I though cyclists were friendly?

tuono24

Or at least they used to be
Ive just got back into cycling (after 20yrs and 20kg!) and am now trying to make up my lost yooof :roll:
However apart from the obvious reduction in speed the one thing that I am finding increasingly staggering is just how ignorant / rude cyclists are compared to 20 or so years ago :shock:
Again today, on 50 mile 18mph trundle road the leafy lanes of essex, out of about 20 cyclists only 2 actually acknowledged a wave / high. I slowed for one (who I passed at a junction) and he just went straight past without so much as a kiss my *rse. (and then spent the next 5 miles breathing out of his ears trying to keep ahead)

Why? ...Could it be because I don't have the "regulation" specialized or chinarello? or is it just now a sign of the times?

Phil562

You live in the miserable sarf ;-)

Wirral_paul

Phil562 wrote:

You live in the miserable sarf ;-)

+1 - much friendlier oop North. I could count on one hand the number of riders who didnt wave on a 100 mile ride today - and a fellow cyclist at the cafe in Llangollen offered me his table as he was due to leave and then chatted for a minute or so.

tomisitt

Cyclists friendly? Ten minutes on these forums will prove otherwise. Point-scoring and oneupmanship is the name of the game these days. Sad, but that's what happens when merchant bankers sell their golf clubs and buy a Cervelo.

sloppyschleckonds

Excellent, we haven't had a wave thread for ages

GiantMike

If I'd seen you today I'd have waved. I normally do. Unless you look like a fat sack of st!t on a crappy Carrera 'thing' in which case I'd ignore you to save us both the embarrassment of acknowledging I'm a significantly better cyclist than you.

ian20079

I think it just boils down to snobery. I acknowledge every cyclist no matter who they are and only get the odd nod back. Some are just too important to bother or even care.

GiantMike

Where in Essex are you rolling?

tuono24

Finchingfield, thaxsted, dunmow, rodings, Easters, pleshey felsted,
Blue colnago

owenlars

I think there is a load of tosh talked about this. I don't wave at everyone I walk past or drive past or sail past or jog past. That doesn't make me unfriendly. Why the hell should cyclists wave at each other, especially in places like Richmond Park or Leith Hill where you see hundreds every time you go there? Mind you I am a miserable Southerner, despite being three quarters Norwegian.
Stands back waiting for wave of invective.

chris_bass

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Excellent, we haven't had a wave thread for ages

there have been a few helmet and traffic light threads recently so i guess we arent far off the whole set!

i always say hi, nod or wave, sometimes if i'm in a very good mood i'll give cyclists a salute! but some people dont! dont let it bother you. do you say hello to everyone you walk past in the street and expect them to say hello just because they are walking too?

tuono24

Granted you may not "say hi" but to blank/ignore someone who says hi to you is just plain ignorant

sloppyschleckonds

tuono24 wrote:

Granted you may not "say hi" but to blank/ignore someone who says hi to you is just plain ignorant

May be they didn't see you

chrisaonabike

tuono24 wrote:

Granted you may not "say hi" but to blank/ignore someone who says hi to you is just plain ignorant

Using the word ignorant in this context is what is ignorant.

To be ignorant is simply not to know something. Nothing more, nothing less.

Sorry to spoil a good wave thread with a bit of pedantry, that one's been brewing for a while - I feel much better now

tuono24

Ignorance refers to not only knowledge but behaviour too
Not to know how one is expected to behave when someone says hi is ignorant
QED
d'oh

Dmak

I hardly see any round my way, well not the roadie sort anyway. If I do it's a simple nod, unless it's busy with cars and my main priority is staying alive.

GiantMike

tuono24 wrote:

Finchingfield, thaxsted, dunmow, rodings, Easters, pleshey felsted,
Blue colnago

Nice part of the world. Like Yorkshire, but with fewer hills. My parents live near Epping so when I visit I try to ride towards your area.

TuRneR8

tuono24 wrote:

Finchingfield, thaxsted, dunmow, rodings, Easters, pleshey felsted,
Blue colnago

I live not far from Finchingfield, often head out that way for a ride. If you fancy a riding buddy anytime give us a shout.

cornerblock

Not really, they're just like everybody else.

gabriel959

Cornerblock wrote:

Not really, they're just like everybody else.

+1

dee4life2005

Perhaps they were on a segment, in the zone, or breathing out their arse too much to muster a response.

If someone says high or waves at me when i'm out i'll always respond, but dont always initiate as sometimes there are just that many cyclists you'd be doing it every couple of minutes.

