Out on one of regular training routes yesterday which includes lots of road miles between the muddy bits. I passed about ten other cyclists coming the other way. 4 MTB’ers a couple of tourers & 4 roadies. I gave a cheery “hiyya” to every one of them & recieved positive replies from all except our roadie bretheren.

Cheer up you lot, life’s too short 8)

Is it that time already?

I’m the only cheerful roadie out there, i’m a serial smiler 😛

dull

& recieved positive replies from all except our roadie bretheren.

Trust me, they all replied, you apparently don’t have the ability to pick up on it.

It’s the hybrid riding, fully reflected up, cycle path grumpy buggers that really annoy me with their grumpy, staring straight ahead IGNORE EVERYONE approach to riding.

On the other hand – have you ever ridden against the flow of a Charidee ride? You can hardly breathe from the constant returnation of greetings. You’ve seen one rider on this mile of road – I’ve seen 400 of you! Aaaargggghhhhh!

don simon speaketh the truth, a single raised eyebrow, a minute twitch of the index finger, ever so slight nod in your direction. Roadies nearly always say hi….you just need to know what to look for.

unless you were race faced….in which case, **** em!

why are you expected to be cheery and chipper just cos you’re riding a bike? Sometimes I get out on my bike purely because I am In a bad mood and pissed-off! Grrrr cyclist comin’ through….

a single raised eyebrow

The single raised eyebrow behind the shades is a particular favourite of mine. 😀

Mines a slightly raised index finger or nod, we’re talking 1″ movement max.

“hiyya”

You might want to change that.

Yay LOLcat, where’s uninterested cat when you need him.

For extra bonus points you could try and combine this thread with another favourite of mine by detailing how you passed them really easily despite the fact they were on bling carbon bikes in full club kit while you were riding some shonky SS MTB.

😉

Now the alcohol has worn off I think we’ve been jolly horrid to Davesport.

Nah, no mistaking, grumpy bar stewards, every single one of them roadies I encountered. Eye contact then the head drops & stares into the Cateye speedo / Garmin GPS. Faces like Shergar, all of them. Wouldn’t give you a nod in the desert, most of them. Riding the recumbent’s even worse. The faggin cants try to overtake without even a “hello” then get the hump when I put on a burst of speed & pull away again. They mutter audibly as I open a gap on my 40 lb lead behemoth 🙂 I’d just like to add, this behaviour never seems to happen when I’m on the dark side.

Roadie twonks 😀

They mutter audibly as I open a gap

You must have **** good hearing.

Never been overtaken by an mtb on the road, never will. Only wave at those in club kit, rest are plebs 😉

You must have **** good hearing.

No, I’ve got a good hearing aid 😀

If someone smiled at me for no reason I’d think they were deranged.

When you’re driving, do you also greet all the car drivers coming the other way?

When you’re driving, do you also greet all the car drivers coming the other way?

Like I said….Grumpy effers..

D

aracer – Member

When you’re driving, do you also greet all the car drivers coming the other way?

That’s just being pedantic, who would do that! I do how ever smile and say ‘Hiiiiiiya’to anyone that is shopping in my local Tesco’s as i see that they like to buy and eat food too, I think that solidarilty between all those that do roughly similar things is absolutly essential, without it what would we be? German?

Wouldn’t dream of nodding/waving/raising eyebrow at another pedestrian or car driver. Why on earth would I bother on a bike?

If someone called out hiyya at me I would think they were a bit special.

When you’re driving, do you also greet all the car drivers coming the other way?

Sometimes yes, when I drove a Spitfire, I would often/always acknowledge other Spitfire/GT6 drivers and the greeting would be returned. Some people are just more sociable than others.

New to this place Davesport?

Oh and DavidB YOU ARE AWESOME

I’m Awesome!

It seems a 2 way thing around here. I’m getting used to being ignored by mountainbikers when i’m out on the road bike. Suits me though as i’m a miserable git at heart anyway.

People must be friendlier down Berkshire way – I get at least a nod/index finger raise from 95% of cyclists on the road, no matter what I’m riding/they’re riding. You have to be very subtle though, shouting “hiyaaaaaaa!” like Wavey Dave would get me staring at my Garmin too. I’ve a history of conversing with “interesting” characters, and it never turns out well. That woman in Canada who’d just married her prison penpal and told us what she was going to do to him when he finally got released… The phrase “we made our excuses and left” has never been so apt.

Still, I learnt a lot about salmon canning in British Columbia.

Davesport; when a roadie approaches another cyclist, a quick decision is made;

they’ll look at you (what else is there to go on?) and decide if you look like a ‘cyclist’ or just a ‘person on a bike’

a ‘person on a bike’ will get ignored – in much the same way a car driver will ignore other car drivers.

a ‘cyclist’ will get a VERY subtle hand twitch / micro-nod / etc.

this is not out of disrespect to the ‘person on a bike’ – but there’s simply no point acknowledging everyone they see on a bicycle, especially when there’s a good chance the ‘p-o-a-b’ simply won’t notice them.

you said yourself:

Davesport – Member

…every single one of them roadies I encountered. Eye contact then the head drops & stares into the Cateye speedo / Garmin GPS…

there you go, that was the acknowledgement you crave.

last year me and my mate were coming in from a very hilly 90 miler, as we came into the suburbs of Newcastle I was feeling it badly and there was a slight incline… I was crawling and a guy in his 60s on a really beaten up halfords special came past me, at about 6 mph… I just had to give him a cheery hello.

+1 awhiles, very true!

Oh and DavidB YOU ARE AWESOME

Thanks, thinking of taking up surfing.