getting smiled at

[Abitrary]

Yeah, they want to BE you abitrary, and what's more, they think they can. I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be with people thinking they could be me.

No way!!! If I thought somebody thought they could be me, then I'd stop cycling. I'm a lot more uncomfortable with the idea of somebody wanting to be me than you are with them wanting to be you.

 

[bonj2]

No way!!! If I thought somebody thought they could be me, then I'd stop cycling. I'm a lot more uncomfortable with the idea of somebody wanting to be me than you are with them wanting to be you.

Whereas I'M more than comfortable with them wanting to be YOU.

 

[Abitrary]

Whereas I'M more than comfortable with them wanting to be YOU.

What about when you are in pedestrian mode though? Do you want to be passing cyclists? Would you much rather be me or you if you saw one of us cycling past?

 

[GrahamG]

See, this is one of the hidden benefits of walking/cycling - it encourages social interaction!

 

[John the Monkey]

See, this is one of the hidden benefits of walking/cycling - it encourages social interaction!

I think that's very true - it's much more possible to pass the time of day with people on a bike than it is in a motor vehicle.

 

[Cab]

Depends where you are. In some cities (Lancaster stood out in this respect) people seem to respond quite positively. In Cambridge it doesn't happen often at all.

The likelyhood that a pedestrian will smile at a cyclist on a shared use or split cyclist/pedestrian facility seems to be inversely proportional to how many cyclists are around. The more of us there are, the less positive peds are.