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Just been for a wee scoot round Sherwood Pines -looks to have some sort of event on as plenty of gravel riders with race numbers on going past - at a decent pace but doesn't appear to be race pace.
About 50 riders have passed me spaced out over about 2 miles and only about 10 have said hi or given a nod. Those that did, half were on MTBs rather than gravel bikes.
Aware I've a funny accent in this neck of the woods but it really shouldn't be difficult to give a nod - especially when you don't appear to be racing anyone next to you.
Aware I'm sounding grumpy but I am...the dog walkers and parkrun runners were more sociable. Not looking for a chat but a nod.or hi is always nice.
Have you ever thought, they might not want to speak to you.......😁
Have you even raced bro?
Don’t worry it’s just you 😆😁🤪
Post covid I've really noticed a drop-off in friendly nods & hellos whilst out in the countryside, both when walking and riding...sad really but I've given up now and have reset my expectations that they'll be no pleasantries when passing folk
It's part of the naive belief, which I also have, that people who share your hobby or interest, will be nice people. Often they're just not. Once cycling out in the sticks having seen nobody all day , I saw an mtber cycling towards me I say Hi and he completely ignores me. Some people have a different agenda.
I'm fine with the fact they may not want to acknowledge me...quite happy with that, but if they aren't nodding to me then they are also being ignorant to every other person outdoors who do the same as me...which is pretty poor...unless they genuinely don't want to acknowledge a Scotsman in their parts!
About 50 riders have passed me spaced out over about 2 miles and only about 10 have said hi or given a nod. Those that did, half were on MTBs rather than gravel bikes.
I have observed, that when riding, the group least likely to return a greeting is mtbers.
Do we really need to do this topic again. It was only done a couple of weeks ago.
People don't act as you want them to so maybe your expectations are out of whack based on your own experiences with most people acting the same.
Unless this is some dig at gravel riders (again) as they were the worst weren't they?
People tend to be tribal and I have noticed that when I have drops bars on my bike the road bike riders say hello but when I have riser bars on the bike (all other things about bike being exactly the same) they don't say hello.
but if they aren’t nodding to me then they are also being ignorant to every other person outdoors who do the same as me
Yes if you imagine everyone else is looking at them through scornful eyes thinking you're not quite at race pace are you, come on put more effort in like we do up in Scotland 😉
unless they genuinely don’t want to acknowledge a Scotsman in their parts!
I normally keep that secret
People tend to be tribal and I have noticed that when I have drops bars on my bike the road bike riders say hello but when I have riser bars on the bike (all other things about bike being exactly the same) they don’t say hello.
I really like to confuse the issue by wearing baggies on the gravel bike.
Think @kerley might have it...my expectations aren't inline with today's outdoor users.
I don't care what people ride...everyone gets a hi from me, so not a dig at gravel riders. Was good seeing so many riders out, just annoyed they didn't acknowledge another outdoor person (some did, which was good).
Obviously I'm spending too much time riding on my own as last time I saw groups or was in a group everyone said hi...
I'll stop grumbling now as it looks like I'm in a minority.
I don't think it's rude not to acknowledge others cycling past, it personally wouldn't bother me but if someone does, I'll acknowledge back if I notice in time. I'm not there to socialise with every stranger I ride past.
So Pines is a busy place. I’m pretty sure the gravel event is pretty long, starts in pines and then goes out north to some of the other forests and parks. As a regular punter at pines you are one of maybe hundreds of people they would see in the first few miles.
If it wasn’t an event then yea, I agree. But an event where the first ten miles or so are really about getting in the zone for some, I can see why you don’t get much response.
I give my waves for free,a gift in that moment of shared space.
I want nothing in return and do not need an acknowledgement.
I do the same on my motorbike,even though I reckon a high percentage of those weirdos will be axe murderers.
😆 😆 😆
Feedback innit.
You acknowledge riders. They fail to acknowledge you, so you stop acknowledging riders.
Then a cheery Scot is out and about - but you don't acknowledge him because above.
Plus they probably knew who you are.
What you doing that far south anyway?
You probably scared them. Remember southerners aren’t use to strangers saying hello.
