goodcatjack

[all this happened the other month, but something just reminded me of it, today.]

So I was out riding, having a great time, when I ended up at an intersection with this other cyclist. I grin and wave hi while taking a sip from my bottle; no big deal, happens all the time. for the record, he's on a very nice Trek and he's dressed the part, while I'm in a pair of Columbia camping type shorts and a tshirt from the Gap and I'm riding a Bianchi Axis that I've taped a bit because I don't like part of the paint job.

but this guy does these slow loops while waiting for traffic and gives me the old once-over, you know the look? the let's-see-what-you've-got-there look, and he actually blows me off. he ignores the ancient ritual of the friendly wave. I'm thinking, "You have GOT to be kidding me. Did this guy actually do that? What is he, twelve? Amazing. Just ... amazing." I had brief visions of a scene out of a fifties hot rod movie race starting at the green light, but his going in the other direction cut short my little reverie.

so how about it? how do you react to the Lesser Yellow Chested Bicycle Snob (**** sapiens velo idioticus)?

Portent

If I see another cyclist I usually make eye-contact before saying 'Hi', however if I get blanked it doesn't really bother me, its their loss.

Gojohnnygo.

This guy Sounds like a poser. You should of dusted his butt big time.I just love the looks from their faces as I pass them.

nikos

Its a tough call, I usually ignore the snobby looking riders. Just like in your situation, they usually dont say anything. However, if their not on the pro tour - whats with the attitude in my opinion. I ride year round here in wisconsin, even in the worst of weather (commutes) I ride mountain, tour and road. Ill take any of those snobs on in the hills, Ill challenge on my mountain bike if need be. However, I did run into a very nice rider on my ride home friday, great conversation?

velocipedio

jack... how exactly do you know what he was thinking or feeling? maybe he was exhausted from a long ride and coming home and simply didn't have the energy to respond... maybe he was preoccupied with something and just didn't notice... maybe he was painfully shy... maybe he interpreted your greeting as a threatening gesture...

the fact is, you don't know if he even saw you...

The Terminator

I enjoy exchanging pleasantries. I was challanged by a punk, (I use that term humourously) today. I came by, "On your left" went on, he looked at me as I went by. He kicked it in and passed me on the right, in the grasss, and said to me, "Can't let an old man pass me on the trail," he grinned and blew by.

I may be new to cycling, but I KNOW one thing for sure, a 20 inch fixed speed BMX special is no match for a Bianchi road racer. I spanked him to the next mile marker, and then went on out of sight. I was at around mile number 20 of a 30 miler today. If felt so good!

Maelstrom 

Exactly...I try to make an effort to say something but sometimes am either too focused or too tired. Heck sometimes I don't even notice people I am too zoned...

Doesn't mean hes a dick.

Maelstrom 

Sounds like he was having fun...and it got your boosted didn't it ...Sounds like you ended up with a great ride because of the bmxer

The Terminator

A great ride it was, and I hope to see the young man again on the trail, soon. - Ted

bac

danr

Sounds like the guy is compensating. For some reason, he obviously feels threatened by other men. His solution is to ride a bike and let his ego and his view of the world revolve around it.

I just wonder what he is compensating for?

dexmax

just yesterday, i was cruising alone(as always) along my daily route,I saw a group of cyclist in full battle gear(jersey, camelback, i mean everything you can possibly carry). I figure, they might be warming-up/training for an up-coming mtb race(they were on an MTB).

So i waved and smiled at them. I got a snubbish response, as if i wasn't worth to be on a bike... well, i'm 200lbs@5'6"(i'm big and Fat).. And i was wearing regular shorts and a t-shirt.
So, I thought, they may be stronger than me but I have to prove myself.. not to them but to myself..

So i gradually increased my pace.. And at the right moment, when i was about 20ft behind them, I kicked it and sprinted to about 40-45kph on an uphill.
No way they expected that... they really tried to keep up.. I can here them say "lets go after him". Unfortunately, Roadbikes have a definite advantage on road... went out of sight after a few kms..

