Blue Rocket

So I'm really curious...what is it about road bikers that make them so rude? I have been road biking for 2 years and don't understand how I can pass a fellow biker on the road...make eye contact...give a small wave...and get blantantly ignored??? You can't tell me that you all are so focused on riding that it takes too much effort to return the friendly gesture. I'm a mountain biker as well and don't encounter this hostility nearly as much on the trails. So what is it??

roadfix

I can't really comment.... I ride road, mountain, and fixed. I've hardly ever encountered anyone rude as you described.

George

twahl

I've seen a few like this, usually they are on very high end bikes. I dunno, maybe they are that focused. I don't let it bother me, especially since most I've run across aren't like that.

LordOpie

If you're focused, you don't even see someone wave. I am by far NOT serious in comparison to most roadies and I do get that focused... in fact, if I don't, i'm not having a good day... unless i'm strictly sightseeing and touring.

EDIT: And I don't have a high end bike, with upgrades, it's probably $1000?

twahl

hehe...I'm not suggesting that high end owners are snobs, or that low end bike owners (like me) can't be focused, but maybe people that are the most serious, and therefore more focused on their training, tend to be the ones that spend more on their bikes.

ExMachina

Hmmm, well my waves can sometimes be pretty darn small since I don't always want to take my hands off the bars.

So consider the case where you're waving at this guy who is making eye contact w/ you...any chance he doesn't see your wave cuz he's looking at your eyes? Any chance he's also waving but you don't see it for a similar reason? Maybe he thinks YOU are the rude one!

Longshanks

What Peter tell's me about Paul, tells me more about Peter than it does Paul, just think, maybe that person was having a bad day and when you said Hi, everything changed! Way to go dude...thank you

Laggard

I road mostly rural areas and found the same thing. Nine out of ten riders I met would do nothing but stare at me like I was some freak of nature. A hi on my part was met with nothing but more staring.

I almost developed some self image problems because of it.

amishspin

Where I ride, 99% of the other people on bikes are old order Mennonites who ride their bikes as a way of life....to work, school, market, etc. They all seem surprised to see someone with a helmet who doesn't HAVE to ride to get around, but if given time to respond (saying "HELLOOOoooooo....." as you quickly ride by doesn't give time for a response), they are always friendly.

I've only been riding a few months, always early in the AM, and I actually have NEVER encountered another person that I thought was just riding for exercise/enjoyment/training. I hope that I do someday.

epheme

around here, depends on certain things. if you're on one of the established routes, usually you will wave and get waved at. other places, i have found it is more likely you get waved at if:

1) you are wearing a helmet, and they are wearing a helmet. may have something to do with realizing the person is a "serious" cyclist and not just tooling around. i have had the same person wave at me when i am suited up (lycra, spandex, helmet) and not even blink when i am on my fixie going home from school with my backpack and no helmet.
2) groups wave at other groups. unless one of those groups is going 20+ mph, and then it's bordering on unsafe to wave when you're at that speed.
3) you have the same sort of bike as the other person. although the people on MTB/hybrid bikes I see are pretty unpredictable, sometimes i see someone coming and think, why bother, and they call out "GOOD MORNING" and wave real big-like.

i have to admit that sometimes i probably am oblivious to others waving at me. and sometimes i can't wave back because i'm in a paceline or otherwise occupied.
but really, i don't get put off if someone doesn't wave back. i've gotten in the habit of waving and saying hello to runners, and that trips them out. *grin*

what's really a trip is when i'm out at the University of Richmond doing hill repeats and the DRIVERS wave at me. and not ^GET OFF THE ROAD^ waves, but friendly ones with smiles and all. i guess they realize how hard i'm working!

operator

Had one guy wave at me on Yonge st. today, didn't get a chance to wave back. He must've thought I was ignoring him.

daiv4

I do seem to get more hi's on my road bike than from on the mtn bike from other roadies... but it doesn't seem an overly high percentage... Just be thankful most riders are not like my wife. She says hi to anyone she goes past and would stop and chat with them if given the opportunity.

I wonder if the HarleyDavidson or Mopar forum folks have the same discussions?

