The Cyclists Nod... And Other Gestures

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johnnyb47

Guru
Location
Wales
Here's my special wave, which I reserve for Southerners on bicycle rides.

kes_1.jpg
That's Billy Casper from the film Kes lol. I find most serious cyclists always wave / nod or say hello. In fact I've noticed the more cycling I do, the more I get acknowledged by fellow cyclist that I see every day. Last night I even got flashed by another cyclist ( by his lights before the filthy jokes come out :-).
The only people I find who don,t speak are the real hard core cyclists who take there bike rides very serious or the urban youngsters messing around on there MTB,s. I also notice that cyclists seem to be more sociable when your out on the open road out in the middle of nowhere. We probably all think that when you see a cyclist in the middle of nowhere he's a committed rider and takes his bike riding a little more serious than most. People on touring bike s that are fully loaded with tents and camping gear also seem to be more friendlier than the road racing rider. That may just be down to them concentrating on going hell for leather though. Over all I find cyclist to be a friendly bunch and will often stop and have chat with them.
 

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Lonestar

Veteran
To be honest, I say hello to most. It appears the further south you go the more people seem to fear you're going to produce an axe.

I used to but as I got ignored so many times I just don't bother and now I really couldn't care less.
 

Alan O

Über Member
Location
Liverpool
Which shop was this?

I'm up next week, and I quite fancy one of those "pie's". Particularly if they contain pig's frenulii.
Ah, sadly not here any more - probably beaten by competition from the supermarket's and their inferior but cheaper pie's :ohmy:
 

Tin Pot

Guru
So basically no-one is even remotely nice to other cyclists because really we all hate each other? That's pretty much the result I thought I'd get.

GOAB

In short, yes.

Give three people five minutes and they'll have found a way to exclude/alienate one or even all according to some contrived grouping; geography, football team, type of bicycle, food they eat, etc.
 
This is a tough call. The OP isn't really complaining or posting a needy rant that cyclists are not saying hello, especially stuck up roadies. However I am still hope full for others to join the thread to do just that.

Chrimbo is coming so need those extra pennies.

No-one, absolutely no-one acknowledges anyone else in the Netherlands. In fact, the Dutch are so cool, they don't really look at other cyclists at all - they just glide around each other like Torvill and Dean on ice. It's poetry in motion.

If you're getting too many over bearing northerners waving at you, you may have move to the Netherlands to achieve peaceful, wave-free nirvana.
 

Dec66

A gentlemanly pootler, these days
Location
West Wickham
Ah, sadly not here any more - probably beaten by competition from the supermarket's and their inferior but cheaper pie's :ohmy:
Awww, dagnabbit.

Things are changing so fast up there, every time I go back I feel like more of a tourist. A few places do Prosecco on tap now, what's that all about?

I was warned that the quality of the chips, curry and rice in The Lobster Pot had gone seriously downhill, so last time I was up, I went... And it was true, it had.

Honestly, it's turning into London.
 
No-one, absolutely no-one acknowledges anyone else in the Netherlands. In fact, the Dutch are so cool, they don't really look at other cyclists at all - they just glide around each other like Torvill and Dean on ice. It's poetry in motion.

If you're getting too many over bearing northerners waving at you, you may have move to the Netherlands to achieve peaceful, wave-free nirvana.
They didn't glide serenely around me when I came to an unexpected stop going up a steep little bridge (fully laden and MUCH heavier than I'd realised up to that point). There was tutting and swearing. Of course I'd obviously tried to fall off deliberately and trash all my gear :wacko:
 

John the Monkey

Frivolous Cyclist
Location
Crewe
That's Billy Casper from the film Kes lol. I find most serious cyclists always wave / nod or say hello. In fact I've noticed the more cycling I do, the more I get acknowledged by fellow cyclist that I see every day. Last night I even got flashed by another cyclist ( by his lights before the filthy jokes come out :-).
The only people I find who don,t speak are the real hard core cyclists who take there bike rides very serious or the urban youngsters messing around on there MTB,s. I also notice that cyclists seem to be more sociable when your out on the open road out in the middle of nowhere. We probably all think that when you see a cyclist in the middle of nowhere he's a committed rider and takes his bike riding a little more serious than most. People on touring bike s that are fully loaded with tents and camping gear also seem to be more friendlier than the road racing rider. That may just be down to them concentrating on going hell for leather though. Over all I find cyclist to be a friendly bunch and will often stop and have chat with them.
drebin_bingo.gif
 

nickyboy

Norven Mankey
That's Billy Casper from the film Kes lol. I find most serious cyclists always wave / nod or say hello. In fact I've noticed the more cycling I do, the more I get acknowledged by fellow cyclist that I see every day. Last night I even got flashed by another cyclist ( by his lights before the filthy jokes come out :-).
The only people I find who don,t speak are the real hard core cyclists who take there bike rides very serious or the urban youngsters messing around on there MTB,s. I also notice that cyclists seem to be more sociable when your out on the open road out in the middle of nowhere. We probably all think that when you see a cyclist in the middle of nowhere he's a committed rider and takes his bike riding a little more serious than most. People on touring bike s that are fully loaded with tents and camping gear also seem to be more friendlier than the road racing rider. That may just be down to them concentrating on going hell for leather though. Over all I find cyclist to be a friendly bunch and will often stop and have chat with them.

That correlates with my experience. As I mentioned, only nobbers who overtake me don't let on. Obviously, only the very quickest, serious racing cyclist can overtake me
 
Location
London
Normal rules apply here i think. If there's a high concentration of folk you aren't going to greet them all. Out on a lane yes. Of course there is a very small select group of folk who i wouldn't greet/acknowledge if i pedalled past them on the moon.
 

johnnyb47

Guru
Location
Wales
I can imagine cycling through a busy city is quite different to cycling through the country side. Most people in London who cycle are cycling for purely a purpose. There either commuting to or from work and not for leisure time , and with the vast amount of cyclists there you realistic could not nod or say hello to every single rider. It would be exactly the same if you were walking through the city. You just wouldn't say hello to everyone you see. Out in the countryside though I can cycle ten miles and not see a soul. Just the odd stray sheep lol. Because of this, when you do see another cyclist or walker you always say hello to each other purely because people are few and far between. That film crocodile Dundee made me laugh when Paul hogan was say " good day " to everybody he walked past when he visited New York. Everybody just looked at him like he was weird but in the country everybody nearly always say hello to each other.
 
Location
London
Agree with your post except to point out that not everyone who cycles in london is, all the time, hot pedalling it to work. I spend a fair amount of time drifting/pootling around london for cultural stuff. There are however a pretty high proportion of cycling ****s in london who should learn to chill
 
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