I like MTBikers, I enjoy thier company, I just didn't know those guys(new faces)..
And i really enjoyed myself because of them... exhuasted but so much fun!

dexmax

oh, did i mention i got thier respect...

After my ride, I went home and drove to my LBS to pick up my MTB.

I saw them and they approached me and introduced themselves.. It turned out that they were from out of town and were training for a race... That was enough for an apology... I greeted them and got myself three new MTB friends...

I had fun, and got new friends... how's that?

Waldo

If someone's so focused on a ride they can't return a greeting or a wave, there's something going on there. Just MHO. If you don't return a greeting, you are subject to a dusting. I've had fun dusting guys on Ghisallos while I'm riding my Yeti Road Project with the Judy on the front since I'm still waiting for my real fork.

jatkins679

How do you know that other rider even gave you a second thought or even cared enough to play in your 'ancient ritual'? For all you've described, he as likely just doesn't happen to care about other riders. Whatever his reason(s), how does his failure to acknowledge you make him a bad guy?

What ever happened to the sanctity of people just doing their own thing and minding their own business? I mean, geez, you sound like, 'Hey, goddamn it, you be friendly with me!'

Sorry, but I vote that you're acting like you're 12.

goodcatjack

good heavens, boy, didn't you read the post? somebody waves and smiles at you, and you're no more than ten feet (3 odd metres) away, and you don't respond -- AT ALL? and instead, you stare pointedly? the scenario is whatchacall fact-dependent. this fella was a d*ck. the question was more along the lines of how-d'ya-respond-to-this-particular-BREED-of-d*ck.

sigh.

I mind my own business. really, I do. I just find it mind-boggling when I encounter people who consider themselves so ABOVE the everyday giveandtake of polite society merely because of the money they're riding etc.

that's what I'm talking about. I have a full enough little life without demanding that "Hey, goddamn it, you be friendly with me!" -- thank you very much. the question is: is observing the niceties too much to ask? and how have you reacted when you've experienced differently?

if ya don't read anything else (and at this point, I don't have any faith that you will) -- read this: one fella greeted another in a friendly fashion from within face-to-face distance, and the other gave him the high hat. the first fella just wanted to find out if anyone else had experienced the same with similar amazement.

ta,

alex.

dexmax

there's always a "kid" in us... it just so happened that the kid never got over biking...

Let's be kids again and enjoy!

velocipedio

the point is that you're imputing motives that might not be there. what if this guy had just lost a friend in a car accident and was out riding, thinking about him... what if his wife had just left him... what if he'd just lost his life savings in the stock market... what if his kid had just been diagnosed with an incutable disease... what if he was out on a ride trying to unwind and cool down because his life was going to **** and he really just didn't feel like playing your game just then?

that makes him a dick?

what? i don't know if that was his story? well, you don't know that it wasn't. until you know the entire circumstances of the guy's life, or until you can read minds, maybe you should show some humility and accept the fact that maybe this guy just wasn't in the same head space as you.

to be honest, your pique, the way you're projecting like this, and imputing motives that might not be there is actually more dick-y than not returning a wave.

Walter

Somebody waves at an intersection you should wave back or at least nod.

It's not that heavy a challenge.

goodcatjack

velocipedio: well, you make a good point. and you're right, I shouldn't have stated the case with such pique. there's absolutely the possibility that all these other plausible alternate explanations exist for this guy's behavior; maybe I was the guy in the wrong. but I don't think so. I was there and you weren't, but still, we'll never know now, will we? and for the record, you'll remember that as far as my reactions that day, all I did was wave in a friendly fashion, then wonder why I was ignored so pointedly.

is there any way to get this thread back on the right track? I hope so. apologies to all if I conveyed a sense I didn't really intend to convey. I don't like having to deal with this kind of energy on Mother's Day, and what really sucks is that I started it, however unintentionally.

perhaps a restatement: forget the particular occurrence at incident. instead (unfortunately) we all know bike snobs exist, which I don't think anyone can deny. how have you reacted when snubbed by one, if ever? and on second thought, I don't think I'd mind if no-one replied at this point, instead letting this thread dissolve into the archives. this totally went into regrettable directions.

bummed,

-alex.

cyclingshane73

There's two very good arguements on this topic. I know some days I've been too occupied with my own thoughts that some times I'm just too focused.