Hipcycler

You know what would have been funny....if no one would have responded to this guy's post! Too funny.

Anyway....I tend to do "The Nod"...just a tip of the helmet to say, "My bro...we're out here peddlin' while so many poor saps are inside working."

Moonshot

I've never failed to return a wave, but I got to thinking...

If I was the meet an oncoming cyclist while doing our club's time trial where I'm balls-to-the-wall and trying to beat my pb would I return the wave? Depends on which part of the course, I guess.

galen_52657

This subject was beaten to death in an earlier thread....

TheKillerPenguin

I'm sure a lot of it has to do with paying attention to where you're going, especially going downhill. The balancing mechanics on a road bike are twitchier than my mtn bike so if i'm cruising along I don't take my chances taking a hand off. I do however give a nod and say hi. Another thing is, when I'm really into what I'm doing at that time, maybe climbing up a big hill, for example, anything I do that isn't focused on getting up that hill has the potential to break me.

Cerberusgl

I ride the same road/ paths all week long and see a the full range from friendly to "Don't Bother Me" The DBMs are far out numbered be the friendlies. Some of them just seem to have their race face on all the time. I'm starting to see that some of them recongnize me too and only one guy seem truly hostile. I was trying to beat my best personal time on a ride I do often and passed this guy. Apparently he couldn't stand to be passed by me. So he speeds up and passes me back. I don't suck his wheel but stay back 1 length and a little to the side. When we got to the crest of a bridge several miles later I said "Fewww! I'm puffin hard to keep up with you." He looked at me turned away and took the next right. Now every time I see him I'm invisible. I don't let it bother me, some people are just superior beings in their own minds.

pedal

I've been a cyclist all my life, and have always found roadies to be the snobbiest. Now I am one, and I'm trying to give a wave or challenge people to little sprint races and stuff. They do seem uptight/snobby. My running partner and I were discussing how much friendlier runners are than road cyclists. Even in running competition I've given received nods, smiles, waves, hellos...so why would a roadie on a casual/training ride be so unfriendly? I'm not on a team bike with matching jersey/shorts, but I'm not on a 1984 CCM either.

clfjmpr44

I also find it has a lot to do with whether I am out on an extended ride (decked out in Lycra) or whether I am just commuting to and from work. A lot more acknowledgment when you look like the person you are passing (at leasti in my case). As for waving, I am with the head bob acknowledgement crowd. it's a lot easier and safer.
A

Sparky511

Yeah I know what u mean. They are rude. I hate going on group rides where I don't know anyone b/c the other people are so dern rude (of course with a few exceptions) They all think that their s*** doesent stink. When I first started cycling I tried to be all nice and all to people, but I got sick of trying to be-friend all the stuck up roadies who acted like I was embarrassing them by talking to them. I just go on the rides and hang in the back and go for myself and get a good ride in. I have the few people I met over time that are cool and stuff that I met while riding and we all pretty much hang together now on rides.

clfjmpr44

I have also offended somebody by passing them. My wife and I zipped by two guys on the bike path and kept pace. After a quarter of a mile, they came flying back past us, without much clearance. Oh well, I guess nobody likes getting passed...

Sparky511

Speaking of which (the post above reminded me) Does anyone else feel as if on like "group" rides or "orgainized" rides that all the people are doing is like racing against each other. So stupid. I'll get in a certain pace group ASSUMING that is the pace we will be going, before I know it, all these guys are going like freakin balls to the walls against each other. I just drop out the back and go the pace I intended to go.

hlweyl

I actually voted for waving before I voted against it.

ruirui

Blue Rocket: don't mind them.. or at least i sure don't. most riders see me on my modified sirrus and they don't even bother to say hi or anything. most of the time.. they just pass me up hella fast like my bullhorn bar is going to poke them in the ass or something.. lol.

i wish most roadies wouldn't be like that.. there's always going to be people that are rude and looks down on others with bikes cheaper than they are. but don't mind them.. do what i do.. listen to my MP3 player in 1 ear and keep my eyes forward and just keep on pedaling.

-CM-

Did you announce yourself before you passed? i.e. "On your left." Maybe you startled them.