In praise of... social intercourse

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Norm

Guest
Just back from a swift (for me :wacko: ) 30 miles around Windsor Great Park and Virginia Water. I do a figure-8 through the park, to maximise the time on vehicle-free roads, and this includes a loop following the edge of Virginia Water lake.

It's usually pretty busy with walkers, which is ok as that's who it's for, and I always try to ride responsibly and allowing the peds all the time and space that they need.

Today, though, it was fairly empty. I think the imminent rain had kept out most amblers so nearly everyone I passed was there walking their dog and it was flipping marvellous. I chatted with, I think, everyone who I passed, sometimes just a quick "Hi, thanks" if they've gone out of their way to move over for me, sometimes stopping for a bit more of a chat. I stopped, for instance, for quite a while talking with a lady who was there walking her two Ridgebacks. One of them, a puppy, had trotted along beside me for a bit, so I stopped to let her catch him and we spoke about what beautiful dogs they are. She said that most were intimidated by them, but my next door neighbour had a pair a few years ago so I just think they are lovely.

Anyway, I'm trying to paint a picture of joy and harmonious happiness between the cyclist and the walkers.

Then I got to my planned coffee stop, a burger van near The Obelisk which is usually pretty quiet. I was pleasantly surprised to see an MTB and a pair of 'bents by one of the two benches there, so I jumped off and exchanged a few words of greeting. The response could be classed as nothing more than grunts. Two of the threesome didn't say a word, the other said nothing understandable. Admittedly, my own offerings were not enough to trouble The Bard - something along the lines of "Wow, you don't often see any 'bents, it's pretty cool to see a pair of them" - but I got nothing back.

Now, I know that you can't expect everyone you meet to want to be your new best mate, we possibly shared nothing beyond a self-propelled choice of transport but I was pretty deflated by this after having had so many pleasant interactions with others in the park.

My faith in humanity was restored a few minutes after leaving them when I passed a chap who was doing stretches, obviously in the middle of a run. I nodded a greeting as I approached, and was rewarded with a huge smile and the broadest Glaswegian accent saying "You wanna get off that thing and do some proper bloody exercise..." :biggrin: I nearly missed the next bend I was laughing so hard. :laugh:
 

ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
Sorry Norm.. not going to reply.. I'm too busy in my own world..:wacko:
 

ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
Did indeed. :wacko:
Now you would think that the 2 Bent riders would at least be sociable types, how could one not be with a machine that attracts a lot of attention.. grumpy arses..
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
Maybe they were bent and they were in the middle of a big lovers' tiff?

I agree - I went out yesterday evening for a stroll and dropped in on a cycling buddy who lives around the corner but he had a streaming cold so I naffed off smartish. Then fell into conversation with his neighbour who was digging out a rose bush - learned a lot from that chat. Then on to my immediate neighbour for a chinwag and gossip, thence home full of little titbits for Mrs Gti who seems to enjoy knowing what goes on in the street.

You can't beat it.
 

Sh4rkyBloke

Jaffa Cake monster
Location
Manchester, UK
Globalti said:
Maybe they were bent and they were in the middle of a big lovers' tiff?

I agree - I went out yesterday evening for a stroll and dropped in on a cycling buddy who lives around the corner but he had a streaming cold so I naffed off smartish. Then fell into conversation with his neighbour who was digging out a rose bush - learned a lot from that chat. Then on to my immediate neighbour for a chinwag and gossip, thence home full of little titbits for Mrs Gti who seems to enjoy knowing what goes on in the street.

You can't beat it.
So you're a nosey b*stard then, eh?






Good man. :wacko:
 
OP
OP
N

Norm

Guest
ChrisKH said:
They could of course be 56 hours in on a 72 hour audax, but I think I'm just being charitable.
Maybe... but it looked like they'd just stopped for a coffee like I had. :wacko:

Globalti said:
Maybe they were bent and they were in the middle of a big lovers' tiff?
There were two chaps and a young lady. I guessed one of the blokes was on the MTB, and the 'bents appeared to be from the same manufacturer so they were probably a couple. But only their transport was 'bent. :laugh:
 

Moodyman

Legendary Member
Social intercourse is very pleasurable if the two parties consent. If it's thrusted upon one individial against his/her will then its conversational rape.

A 'no' is a 'No', Norm!
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
Agreed but I love chatting with strangers; if you can get them to open up you find out some amazing things. I guess it goes with my job in export sales.
 
OP
OP
N

Norm

Guest
Moodyman said:
Social intercourse is very pleasurable if the two parties consent. If it's thrusted upon one individial against his/her will then its conversational rape.

A 'no' is a 'No', Norm!
I have coffee dripping from my nose because I was drinking whilst reading that! Would tea and cake be considered chat rape drugs? :biggrin:

Aperitif said:
They must have been from South London.You would have least expected an "Oi" in reply, Norm...
And a high pitched squeak might have been expected from the Glaswegian I passed later. :smile:

normgow said:
Sorry if I seem a bit out of things but what are "Bent riders"?

OK , think I've broken the code - is it recumbent ?
Yes, sorry, I can't spell recumbent and many here refer to them as 'bents. I rather like the idea but not if it turns me into a misigog.

lanternerouge said:
It's cos you live down south Norm :sun:

You have a PM!
Back at you. :biggrin:
 
Top Bottom