If someone fails to wave back or acknowledge your existence, the last thing you should,and I mean the very,very last thing,is post up the story on sochul medja and appear to be this heartbreakingly, needy attention seeker. 😆 🤣 😆
Fair point and despite not thinking about the fact I'd sound like a needy social media person you've still replied and therefore added to the attention seeking.
(Wasn't intended for that, but as you've now mentioned it, I realise it is rather sad, however, the acknowledgement seems to be a dying thing and it would be a shame to lose it, so flagging it seems to make sense to me. I've no interest in the social media attention seeking, but I would like more people to say hi to other outdoor users)
I say hello or nod almost every time I pass a cyclist. However, I doubt I would in a race, or in a very busy location.
Sometimes I notice other riders watching me to see if I nod at them rather than initiating the nod themself. Trick is to leave the nod to the last second, so they have to u-turn catch up and nod before resuming their original direction.
If it wasn’t an event then yea, I agree. But an event where the first ten miles or so are really about getting in the zone for some, I can see why you don’t get much response.
This ^. I'll wave and say Hi to anyone unless I'm racing - I've never raced bikes (mostly boats of some kind) but if I'm racing I'm fully focussed on racing and I don't want interruptions from anyone.
gravel is the new road. or something
They're just grumpy roadies or townies who have discovered they you can ride bikes off road that isn't technical.
Just keeping saying hello, it seems to annoy some. 👍
Doubt it'd be a race, probably a 'gravel sportive'
Although saying that, most folk on the one that I did were very chatty, even though it was a bit dreich.
Definitely don't take up road biking if you get upset by fellow cyclists not acknowledging you
Definitely don’t take up road biking if you get upset by fellow cyclists not acknowledging you
This is true: it's pretty much guaranteed that mtbers will ignore you if you're on a road bike. Maybe they're upset with having to use a road to link up some trails.
I'm really not sure what else you would expect from a bunch of raceists.
(well if you can have sawists, plumberusts and endurosists...)
I had he same thing yesterday when I took my motorbike to Västerås. Loads of enduro riders out and not a single one acknowledged me. In the end I just started ignoring them and concentrated on being a lot faster than the stinky bikes they were on.
OP, when driving along in your of choice vehicle (motorbike, car, van, etc) do you wave at every other similar vehicle you pass? Why expect the same while riding a bike?
I pretty much blank most people I walk or ride past, unless I find them pleasing to the eye or they look like they need help, I've never even considered they might take offence, it's a total stranger so who cares, I sometimes look or smile at a dog and completely ignore the owner but I probably prefer dogs to people.
Those people who say hello/alright/alreet/morning, when I haven't even made eye contact are just odd, or maybe I'm odd, not that give a toss.
I have been programmed to be polite to everyone by my mum who would say hello to everyone we passed when walking the dog or walking through town. This was back in the 70's/80's in a small town in the lakes, there were not that many people.
I now live on the south coast in a densely populated county, the amount of bloody nods and hellos I have to dish out because "it's rude not to" is a nightmare, pretty sure all the nods account for the stiff neck and shoulders I return from each bike ride with.
I’m with the op I like hello or wave back. But not to the point where I’d post on here
It was the sherwood gravel x-yesterday
I’d say the problem is that most of the people you passed have only ever ridden before on a turbo trainer. So the concentration needed to remain upright and the fear of damaging their new carbon rims meant they were over whelmed. Plus on zwift you never pass people going the other way so there is no protocol for that. But that may not be true as I’ve never been in zwift
I must remember to say hello to everyone who passes me in the next ‘cross race just in case someone gets offended. Maybe I’ll bellow it, in case they don’t hear my friendly greeting.
Did the competitors in last week’s London Marathon get the memo about shouting hello at every spectator?
I can tell that I’m getting old because, at every turn, I find the world is full of weirdness these days.
My mate who i ride with acknowledges everyone and if someone is stopped he will stop and talk to them which is fine but we actually did a Gravel sportive last year and we talked to a roadie we met for neigh on 40 minutes, I had to gee him up and remind him we had another 40 miles to go!
Sounds like an absolute nightmare with all those riders clogging up the trails. They were all probably miserable as they've realised they've paid upwards of £45 to ride a route you could actually ride for free. Preferably when there's less riders about.