I've even seen other cyclists nod thier heads or wave and I its surprised me, kinda woke me up, if you will. By then its too late, either I'm gone or vice versa. Then again I've given the ol' head nod and received nothing in return. No skin off my back though.

There's nothing wrong with doing your own thing. Some people are naturally untrusting or just not very friendly to people they don't know. I like to think that as much as we are human with our own thoughts and the ability to change and adapt, sometimes we are a product of our enviroment. If that enviroment has taught us to keep other people at a distance then thats how some people will react.

Its a damn shame really. Its too bad everything couldn't be all beer and pretzels on the patio with a few friends and brewskies! Actually nevermind that last sentence it was just an excuse to use these two guys.

John E

Appearances can be deceiving. Whether I wear hiking shorts and a T-shirt or cycling shorts and my Bianchi jersey, I am the same person. I am amused and frustrated by the hostility between casual cyclists and the "lycra set," because I freely move between both categories.

At my skill level, I pass lots of other cyclists, and lots of other cyclists pass me. I have met several valued friends while cycling, just because I exchanged greetings.

When I ride the Capo, I can savor a bit of "my bike's older than your bike" snobbishness.

velocipedio

maybe i live in a bubble, but i haven't really experienced much bike snobbishness. sure, there was a group of older, 50-smoething guys at the pizza place yesterday where my club ended our ride [one litespeed, one trek and one ti bike i can't remember the make] who were pretty unfriendly, but maybe that was a 50ish thing...

roadies are all over montreal, so maybe we haven't developed an overweening sense of our own superiority. i mean, there's always someone who can spank you pretty bad, so you may as well be nice...

a couple of stories though...

a year ago in april, i was fighting along the lakeshore into a very nasty headwind, and i catch a guy from one of the local teams going in the same direction. i take a breather on his wheel for about a minute and then pull up and suggest that we work together. he says "f**k off." so i fall back on his wheel again, breathe a bit, and then pull ahead. he's on my wheel, but i keep bringing the tempo up until he falls off. damn near killed me, but i enjoyed it. i see this guya round -- we call him "smiley" -- always training alone, not even with his teammates for company. i suppose he's just an unpleasnt sod.

another time, last august, i was training for the cyclo-cross season on mount royal. the park was crowded, so i rolled off and took the dirt road from ile-ste-helene along ile des couvees to the ice bridge. i notice that my left cleat is loose just after i get onto the ice bridge, stop, lean the bike up againt the rail, take off my shoe and tighten it. i take off the camelbak i'm wearing since my 'cross bike doesn't have a bottle cage. a couple of weekend roadies come by -- one guy on a very new, very shiney, very expensive pinarello, one on [i think it was] a specialized allez pro and a woman on a brand new trek 5500. not a spec of dirt anywhere. they make some crack about my camelbak and "tes gros pneus" and ride on... i finish with my cleat, hop on, and spin up into my biggest gear, i pass them at about 45 km/h, one of the guys tries to hop my wheel, but falls off. i look back about 1 km as i turn off the bridge and see them in the distance. satisfying.

the truth is that i find most cyclists here quite friendly, and i try to be friendly to most cyclists of whatever persuation. most common is something like the time when i stopped to get some water on mount royal and a group of free-riding, baggy-shorted teenagers pulled up to admire my cyclo-cross bike and ask me about the sport. we had a good friendly chat and spread some mutual goodwill...

mrfix

they get really upset when you pass them on a hill with loaded panniers, they can't take it. I did one in when I still had my Nokian studs on, he was frosted.

FOG

I had one of those fun moments a few years back when I was in better shape. I was pulling a trailer with two kids behind my schwinn letour and kept passsing a guy who was riding in full regailia on a racing bike. He could pull away from me at stop signs, but after I got up to speed I was able to blow by him, dressed in jeans and a t- shirt. I pretended not to be riding hard and got some realy funny looks from him, along with a lot of looks around his bike to see if there were a mechanical problem.