Just back from a swift (for me ) 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..." I nearly missed the next bend I was laughing so hard.
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..." I nearly missed the next bend I was laughing so hard.