I had a roady chase me down to ask what the thing on my helmet was once (I had a helmet light on as my commute began before sunrise and through forestry
Why? Do you acknowledge every pedestrian when you are walking? Every car driver when you are driving? Everyone in the swimming pool?
I think it's partially about volume of riders. At my favourite MTB spot locally there's over 40km of singletrack and often only a handful of people there. If you see another person it can generally be a surprise so you tend to stop and say hi. The same on any of the gravel routes I ride.
When I ride at busier places it becomes pointless. Then once you get anywhere near a metropolitan area it becomes more of a congestion issue and you're actually trying to avoid seeing people.
But yeah. Roadies.
At a guess it's probably because they're going faster therefore can't react in time though yeah not a good look or feeling being ignored.
Its all about the tribe you are in. folk tend to acknowledge those from the same tribe more than they do other tribes
Agree. A good test was when I road a fixed gear track bike with different bars. Same bike, same clothes (full lycra) and rode enough to notice a consistent difference I saw between putting drops on the bike and putting flats on the bike.
Drops got hello from road riders, flat bars didn't. Seems pretty stupid doesn't it but then I never say hello to anyone but will respond if the other riders does (most of the time)
Are you in Nice at the minute by any chance?
Pros here (and in other pro-rider strongholds like Girona) glide past looking smooth and effortless.
Their tanned legs turn a perfect circle, their tanned and stick thin arms are at the perfect angle that comes from many hours a day in the saddle.
Their new kit is flawless.
And as they cruise past the sweaty bag of shit that is the average amateur cyclist, unused to the heat and humidity, doing half their speed, wearing 3-4 year old kit that's maybe sagging a bit at the edges, they'll raise a finger off the bars, give a barely discernable nod and a sometimes a "salut!" or "hola!".
Quote
I once had one say hello as he passed me going up a hill.
What he really meant was you are shit and I’m far superior.
Be grateful you were ignored.
Quote
I’m the opposite. I hate being over taken and not acknowledged
Cycling off-road - I great everyone I pass. People riding horses, people walking with or without dogs or other cyclists. Everyone gets a good morning, good afternoon or good evening. Some people choose not to reply.
Riding in France or Italy, I have found that people are probably more responsive than they they are here.
Thing that astonishes me about roadies is; how many of them use major trunk roads. I mean I'm not the best person to judge, road cycling is awful generally, but why you'd route yourself along some thing like the A6 f'instance on your Sunday ride just boggles the mind. Unless you need to use it for commuting, I think I'd go out of my way to use back lanes or minor roads, especially now that its super easy to create a route.
I get that road cyclists shouldn't feel excluded from using roads, but here you are on your Sunday ride at the edge of the Peak, and you're on the A6? WTF...
I don't know the A6, but I sometimes use A roads when I want to put in a longer consistent effort without the interuption of traffic lights, T junctions, dead turns, pot holes etc.
2: why should they anyway? I find it a bit weird many cyclists expect this.
I read an interesting take on this recently, which was that greeting someone else or even just smiling is effectively a reassurance to the other person that the world is a friendly, less frightening place. I guess with fellow cyclists - or walkers or motorcyclists or tiddly wink players, whatever - it has a double role of acknowledging a shared interest.
You may or may not agree with this, but I guess the flipside is that when someone you feel some vague commonality with simply blanks your greeting, it's a mild rejection. I'm talking emotionally rather than rationally.
Fwiw, roadies are quite fussy. They blank each other, not just mountain bikers. You may be wearing the wrong-length socks, or the wrong brand of kit or simply not look 'pro' enough to acknowledge. They're basically saying 'I am not like you'.
Maybe a better question is why some cyclists get quite so resentful when they are blanked by a fellow bike rider?
Fwiw, I try to be friendly and polite on the basis that if it makes someone else in the world feel better about it, that's great. And if they don't respond in kind, that's fine, they may have challenges or worries or whatever. Or they may simply be rude. But that's not my problem.
I get that road cyclists shouldn’t feel excluded from using roads, but here you are on your Sunday ride at the edge of the Peak, and you’re on the A6? WTF…
To be fair, it's quite hard to get out of some parts of Manchester without recourse to the A6, see also commute routes. If I see cyclists on that particular road, I assume it's because they have few other options rather than that they're using it for pleasure. I find it more puzzling when folk head out over the Woodhead or the Snake on a busy summer weekend tbh.
I wave, nod or say hello to most cyclists. The only ones I ignore are the hairy legged cyclists wearing shorts. Now that just looks bad. I really don’t want to be associated with them so they get ignored.
I’ve pulled up at a mobile cafe on a warm summer’s day before with 20 – 30 roadies hanging around outside and literally no one says hello or looks at you
If no-one in this scenario had bikes of any sort would you expect them all to recognise your presence?
I find it more puzzling when folk head out over the Woodhead or the Snake on a busy summer weekend tbh.
yep, continuum of the same thing to my mind.
Ooh, can we do the 'why do ebikers respond much less often than proper bikers?' question.
I've noticed this a lot more than I have roadies not responding and I ride both quite a lot. The ones least likely to say hello are small groups, three/four/five ebikers. The ones most likely to say hello appear to be fell runners
Voluntary actions should not be conditional?
Do what you like for your own reasons, all good. But when you rely on other people to confirm or react in a certain way .. these threads happen : )
Due to bad knees i ride a road bike with flat pedals and i wear MTB shoes. I do get some odd looks.
I couldn't give a hoot who waves and who doesn't .
Ooh, can we do the ‘why do ebikers respond much less often than proper bikers?’ question.
