fenix light this week when i had it on strobe. It was twilight,and I was making an extra lap around the neighborhood because I didn't want to stop and this guy said "that's a really bright light" after noticing me from a block away.

stringbreaker

Had a carload of teenage girls yell "nice a**" and when I caught them at the light I told them I knew they were lying but they had made this old mans day. We all got a good laugh.

buzzman

At the crest of the Kancamangus Highway in NH I got car load of cheers by some college kids once.

I've had a few thumbs up on some particularly challenging climbs.

I've gotten a few "Good for you!'s" as I loaded my commuter bike with groceries at the grocery store.

I've had little kids yell, "Go biker man!" as I sped by.

I_bRAD

Last winter we got a big storm that pretty much shut the city down. Normally I stick to the main roads on such a day, but was optimistic that the side route I normally take would be passable. It was- but just barely. 8-12" deep slush with narrow tracks interspersed with windrows to navigate. I was hammering through it and some guy shoveling it called out "way to go brother!" It broke my concentration and I almost had to put a foot down, but I managed to get through.

på beløb

Modesty forbids me repeating some of the things, but "nice butt", "nice legs", makes me smile.

Rober

Everyday I notice drivers that seem to go out of their way to be courteous, or at least cautious. We have a "three-foot rule" here, but most drivers give way more room than that when passing. Many allow me to go ahead of them at stop lights so I can get to the right side on the other side of intersections. Almost always cars wanting to turn right off the main road will slow down and wait for me to pass the road so that they don't right-hook me. Once last week I caught up with another bike commuter and we had a conversation encouraging each other. A road flag-person at a huge freeway construction project I pass underneath each day said, "Way to go man!" when I rode past after waiting my turn with the cars.

PS: There's some bad stuff too, but way more good than bad.

vsopking

Yesterday riding along the canal for about 8 km; I was cheered at by a guy and a girl in a motorboat.
Like; yeah, yeah, yeah! than after a while they speeded forwards until I caught up again and they started again yelling and cheering - they repeated that for 4 times. Very strange - probably just to let me know how fast their boat was...

lmxloco

I haven't been commuting for very long, but I've had good experiences all around. Was at a red light waiting to turn left when a motorist pulls up beside me in a car and wishes me luck when riding, wants to know how nice people are being, what kind of speeds I hit, etc. etc.

This happened on my second day commuting too, making me feel much better about being on the roads (I was hit when I was younger...it's taken me a while to get re-acclimated)

girljen

My boss, when I told him that I ride my bike every day no matter what the weather, said, "You're such a good person!" It really made me blush.

BengeBoy 

I was on a fast, steep descent -- tucked over the bars a bit to be a bit more aero -- when a car pulled up alongside me and tooted the horn. I looked over and saw that two young women passengers in the car were mooning me.

I was not sure how to interpret it at the time, but I guess it counts as "generally encouraged."

thebarerider

I remember a comment a driver made from a thread similar to this and always wish someone would say it to me: the rider was going up a hill fast and a driver yelled out, "That thing got a hemi?!"

As for me, I've gotten a few thumbs up and some "nice bikes" from teenage girls doing carwashes and such. The most enthusiastic drivers I met were while I was on tour in Colorado. One guy in particular stands out; he was wearing a huge sombrero, driving an old, beat up Honda and he beeped the horn multiple times (he was passing opposite me and the horn was quiet) and waved frantically at me. Cheered me up on a long, straight, flat 50 miles on day one.

JiveTurkey

A car full of women and girls rode next to me; one in front yelled "I want your bod!" They passed, but the upcoming light turned red, so they stopped. Pulled up, held up my left hand, and said, "Sorry ladies, but I'm married."

Metricoclock

Friday i took a break at work (around 5pm) and road over to a park here in ann arbor and went up and above the expressway (I-94) on a pedestrian over pass. Leaned my bike up against one side and i sat back on the other side while having a smoke. I went up there just to watch traffic, and watch semi's fly past 6ft below me at 70mph. Well I was up there for about 4 mins, then before i realized what was happening people were honking at me (with my bike) as they were going down the expressway.
I think there were a total of 8 people that honked in 10mins.

For all i know, they might of been thinking i was making a political statement of some type, i was just doing what I do and taking a break hahaha

SingingSabre 

Oh! I once dive bombed down a hill and easily hit over 35mph. I had a great young lady pacing me, as it was a single lane each way down the winding hill with a double yellow line.

When we got to the light at the bottom of the hill, she pulled aside me and applauded. I was beaming.

benda18

a lady at the grocery store told me that my alert shirt was on inside-out. it made me feel good that someone cares more about how i look than i do.