I had a really bad commute yesterday when a road rager squeezed me. Stressed me out for hours.

Today was much better. I had four people wave and say "good morning" or "hello" to me as I passed. What a huge difference that made in my day today.

How many pedestrians or home/business owners that you pass on a typical commute acknowledge you or at least wave?

I think this is a very important PR opportunity for those of us who commute by bike. If you zone out or listen to music while you ride, maybe losing the earbuds, looking around and saying "hello" to people along our routes will help us gain community acceptance better than cracking motorists' skulls.

Well, I live in L.A. which has millions of residents, so it's not really realistic to say hello to everyone, but there are a few 'regulars' i see occasionally with exchanged greetings.

I'm a jerk... barely even say hi to my family when in town. I do wave to cars that give me the right away.

I have a brother-in-law who I occasionally go on bike tours with and he's very social. He has a loud, clear voice and is a great spreader of good cheer. But every once in a while it backfires.

One of the best was as we were riding through a quiet, well manicured neighborhood early one morning as we embarked on our journey. There was a beautiful lawn and garden in front of a lovely little cottage-like house and an older woman bent over doing some weeding. My bro-in-law, who's also an avid gardener, barks out, "Lookin' good!" It was obvious from the woman's response that she did not quite take the comment as innocently as he intended. Needless to say, we rode away at a quicker pace and he toned down the "town greeter" thing.

I also had a major misfire in the "Hello Hall of Fame". I'll often leave for long distance rides at a very early hour, often on a weekend and will be out in the boonies when it's quiet. I was rolling along a peaceful rural road when I saw signs for a yard sale at the next house. Sitting in a lawn chair at the end of the driveway was a woman with a straw hat and a book in her lap reading, obviously waiting for the customers she hoped would be coming to her sale. It was a gorgeous early summer morning and I was in a great mood and in my best booming basso profundo sang out, "GOOD MORNING!". I do not exaggerate when I say this woman literally went airborne out of her chair. She had a good 6 inches of vertical lift within a fraction of a second and as I sped away all I could muster was a weak little, "sorry....

So, I'm just not a big advocate these days of a campaign for more, "Hello's". It can be dangerous.

I say hello if somebody is looking at me, thanks drivers or pedestrians if they let me go ahead.
Today, as I stopped for light, I noticed the trunk of the car was not properly closed. I told the driver and he was very thankful. He let me get into the turn first, and blew a kiss at me, as he was passing. He was in his well into his 70s, so that was kind of cute.
Kinda made my day, actually. Especially that this happened right after a school bus cut me off.

Sometimes a jogger or two. Apart from that, I don't see many vehicles, and the ones I do are passing me at 60 MPH.

Here's a cute one for ya.

I was in the residence on my commute home. Not too far from home in a quiet street. I was crusing when I glanced over at the sidewalk and saw a young girl no older than 9. She was learning to ride a bike with training wheels. Her mom was keeping a sharp eye on her. As I passed, I slow down and the little girl stopped and waived hi to me. I smile back as she turn to her mom and quoted "I'm gonna ride just like her." Her mom smile and gave me a smile and a thanks for encouragement.

Although this is a single "hello" for that day, but that hello and greeting are "Precious moments."

^^ That's sweet

I suppose I get an average number of "hellos", especially in the mornings. One group of people who have never uttered a single word is joggers. I think they're just too out of breath, I've said hi to the ones I see frequently, but still nothing. Fellow cyclists or the most friendly, and then people randomly on the side of the road in the country.

Sorry to be the ugly English teacher type, but it's right OF WAY.

To the OP, no one normally says hi to me, nor I to them. There are a couple commuters who I seem to see going the other way along the route almost every day if I ride in at my regular time give or take a half an hour. We tend to exchange nods since we recognize each other. And I'll occasionally strike up a conversation with a fellow commuter at a stop light, or if I'm really feeling frendly I might say good morning as I pass another bike commuter. But otherwise, it's usually a pretty quiet, almost anti-social affair.

Actually, the only time I've had acknowledgment on my commute was from a truck driver who was a fellow cyclist.

I have one guy on my route that I pass going the opposite direction pretty much every day. He gets a wave or "mornin'" but other than that there's not much other than the occasional nod.