Ebikers I see mostly fall into two categories. The first are cyclists that are now using ebikes instead of/in addition to their non-ebikes. This group are likely to respond. The second group are folk that have only taken up (more?) cycling since acquiring or hiring an e-bike. This lot don't feel part of the in-crowd in the same way.
Either that, or ebikers can't wave because that means letting go of the throttle 🙂
why you’d route yourself along some thing like the A6 f’instance on your Sunday ride
Quickest way from Derby up into the Peak. You'll be riding a strong secondary position anyway due to the state of the road, so no more problems with dodgy overtakes than any other road. Local drivers are pretty used to cyclists on that stretch, you can time your ride to avoid the busiest times of day
It's white legs that don't get a wave in the summer.
I do get some odd looks.
Do you? I was out road riding for several hours yesterday. There were eight of us and we saw loads of other cyclists. I can honestly say that I didn't look at anyones shoes - not in my group, nor the random strangers we encountered. This has the hallmarks of the I'm not wearing lycra because folk will be looking at my knob argument.
I've been at the front of a group of 3 or 4 (mtbers) and we will pass another cyclist. Someone behind me will later say they were a miserable barstard for ignoring us.
When actually, the lead rider gave me a nod or two finger raise; which I replied to with the same. Expecting a hearty "helloooo" or a hands off wave* might be over the top.
*and remember that the road bike rider might actually be a triathlete on a training ride. Taking a hand off the bar to wave will almost certainly cause them to crash and die. Do you want that on your conscience?
sorry about that old fart - next time i'll wave and give you a blast from my mouth razoo.
Quickest way from Derby up into the Peak.
Yeah I get that its quickest, does that matter though? I use it occasionally on a canal/railway off road ride for about 400m and that's enough for me.
The A6 is generally OK south of Hazel Grove and any of it is fine at 6 or 7am on a weekend.
Some A-Roads look off-putting but if they're wide and have clear lines of sight then actually not so bad (though the A6 itself doesn't really have these).
In any event, I doubt any roadie plots an out and back route for 30miles down the A6?
They surely either live somewhere near it or more likely are on it for a few minutes as a shortcut to somewhere better- unless you literally follow them the whole way in your car, how would you ever know.
A while ago on road.cc or similar, there was a thread basically like this so the author had taken it upon himself to do "research" - except he'd trialled his "wave at everyone" tactic around Richmond Park where literally no-one will ever wave. If you did you'd spend the entire ride with one hand off the bars.
Then he'd reported back that he'd waved at probably hundreds of people over the course of one ride and no-one had waved back,!
I find it more puzzling when folk head out over the Woodhead or the Snake on a busy summer weekend tbh.
yep, continuum of the same thing to my mind.
To be fair, both those roads are quite scenic and would be really good to ride if it weren't for the huge number of gormless drivers and, in the case of the Woodhead, massive artics. The only time I'd ride the Snake would be very early on a Sunday morning, when it's generally quiet.
As above, this gets rolled out every few months.
To expand (I rarely make a point of waving at a cyclist (whatever their sub-species) in or close to cities. Just roll around Copenhagen to see how ridiculous that would be. At the other end of the scale, whatever mode of transport, if I'm in the back of the Cairngorms and happen to meet someone up on a hill somewhere, it would be almost unthinkable not to say a quick hello, or to stop for a few minutes natter.
Many years ago, I bought a really old Land Rover, which it turned out meant that everyone else who owned the same version of Landy (Series 2A) would wave (about a once every 2-3 months occurence). Ten years ago I discovered 'motorhomists' do similar, however if I was now to return the wave of every single one of them driving around the Highlands, it'd be silly, as you'll pass one about every 5 mins.
I guess some people just like to feel like they're part of a clique/gang/tribe, I dunno?
They're just serious types, if they were more fun loving type folk they'd get their tyres in the dirt.
The tribalism thing is also true, I've had a cheery "hello" shunned by roadies, gravelists and mountain bikers alike, just because - IMO - I was on the wrong bike type or wearing the wrong kit.
The new mtb ebikers can give the 'dyed in the wool' roadie types, competition for being a bit antisocial though IME.
The roadie's on the A6 thing has been going on long before heavy traffic, kept up out of habit/tradition
Ten years ago I discovered ‘motorhomists’ do similar, however if I was now to return the wave of every single one of them driving around the Highlands, it’d be silly, as you’ll pass one about every 5 mins.
Can confirm - my sister owns an older T5 and it's very much a thing for T5 owners to wave to each other. My sister's two kids love it, they can spot another T5 a mile off.
Get ready to wave!
I guess some people just like to feel like they’re part of a clique/gang/tribe, I dunno?
'Clique/gang/tribe' all feel mildly negative maybe. I just think it's not unreasonable, if you share an interest with someone, to also share a wave or a nod. It's not really a big deal. I occasionally drive my Corrado and in the very rare event of seeing another one on the road, it would actually feel quite odd not to acknowledge them in some way. I don't think it means I want to be part of some clique/gang/tribe, it's just a pretty benign recognition that you both own an early 90s German coupe that will almost certainly try to bankrupt you in the near future.
We also have a T5 camper. Waves from fellow owners just kind of bemuse me. It's not like T5s are rare or massively special. It feels a little less odd if you're, say, in some Pyrenean backwater, but not while driving back from the dentist etc.
I also say hi to dog walkers, joggers, cyclists on the canal tow-path when I'm meandering down to Tesco on foot or on a bike. It's not about tribalism, just being friendly. If they don't respond, I figure it could be for any number of reasons, but again, it's hardly a big deal.
I don't speak to e-bikers though... 😉
None of this is very important though, is it?
