john bono

There is a good safety reason for saying something when passing. Unlike cars, bikes make virtually no noise when riding. If the slower rider gets startled by the quicker one entering his peripheral vision, bad things could happen.

jorantes

when im riding and pass someone i always acknowledge them in one way or another... if im just cruising I will say "hello", or "great weather today!"... something along those lines... AND if Im in the middle of an interval breathing hard and sweating, i will still acknowledge them by lifting up 2 fingers or a nod when im in the drops or even the hoods...

guys that blow by me when im cruising and give absolutely NO acknowledgement like you dont even exist do seem to be elitist pr*cks... and when they do that i just laugh and say to myself OH WELL, F*CK EM!

DrPete 

I passed like 100 people on the street today while I was walking in downtown DC, and nobody said hi to me.

Bunch of elitist pricks... I bet they were all walking to their Elitist Convention.

smoke

ya know, i expect nothing from anybody. so i'm never disappointed. and sometimes i'm pleasantly surprised. conversely, i expect a lot from myself. and i try to live up to that. quit worrying about what the other guy is doing; spend more time trying to live up to the type of person you know you should be. if somebody doesn't wave, so be it. if you don't, well, you know better

smoke

DXchulo

What if a guy passes you and says hi as he's doing it? He's passing you and starting up a conversation at the same time, implying that he doesn't even get out of breath passing a slow person like yourself. What an elitist jerk, rubbing his superior skills in your face!

Seriously though, it's always an awkward moment. Nobody likes to be passed, so I never want to say something that might piss someone off. On the other hand, every once in a while you'll pass a guy, say hi, and he'll take it as a hint that you want to ride with him, so he'll speed up and eventually get tired to where you have to slow down because at this point there's no easy way to end the conversation.

I don't want to talk to people when I go for a ride. It's just me and my bike, and that's the way I like it. If that makes me an *******, then so be it.

Phantoj

I had an odd experience on the way home from work yesterday. I was tooling along a local bike trail, dressed from work, but with bike shoes and a helmet on. I was taking it rather easy and I was passed by a fellow on the same model and year bike as the one I was riding. And I wasn't riding a common bike, like last year's Allez or Trek 1000, but a 2003 Giant OCR Touring, a discontinued drop-bar-with-disc-brakes oddity.

So the guy passes and says something like "hi" as he goes past. Well, I notice he's got *my bike* and say, "Hey, nice bike!" Yeah, I know I got a sharp wit. Anyhow, he seemed surprised at my enthusiasm about his bike, muttered, "thanks" and kept on.

I was hoping to chat with him about our bikes. I wanted to know how well his discs were working for him, how he had fit his rack and fenders with the discs and to ask about which parts of my bike were not stock (I bought it used). I guess he wasn't feeling chatty, but the weird thing to me is he didn't even seem to notice that we were riding the same bike...

SkyeC

I'm not really big on the "hello" thing, either. At most, I usually just wave or take most of my fingers off the brifters in the person's direction but when I'm out riding, it's for exercise, and I'm probably too set in my breathing to get into some conversation so what's the point?

Once I was riding up a path and some guy in a full kit blew past me, having just got on his bike 2 minutes prior, at about 25-30mph and he didn't say hi. Did I care? Hell no, I figured he had more important things to do than talk to me, like get warmed up so he could pace at 35mph... I tried to keep up with him for a couple minutes but he was *****ing fast and all I could hear was him shifting every 2 seconds until he was gone.

urbanknight

When I was into racing, I sometimes didn't say hi to anyone because I was concentrating very hard on my workout and routine. Coaches expect a certain mileage range with a certain average speed and then download your heartrate over the workout to analyze it. In that kind of a situation, being a "friend" to every Joe on the street doesn't cross the mind. I would always wave or nod on lighter rides, but anything with an intensity of greater than "level 6" was important to me.

serotta

Amazing, simply amazing how a short paragraph can be over-analyzed.

thanks guys, sure appreciated the humor/comments.


on your left!

substructure

I thought I could stay out of this wornout old subject. But ....

I think a lot of people need to grow up and quit worrying about how others treat them. Go on your merry way and be the first to wave, to help, to persuade, to encourage, to embrace, to support, to love, to show kindness. When you do it others may follow. If not ... so be it.

There's my two bits worth. If you don't like it here's another two bits, call someone who cares.

roadwarrior

..or a nice guy feigning eliteism...

roadwarrior

Welllll...look where you were...

WJ13US

The rider was either very rude or from New York.

Bill

Pb_Okole

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. You took what you perceived as his problem and made it yours. Did it improve your life at all?

baj32161

Oh brother

I talk to people all day at my job...I go out on my bike to get away from people. I don't care if they say hi to me or not....it just isn't that important to me and won't ruin my ride one way or the other.

Cheers,

Brian

Lucky07

Awww, that's sweet Bill! Thanks for thinking of us!

Seriously, I try not to let anyone else's personal issues affect my ride. I'll say hi or nod if the opportunity presents itself.

I'm also fairly certain egos won't be crushed if I fail to deliver a personal greeting to every passing rider.

(Y(L|S+

I will not pass judgement on you as so many here already have. I will offer advice and just say "rise above". If that guy that passed you had no ill intentions and was just immersed in his training, then your reaction can be construed as elitist and insecure. If it was his intention to make you look like a lesser cyclist than he, then so be it, don't let him take your energy. Why get angry and what will that accomplish? I am not so wrapped up in myself that I think that there is no one out there that can possibly be faster that me. I accept that fact that most are. It doesn't bother me.

Hey, at least you got a good interval in though.

superslomo

On my normal loop the riders are mostly going in the same direction... counterclockwise around the park road.

If someone is coming towards you on other paths, then I can see the brief wave or nod, but if you are both going the same way then it's kind of logistically difficult to say hello.

Adiankur

I think it also depends on how many people you pass in one day. If im riding on the one paved trail I hit, I always respond with a wave, nod or high if someone says or nods to me, but I can see upwards of 200-300 people in a ride if its a nice day. Though I always warn people if I dont have atleast two feet of clearance, and if people move over for me, I always raise my fingers off the bar, give a wave and say thanks. I never pass tight without warning someone at all, as I would rather not end up on my butt if they swerve. Sadly, plenty of people have ear buds in so they dont hear the warning and are startled.

Voodoo76

The OP is simply engaging in Subtle internet bragging. The story fronts as a rant against elitist snobs but is really a description of the OP chasing down some poor sap (who probably didn't even know he was being chased).

saintx

Hincapie sponsors a team in Greenville SC, some of the guys live and train up here.

Hambone

I think a lot of these threads have more to do with location than we realize. My daily ride I pass a couple hundred other cyclists -- if it is raining. On a nice day, holy crap it can be in the thousands. (OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a little.)

I nod/hood-wave to those who pass if we make eye contact or they are young kids. I announce before I pass if I think it necessary.

If I were riding in Kansas and saw only one other rider per twenty miles as some have suggested is the case, I'd probably be a little more demonstrative.

slowandsteady

+1

Why am I obligated to have a converstation with someone who my only connection with, is that fact that they share the same piece of road with me for about 1 nanosecond?

Frankly it is annoying that complete strangers feel the need to have their existence validated by me. I am no one to you, or any other schmuck on a bike passing by.

Maybe some people go on a ride by THEMSELVES because they are trying to get a mental break from having to soothe everyone's egos or make innane conversation. Perhaps if the dude wanted a friend, he would be out riding with one.

slowandsteady

I believe they hold that in the Capitol Building from 8-4 every day.

Voodoo76

Casual dress on Fridays.