And you didn't compliment her on her Bottom Bracket?

I'm going to leave this one alone.

plus one to placid casual and mander.

i mean, it sounds like you had no foul intentions, but from her point of view, you're a strange man saying something clever to her, while holding multiples of power: with friends, at night, in a car. to me, that translates to her thinking, "be careful, be on the defensive" or something similar.

also it isnt funny even in better circumstances

I would have waited until there was a pause at a red light or something to say hi or whatever, and kept it very respectful.

Shouting at people from moving vehicles is not the best idea.

i can never understand what people yell at me from cars, so i take everything as a request to have a gander at my hiney.

One night I was out barhopping with friends and saw a purple track bike locked up outside a bar with what looked like a carbon fork, one front brake and a BMX freewheel. I saw him go coasting by later and yelled "Get a fixed gear hipster!" and he got all kinds of pissed off. Then again I was deliberatley trying to be the biggest ******* I could be at the time.

I'd say that yelling at the chick wasn't necessarily inappropriate, just annoying. I hate it when people say **** to me when I'm riding. Possibly the only thing i hate more is when some ****** bike geek comes up to me and starts asking all kinds of ******** questions about my bike and telling me about the ****box peugot gaspipe conversion they're working on. News flash, I don't like you and I don't care.

+1 to everyone who said shouting at bikes form cars is not cool. then add the female alone at night defensiveness, and top it all of with a joke that really wasn't remotely funny, and a cherry.

You're all too sensitive.

"Allez! Allez!" Is recognized as acceptable. Not much else.

I've never been able to hear what people have said to me from a car. The car and wind noise drowns out a lot, and people probably speak with a loudness of voice appropriate for inside communication, when car windows are closed.

Thus, I assume an insult by default...

That said, it has only happened to me maybe 5-6 times.

some roadie said the exact same thing to me this weekend and turned around and gave me a thumbs up. a woman riding with him said, "nice fixed gear!". they were riding together with matching team gear and had to be going over 20mph. i wondered if they were being sarcastic but just decided i would rather assume they were being nice.

Yeah, I see the general consensus here. Makes sense, although I'm going to disagree with anyone who says my comment wasn't funny. That is probably just my English degree and love for irony though. Also, I actually started to say it before I knew she was a woman, I just saw a single speeder until halfway through my question. She of course would not have known that.

Next time, I'll keep my mouth shut.

Hmmm....I have an English degree and I didn't find the comment funny or ironic.

Well, funny is subjective, but it is definitely ironic. Especially now that you claim it is not.

I did something similar yesterday, actually. I only realised afterwards that I might have come across as being a jerk.

I was battling a fierce headwind when I suddenly realised I was catching up to another roadie (no commuter). Due to the road conditions at the time (narrowed road crossing the extended centreline of the runway at our local airport) I had to stay behind for a minute until traffic cleared to allow me to pass.

Since I was going significantly faster, I sped up and passed the other cyclist, and I felt it would be nice to say something and not just pass. So I said "Terrible headwind, eh?", because that's what I felt at the time. As soon as I said it, though, I realised it probably sounded like I was putting her down for being slow. She wasn't slow - on the same bike setup, I would've been slower. She looked at me with a strange expression on her face and said nothing. I quickly turned my head to front and kept going, feeling stupid!

Since when is consideration and sincerity based on the OP's post considered to be "too sensitive?" I guess you have some sort of tough guy rep to uphold. Good for you.

When passing a slower cyclist (especially of the opposite sex) the appropriate thing to say is "nice ass". This nice compliment tells them that you were enjoying the view, and you don't come off as complaining about their speed.

Tone makes a big difference. Can't ever tell what people are saying, but I usually get whether they are friendly or angry. I don't think its inappropriate to speak to cyclists. Just choose the time and place wisely. After dark is not a good time (I consider myself a very independent woman, and am often out alone after dark. but the world does take on a sinister glow.) While moving is probably not productive (due to the communication difficulty). At a light... depends on how scary you look. Some people will always come across as creepy (usually men), and others as charming (or at the very least, non-threatening).

I enjoy comments, but only when I don't feel threatened in any way. Its an affirmation of biking, which can't be bad.

agreed. my wife was out for a ride by herself the other day, and a guy hollered out "nice seat!" as he passed (with a couple kids in the car), all she could think was what jerk.
she does have a nice seat though.

what are you looking at, butthead?

To be honest, I couldn't tell she was a she until I turned and saw her face. She had pretty thick winter gear on (which was strange since it was 12°C/54°F and a warm sun then).

I, for one, am highly impressed by your cynical, ****-you attitude towards your fellow persons, and am convinced that it is a sign of confidence, self-sufficiency, and manliness. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control, I am unable to offer to have sex with you at this time.

Oh...wait a minute...you mean, you didn't actually think that some bizarre fate had befallen the derailleur on her bicycle while somehow leaving it ridable?

*Whew*! Thank goodness somebody with an English degree was here to explain the whole thing to me. What do you call that thing again, where there's some sort of distance or tension between what is said and what is meant?

A girl slapped my ass one time as I rode by. Granted I was wearing pink swimming trunks ... and it was on North Ave.