A friendly wave

I spend more time on my motorbike than on my pushbikes most weeks, and
I get to take part in the motorcyclists' quaint tradition of waving to
each other when they pass on the road. (VW bus drivers do this too, I
remember.) Rare is the motorcyclist who intentionally refuses this
gesture to his two-wheeled motoring brethren. Even racer-wannabees
and outlaw-biker-wannabees, otherwise largely at odds, will extend the
hand of greeting to each other in passing.

Being in the habit of delivering the friendly wave at a second's
notice, I often find myself waving to bicyclists when out riding my
own bicycle.

Yesterday, I was riding my big blue chopper Babe down the waterfront
bike lanes to meet some of my Dead Baby Bikes club compatriots.
Riding high and mighty, and sporting my club colors, I was making a
point of delivering the wave to all the cyclists who passed my way. A
lot of them, maybe most, replied in kind. Many did not, and most of
those seemed willful about it. No big deal, of course, but there was
something in common with all those who did not wave or smile or say
hello.

To a one, those riders who seemed to ignore my greeting were Cycling
Enthusiasts in uniform-- wearing Lycra in colors not found in nature,
topped with styrofoam hats, riding road bikes of recent vintage and
uncomfortable-looking rider position. Along with their regalia they
wore expressions between serious and grim. They rode by, all of them,
as if they failed to notice the near-7-foot, near-400-pound guy on a
6-foot tall chopper waving to them as they passed.

Yet all the other folks on bikes (the ones wearing mostly real
clothes, regardless of the type of bike or speed with which they rode)
had some kind of acknowledging response, mostly very friendly.

Is this consistent with anyone else's experience?

Are folks who wear "Superduperbikeman" getups playing some character
role from which they fear to depart?

What's the deal?

Chalo Colina

Chalo wrote:
I spend more time on my motorbike than on my pushbikes most weeks, and
I get to take part in the motorcyclists' quaint tradition of waving to
each other when they pass on the road. (VW bus drivers do this too, I
remember.) Rare is the motorcyclist who intentionally refuses this
gesture to his two-wheeled motoring brethren. Even racer-wannabees
and outlaw-biker-wannabees, otherwise largely at odds, will extend the
hand of greeting to each other in passing.

Being in the habit of delivering the friendly wave at a second's
notice, I often find myself waving to bicyclists when out riding my
own bicycle.

Yesterday, I was riding my big blue chopper Babe down the waterfront
bike lanes to meet some of my Dead Baby Bikes club compatriots.
Riding high and mighty, and sporting my club colors, I was making a
point of delivering the wave to all the cyclists who passed my way. A
lot of them, maybe most, replied in kind. Many did not, and most of
those seemed willful about it. No big deal, of course, but there was
something in common with all those who did not wave or smile or say
hello.

To a one, those riders who seemed to ignore my greeting were Cycling
Enthusiasts in uniform-- wearing Lycra in colors not found in nature,
topped with styrofoam hats, riding road bikes of recent vintage and
uncomfortable-looking rider position. Along with their regalia they
wore expressions between serious and grim. They rode by, all of them,
as if they failed to notice the near-7-foot, near-400-pound guy on a
6-foot tall chopper waving to them as they passed.

Yet all the other folks on bikes (the ones wearing mostly real
clothes, regardless of the type of bike or speed with which they rode)
had some kind of acknowledging response, mostly very friendly.

Is this consistent with anyone else's experience?

Are folks who wear "Superduperbikeman" getups playing some character
role from which they fear to depart?

What's the deal?

They probably read what you wrote about Patrick Tillman and still hold it
against you.

Bill "just a guess" S.

Chalo wrote:
Is this consistent with anyone else's experience?

Pretty much. People on bikes wave here all the time. While many
people on the fancy fairly new racing bikes and ridiculously
over-priced clothes do sometimes wave, they are less likely than
just about everybody else.

To understand the mentalitity of these people, all you have to do
is spend some time in rec.bicycles.racing. Yes, they do think they
are better than you.

Chalo wrote:
snip
Is this consistent with anyone else's experience?

yes & no. it depends very much on the bike i'm riding.

if i'm ..

a. on my wunder frou-frou road bike wearing lycra 75% of the roadies say
hello along with a sizeable minority (say 30%) of the trail-riding mountain
bikers.

b. on my mountain bike wearing lycra most (95%) of the mountain bikers and
nearly none (5%) of the roadies return the wave.

c. on my track bike with cut offs and a messenger bag in commuter mode all
of the roadies damn near to the last, a majority of the mountain bikers and
to a man (all 4, but i know them) all of the commuters say hi.

