Why on earth should I say hello to you just because we are both riding a bike?

I said hello to two people riding a tandem the other day, luckily for me neither of them were TJ

Why on earth should I say hello to you just because we are both riding a bike?

Totally agree, seems like a very odd thing. I don’t say hello to every passing walker when Im walking, do you OP?

I thought people out walking in the countryside did it all the time?

Is this a north/south thing?

My girlfriend is still getting used to people not saying hi to each other in the street, but she’s Australian 😀

I thought it was just good old British manners when out and about in the country. A nod of the head or a quick ‘hi’. Maybe I am actually from the 1950’s.

Out in the rural idyll, or the blasted mountainous wildernesses, I would always expect to exchange pleasantries with any other soul; two wheels, four legs or on foot. It’s interesting that as you get closer to ‘casual walking distance’ of a population centre, there’s an unwritten rule that these greetings cease.

On a sunny day, a smile is the very least one should expect – we are all revelling in the unusual phenomenon of feeling warm. On an overcast day, a glance or just a nod should suffice.

EDIT – jools said all that without the flowery language ^^^

hh45 I cant say I agree about horsists – they seem quite friendly to me, and 90% of the time round my way they are fit young women – so whats not to like?

The smaller your neighborhood gets the more likely people will say hello – in a village nearly everyone will – in London hardly anyone.

This is probably as much to do with practicality as anything else.

I think it pays to be friendly to people. If I came across someone whose bike was broken I would be much more inclined to help them if they had been friendly previously. If they hadn’t then I might assume they would rather be left alone to sort out the problem themselves.

jools – I ride around Mellor cross and have only encountered really friendly folk, in fact walkers and horse riders all say hello.

You carry on being polite, manners don’t cost anything.

I’m a grumpy little troll like creature, but I always say hello to folks when I’m out and about. Sometimes an exchange of pleasantries and a bit of cheeky banter with nice horsey ladies can brighten your day.

some of you lot are the most miserable sods ever to type on a forum. 🙄

In my experience 90% of cyclists, including roadies say “hi” and give some form of minor acknowledgement and this is in Dorset / Wilts area on both road and mountain bikes. As do walkers. And horse riders although horse riders are probably the least sociable.[u] Probably cos they’re arrogant, bike hating tossers and jealous that we don’t have huge at$ES like what they do.

Can’t quite figure out what you mean there. Are you saying 90% of horsey types also say “Hi” even though they’re the least sociable and hate ‘us’?

IMO I reckon less than half the riders I see say hello. About 75% of runners and walkers. And genuinely about 85% of horsey people. Am I’m in deepest Surrey where I’d expect the latter to be dead against ‘our sort’, but for some reason they seem to just dig us (or at least me!).

After one of my workmates began cycling to work, he was shocked at how most other cyclists would say hello, nod or even wave to him. He asked me why it happens and I told him that people who ride bikes are just happier and friendlier, so we should all try to keep up the pretence.

Why on earth should I say hello to you just because we are both riding a bike?

No reason at all. But the more pertinent question is: “Why on earth should I say hello to you just because you said hello to me?”

There’s a difference between two people passing silently, and blanking someone who says hello.

And I even live in one of those places where, just walking into town, strangers sometimes say hello to each other.

Though it all minds me somewhat of Derek and Clive 🙂

Bikes and ****, bikes and ****, go together like a horse and carriage

There really are some miserable people on here.

seems like a very odd thing. I don’t say hello to every passing walker when Im walking

Er… I do. (Assuming by “walking” you mean out walking in the countryside rather than popping onto the Strand for lunch.)

Why’s it very odd? Just seems like common courtesy to me.

Obviously when I say “common courtesy” I’m using that as an idiom – technically I probably mean “courtesy”.

What Bez said.

Being friendly makes life more pleasant.
Seems worthwhile making the effort to me.
I moved up to Manchester last year after 20 years down South and it definitely is more pleasant simply because people interact more on a day to day basis. It’s where a sense of community comes from isn’t it?

I think when people don’t respond it’s usually for reasons other than ‘I’m not going to respond’, generally they weren’t expecting it or have something else on their minds.
To the OP, ignore the critics on here, if you want to be friendly, carry on. I read somewhere that people who think of others are generally happier 🙂

Imagine if you’re out on a ride. Someone says hello but you don’t want to say anything back, so you don’t.

You see the same chap later on. He says hello again. Did he not notice you ignoring him last time? Is he just persistant, stupid or has he resorted to sarcasm? Whatever he’s up to, you can’t respond because it would make you look rude the first time rather than just uninterested. So you have to properly ignore him. Ride off fast.

OH MY GOD. He’s there again, he must have got the message from the first two times. He’ll only be embarrassing himself if he lets on again. Unless of course he’s insane or is now trying to start a fight. No, the dopey bugger is saying hello again. Jesus! Is he retarded? One thing is certain, I am never coming riding round here again.