Did pass a small peleton going in opposite direction this afternoon and all six of them waved in unison - made my mates day, as he said it makes a change to folk ignoring you

hstiles

tuono24 wrote:

Or at least they used to be
Ive just got back into cycling (after 20yrs and 20kg!) and am now trying to make up my lost yooof :roll:
However apart from the obvious reduction in speed the one thing that I am finding increasingly staggering is just how ignorant / rude people are compared to 20 or so years ago :shock:

See answer above

pilot_pete

Phil562 wrote:

You live in the miserable sarf ;-)

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/117531/Middlesbrough-named-most-depressing-place-in-England

Sorry, couldn't resist...!

PP

Phil562

Pilot Pete wrote:

Phil562 wrote:

You live in the miserable sarf ;-)

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/117531/Middlesbrough-named-most-depressing-place-in-England

Sorry, couldn't resist...!

PP

That's all the non cyclists :-)

And I speak from experience of the sarf ..... I lived in west London for over twenty years

DannyJames

Coming from MTB to road i find the majority of other riders don't acknowledge me even when i nod was getting a complex lol. The other day i went to try some new setting so left the house with baggy 3/4 mtb shorts , hoody and camelpack (even had a peak on my helmet) and everyone was waving and saying morning lol

dodgy

So, you've been out of the game for 20 years. And now you're back in, no doubt encouraged by various successes in olympics and TdeF, or maybe not. I bet you swung your leg across the bike for the first time in 20 years with full rose tinted oakleys on, thinking "maybe I'll see Brasher, Ginger or the other guys". Like quite often with memories, we remember the good stuff.

TL;DR
Nobody has changed, except maybe you. When you're in a room of 50 people and they're all acting strange, you have to wonder (unless you're in an asylum).

FWIW, I sometimes wave, sometimes don't, depends on how I'm feeling. But if I know you, I will ALWAYS acknowledge.

tuono24

Dodgy

You got me bang to rights ! :oops:

(however its the 20kg which provided the motivation, not Sir Brad et al )

maybe I should just stay a grumpy old git and let the world get on with it

Serious Cat

I was out on a 75 mile club ride on Saturday and when I got back home I had received a text about a stem I was selling, I phoned the guy back and arranged for him to call to my home at 17:00 hours. What could have been 30 secs of grunts and sale done turned into most enjoyable 30 mins talking about gear, bikes, grand tours and all sorts of things. Cycling doesn't have to be all about miserable sods doing this and that and its so nice meeting kindred spirits who are just as into cycling as you are, if someone doesn't acknowledge you don't worry about it as there are far more important things in life.

Bwgan

Up in N Wales most of the guys give a small wave off the bars or a hello

sub55

dodgy wrote:

So, you've been out of the game for 20 years. And now you're back in, no doubt encouraged by various successes in olympics and TdeF, or maybe not. I bet you swung your leg across the bike for the first time in 20 years with full rose tinted oakleys on, thinking "maybe I'll see Brasher, Ginger or the other guys". Like quite often with memories, we remember the good stuff.

TL;DR
Nobody has changed, except maybe you. When you're in a room of 50 people and they're all acting strange, you have to wonder (unless you're in an asylum).

FWIW, I sometimes wave, sometimes don't, depends on how I'm feeling. But if I know you, I will ALWAYS acknowledge.

Although you're probably right about the rose tinted specs, i think i must agree with the op.
I started riding competively 20 odd years ago , back then there weren't cyclist on the road , on a 100 mile training ride ,you probably wouldn't see any and if you did ,it was so unusual , you`d always acknowledge and get a response. Where as these days ,theres bloody bikes everywhere. If you wave to everyone it would be like saluting the queen at the changing of the guard. This actually rolls onto another issue that i have ,in the old days there was so few of us we all knew each other , there would only be 5 or 6 at a club ten, all good pals and go for a pint afterwards and have a laugh and share our thoughts and indulnces in a common sport and past time . now however , theres 30 odd blokes doing the club ten resulting in a little group over there and a little group over here. Riders dont want mix or get involved its just a fashion statement . people often say bums on bikes ,the more the better ,im not quite so sure . Like you said ,rose tinted specs.

Frank Wilson

Wirral_Paul wrote:

Phil562 wrote:

You live in the miserable sarf ;-)

+1 - much friendlier oop North. I could count on one hand the number of riders who didnt wave on a 100 mile ride today - and a fellow cyclist at the cafe in Llangollen offered me his table as he was due to leave and then chatted for a minute or so.

We're a friendly bunch in Wales, we'll even warm up your holiday homes prior to your arrival.