Are folks who wear "Superduperbikeman" getups playing some character
role from which they fear to depart?

What's the deal?

granfalloons.
--
david reuteler

wrote:

[...]
To a one, those riders who seemed to ignore my greeting were Cycling
Enthusiasts in uniform-- wearing Lycra in colors not found in nature,
topped with styrofoam hats, riding road bikes of recent vintage and
uncomfortable-looking rider position. Along with their regalia they
wore expressions between serious and grim. They rode by, all of them,
as if they failed to notice the near-7-foot, near-400-pound guy on a
6-foot tall chopper waving to them as they passed.

Yet all the other folks on bikes (the ones wearing mostly real
clothes, regardless of the type of bike or speed with which they rode)
had some kind of acknowledging response, mostly very friendly.

Is this consistent with anyone else's experience?

Are folks who wear "Superduperbikeman" getups playing some character
role from which they fear to depart?

What's the deal?

I think that either the mental effort they were going through in order to
make themselves believe they were really having a good time was so great
that they were unable to acknowledge you, or more likely, they were trying
*not* to seem like they were enjoying themselves since Training Is Work And
A Serious Business Indeed.

Or maybe "associating with lowlife scum like you would bring a bad name to
our elite club".

Or perhaps you should ask Fabrizio,

--
Benjamin Lewis

Seeing is deceiving. It's eating that's believing.
-- James Thurber

Chalo wrote:
Is this consistent with anyone else's experience?

Chalo, as a motorcyclist, you are probably familiar with the nod or wave
that occurs between motorcyclists. It's the sort of thing members of a
beleaguered social group do with each other -- a mutual, hang in there,
how's it going type recognition. Yet, how many times do motorcyclists nod or
wave to bicyclists, and visa versa? I think it's the same thing going on
here. These people who are not nodding/waving do not consider themselves to
be in the same social group as you.

I am aware of the fact that, generally, African American men also do the nod
to one another. One time I pulled up to a car with the window rolled down. I
was in the left hand turn lane, the car was to my right. I gave the driver,
who happened to be a black male, a low-level eye, just to establish mutual
acknowledgement of each other's presence. He then gave me a nod, and it
almost seemed to be automatic, done without much conscious thought. I
returned it, with a sense of inner amusement.


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Chalo wrote: (clip) What's the deal?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Here's the deal. Exchanging a greeting with a stranger, whether it is a
wave, a smile or a "hello," says you recognize each other as having
something in common. I just came back from a ride in a local waterfront
park with lots of dirt trails, weeds, and a great view. I didn't meet any
other bikers, but every person out there made eye contact with me, and we
smiled and said hello. We were acknowledging that we were doing the same
thing, even though some were walking their dogs, some were just walking, and
I was riding.

On the other hand, when I ride a nearby paved trail, where speeds are
higher, and the number of people I pass is much higher, the greetings become
more cursory, or just disappear. We feel less kinship because there are so
many of us. When I ride the city streets I would never think of waving to
another cyclist--it would make me look like a yokel on his/her first bike
ride--looking for kinship and reassurance.

When you wave, and the other rider ignores you, it may mean that you look
like a yokel on your first ride.

Little Meow wrote in
:

When I'm on my bike, most of the casual cyclists I encounter give
a clear wave or a nod. About half of the serious cyclists do
likewise. Many of the remaining serious cyclists will give the secret
signal, which is to raise the left index and middle finger from
the handlebar grip as we approach, and slightly sweep the digits
outward as we pass.

I made the mistake of returning the signal while dressed in old
shorts and a plain dark tee. I ended up waylaid on my way home and
nearly beaten to death by skinny men in colourful bikie tights and
foam hats.

I hear that it's a good idea to just stop, and place your bike between
yourself and the threat. It would be tough for a group of skinny roadies
with ultralight carbon bikes to get past my 35 lb. steel commuter bike,
wielded as a shield or bludgeon.

--
Mike Barrs

"Chalo" wrote in message
om...
I spend more time on my motorbike than on my pushbikes most weeks, and
I get to take part in the motorcyclists' quaint tradition of waving to
each other when they pass on the road. (VW bus drivers do this too, I
remember.) Rare is the motorcyclist who intentionally refuses this
gesture to his two-wheeled motoring brethren. Even racer-wannabees
and outlaw-biker-wannabees, otherwise largely at odds, will extend the
hand of greeting to each other in passing.

Being in the habit of delivering the friendly wave at a second's
notice, I often find myself waving to bicyclists when out riding my
own bicycle.