Every now and then someone will ask me directions at a stop light but it's pretty infrequent. The other day I had someone roll down their window and inform me that the DMV says to walk bikes across intersections (in a very friendly manner). I thanked him for his concern...

I've never had that kind of reaction, but whenever I go by a young kid on a bike, I always slow down and give them a thumbs up or tell them they've got a cool bike.

No one wants to talk to me on my commute, for the most part, but in a major city at rush hour, that's not surprising. A few weeks ago a pedestrian was looking at me, and when I looked back, I noticed that it was the husband of a former co-worker, but I don't think this counts, especially since I stopped and we caught up.

Every now and then, though, I'll wind up having a conversation with a fellow cyclist either when I'm out riding, or when I occasionally stop for a garden burger on the way home. But that isn't the kind of advocacy wildergeek is asking about ... it's preaching to the converted.

Like bhop, I live in a larger city where it's not the norm to say "hi" all the time - too many people. I also consult regularly in a small city, and there, when I walk from the hotel to the office, it's standard practise to say "h"i to the one or two other pedestrians out there.

Although I am not a Lance fan, I enjoyed the end of this commercial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdF2lGSJWJ4

I nod to other commuters and peds, if they look approachable. On days where we're late, I've got my head down, so I look a bit less approachable. I did have a friendly exchange with another guy last week who had the same bike - I complimented him on his bike choice, lol.

I've gotten to the point, where during my short 3.5 mile commute, the school bus drivers wave or nod (there's one intersection that would be VERY easy for them to right-hook me, so I'm always more aware/cautious there). Usually, I don't pass many fellow cyclists/peds during my commutes to/from work.

One of the things that I love about commuting on my bicycle is the fact that I am interacting with the space that I go through. I say hello and chat with other bike commuters. There are a couple of school crossing guards who I pass each day, and we at least nod acknowledgment to one another. I go past bakeries, donut shops and coffee shops, which all grace me with smells - bacon, coffee, grease. I am not a big fan of fried foods, but the fried chicken place that I pass on my way home sure smells good!

Smiles, smells, waves, hellos - all help to make my commute so much better on a bike!

On a long ride the other day, I was wondering just how many calories we take in biking past a McDonalds? I could smell fries from about three blocks away... Fortunately, I did not give in to the dark side.

There's a great disturbance in the force, the force is strong in Padamar Jedi Mickey D's. Even the light saber is useless against second hand French fries smoke.

Whenever i pass a fellow bicyclist going the other way, which isn't very often, i always give them a wave. I also don't see very many pedistrians out either. I occasionally see people walking in the afternoon when it's nice out once i get into my town. I always try to say "hi" or wave to ones i do see.

I have so few verbal greetings during my rides -- average 2 per year -- but there are almost weekly nods back and forth, between me and the considerate driver.

my commute is early AM in the dark with very few vehicles on a rural country highway. Every day, a chip truck driver going the opposite direction flashes his clearance lights at me as I wave back. This has been a daily occurrence for over a year now.

I wave at every vehicle that goes by me in either direction. It's typically the usual suspects every day.

This is most of what I get. Especially from the roadies on the SFV Orange Line MUP passing me at 20 mph while I chug along on my woefully inadequate bike.

I tend be in my own little world on the MUP and when on the road I am mostly focused on the road and traffic so I don't really notice other cyclists. There are a couple commuter regulars that I pass in the morning and I will say good morning to them, but that's about it.

Somewhat off-topic but related to the differences between east-west and smaller-larger towns and saying hello...I have a friend who lives in NYC and he was out visiting last year. We decided to go hiking at a VERY popular local trail. He's a stereotype east coast type A. As we are hiking up the trail, there is a steady stream of hikers coming down, and as is usual in this area you say "hello" or "nice day, huh?" or something similiar to each other you pass. After a couple miles and more than a dozen "hellos", my friend finally has had enough. He stops, turns around and says in his best New York accent: "Jesus Christ do we have to say hello to the ENTIRE F*^&*$G CITY OF SEATTLE?". Oh I just laughed my ass off about that all day...

When I'm ony bike I grin widely like the village idiot so I get a lot of hellos and smiles during my rides.

My favourite "hello" was from a little boy about 4 or 5 years old on a Strider bike coming towards me who stopped and saluted me, then waved. That was cute.