Yesterday, I was riding my big blue chopper Babe down the waterfront
bike lanes to meet some of my Dead Baby Bikes club compatriots.
Riding high and mighty, and sporting my club colors, I was making a
point of delivering the wave to all the cyclists who passed my way. A
lot of them, maybe most, replied in kind. Many did not, and most of
those seemed willful about it. No big deal, of course, but there was
something in common with all those who did not wave or smile or say
hello.

To a one, those riders who seemed to ignore my greeting were Cycling
Enthusiasts in uniform-- wearing Lycra in colors not found in nature,
topped with styrofoam hats, riding road bikes of recent vintage and
uncomfortable-looking rider position. Along with their regalia they
wore expressions between serious and grim. They rode by, all of them,
as if they failed to notice the near-7-foot, near-400-pound guy on a
6-foot tall chopper waving to them as they passed.

Yet all the other folks on bikes (the ones wearing mostly real
clothes, regardless of the type of bike or speed with which they rode)
had some kind of acknowledging response, mostly very friendly.

Is this consistent with anyone else's experience?

Are folks who wear "Superduperbikeman" getups playing some character
role from which they fear to depart?

What's the deal?

The primary impression I get from most of the my encounters with guys on
Harleys is one of extremely loud noise. Fairly often, they'll twist the
throttle as they pass me, ensuring my left ear gets a full dose of 100+
decibel engine noise. I know that most of them have been modified to make
them even louder than stock bikes...What's up with that? Do they have to be
that loud to cover other...shortcomings?

Are guys on big loud Harleys playing some sort of character role from which
they fear to depart?

FWIW, I'll exchange waves with the occasional motorhead on a quiet BMW, but
those loud, obnoxious hogs? No way!

GG

On 19 Aug 2004 15:26:57 -0700, (Chalo) wrote:

I spend more time on my motorbike than on my pushbikes most weeks, and
I get to take part in the motorcyclists' quaint tradition of waving to
each other when they pass on the road. (VW bus drivers do this too, I
remember.) Rare is the motorcyclist who intentionally refuses this
gesture to his two-wheeled motoring brethren. Even racer-wannabees
and outlaw-biker-wannabees, otherwise largely at odds, will extend the
hand of greeting to each other in passing.

Being in the habit of delivering the friendly wave at a second's
notice, I often find myself waving to bicyclists when out riding my
own bicycle.

Yesterday, I was riding my big blue chopper Babe down the waterfront
bike lanes to meet some of my Dead Baby Bikes club compatriots.
Riding high and mighty, and sporting my club colors, I was making a
point of delivering the wave to all the cyclists who passed my way. A
lot of them, maybe most, replied in kind. Many did not, and most of
those seemed willful about it. No big deal, of course, but there was
something in common with all those who did not wave or smile or say
hello.

To a one, those riders who seemed to ignore my greeting were Cycling
Enthusiasts in uniform-- wearing Lycra in colors not found in nature,
topped with styrofoam hats, riding road bikes of recent vintage and
uncomfortable-looking rider position. Along with their regalia they
wore expressions between serious and grim. They rode by, all of them,
as if they failed to notice the near-7-foot, near-400-pound guy on a
6-foot tall chopper waving to them as they passed.

Yet all the other folks on bikes (the ones wearing mostly real
clothes, regardless of the type of bike or speed with which they rode)
had some kind of acknowledging response, mostly very friendly.

Is this consistent with anyone else's experience?

Are folks who wear "Superduperbikeman" getups playing some character
role from which they fear to depart?

What's the deal?

Chalo Colina

Hi, it varies, but,I know the feeling. I usually acknowledge and say
hi to everyone that I encounter, on a bike. I think some people are in
their own little worlds and may not even see you.
Last year, I would see an older guy on a recumbent, I would always say
hi, and unless I was almost standing in his way, he would ignore me.
Well this year, I borrowed a pump from a guy on a recumbent, who was
parked at the time. I have gotten to know him and it is the same guy.
Now about half the time, he will see and wave to me. The rest, he
never even notices me. It turns out, that he often is unaware of other
riders. So he isn't the most unfriendly guy around, he just wasn't
aware of me.
So now I give the benefit of the doubt to most people. Of course,
their are some who I think shun me, because I'm on a road bike. So it
can work both ways.
And where I ride, the guys that are closest to what I would consider
are elite riders, are friendly. It is a few of the guys who think they
are something special, that aren't friendly. The ones that will pass
you, without a word. It just doesn't matter, I enjoy the ride, either
way;-)


Life is Good!
Jeff