# What's up with the lack of response to a friendly wave?



## plantdude (Sep 29, 2011)

Seems that more and more there is a lack of response when I give a friendly wave, nod, or even a simple finger wave from the bars. Noticed it especially this weekend while out on a long ride to Palomeres and Calaveras. Very few cyclist to whom I gave a friendly gesture responded. Totally understand people not wanting to take their hands off the bars, or when they're descending in deep concentration, but c'mon folks, really? What's up with the unfriendliness?

Maybe it's just me, or my hairy legs, or 10 year old bike, or lack of TDF kit.

Sorry for the rant, but I'm of the opinion that we cyclists need to watch out for each other and being friendly out on the road is part of the sport.


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## Indetrucks (Oct 8, 2012)

Hard to see hairy legs from across the road... but in my case it's just the area.
Yesterday I saw well over 100 riders on my 50 miler. Maybe 2 waved.. maybe 2 more gave a nod?
If I make eye contact, I will nod. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to hold a straight line waving to all of em. haha


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## Ventruck (Mar 9, 2009)

Why be so hellbent about it? Are you demanding their attention? Do you crave it?

A lot of riders are on a mind-their-own-business front, but would stop to help whoever's in trouble. A lot of the time I nod, with the only exceptional greeting I give to people I know because they also do so in the first place. There are some times where I totally don't bother. Nothing personal. I wouldn't be acknowledging every last person I see on a hike either.


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## ericm979 (Jun 26, 2005)

On popular cycling routes in the bay area there's too many riders to wave at all of them. Maybe you are ok with feeling like you're riding a float in the Rose Parade but to many people it gets silly after the 20th or 50th or 200th wave.


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## PlatyPius (Feb 1, 2009)

plantdude said:


> Seems that more and more there is a lack of response when I give a friendly wave, nod, or even a simple finger wave from the bars. Noticed it especially this weekend while out on a long ride to Palomeres and Calaveras. Very few cyclist to whom I gave a friendly gesture responded. Totally understand people not wanting to take their hands off the bars, or when they're descending in deep concentration, but c'mon folks, really? What's up with the unfriendliness?
> 
> Maybe it's just me, or my hairy legs, or 10 year old bike, or lack of TDF kit.
> 
> Sorry for the rant, but I'm of the opinion that we cyclists need to watch out for each other and being friendly out on the road is part of the sport.


Jesus H Christ. Is it that time again? The weekly "zOmg! No one waves at me and acknowledges my existence! They're so MEAN!" thread?

I ride to get away from morons. Some lunatic waving like a pair of knickers in a hurricane is just going to piss me off. I may give a head nod, or I may be looking elsewhere or talking to the people with me. If your ego requires constant validation, maybe you should take up a team sport.


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## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

> I'm of the opinion that we cyclists need to watch out for each other and being friendly out on the road is part of the sport.


 In my opinion, a wave doesn't constitute 'watching out for each other.' You've got it wrong. Those very people not waving will go out of their way to help you if you need a hand. I never wave. I also don't wave to people when I'm driving. Seeing another cyclist isn't a particularly rare event in the Bay Area. But I usually stop if I can if a rider needs help. I've even gone as far as showing someone how to change a tube. Likewise, I recently blew two tubes and was stranded, and waited for no more than 5 minutes before another cyclist asked if I need help. I also used all my CO2 cartridges and he lent me his pump while he finished his loop and he picked it up on the return (yes, I now carry a pump too).

Just ride. Don't worry about the waving. Not everyone hates you.


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## Dad Man Walking (Sep 19, 2002)

PlatyPius said:


> Jesus H Christ. Is it that time again? The weekly "zOmg! No one waves at me and acknowledges my existence! They're so MEAN!" thread?


If you think this is bad, you should hop over to MTBR.com to see what some mountain bikers have to say on the subject. Here's a classic: Roadies - Why so Grumpy?

I'll excerpt my own essay from that thread, in case you are click-challenged (or your virus checkers block MTB sites, for all the obvious reasons  ):

_These "why are roadies such pretentious douche-bags" threads come and go. This one is shaping up nicely, and has touched on most of the elements essential for a good "roadies are douche-bags" thread, such as:
- I waved but they scowled and didn't wave back, they must be douche-bags
- I passed a roadie on my MTB, they are out-of-shape douche-bags
- A roadie passed me after I passed him, they are all competitive douche-bags
- They show up in their expensive cars with expensive bikes wearing fugly team kit - they must be douche-bags
__- Road riding attracts different kinds of people--the douche-bag kind__

I've typically not commented on these threads in the past, but I feel like doing so today. So to qualify my own comments, be aware that I consider myself a bike rider--MTB and Road and family recreation and the like. I'm not a roadie but I ride on the road (fixed gear and road bike). I'm not an MTB'er but I ride off road (full squish and rigid). I ride by myself, I ride with friends, and I ride with my family.

What people who have not ridden a lot on the road may not understand is that it is a very different mental and physical experience than riding off-road. Off-road riding is characterized by constant change--the trail curves, the surface changes, you pedal hard up over a bump and then recover on a short down, finesse your way over an obstacle, power through some chunk, etc. This requires that as a rider, you are always "in the moment." You are aware of the environment, the trail, your bike, your body, the weather, all of that stuff.

Road riding can be very different. Once you get clear of the city intersections, you can get long stretches of road where grade is relatively constant, the road surface and shoulder are consistent, and your job is to just push your body as long and as hard as you set out to when you started the ride. A part of your consciousness is always monitoring the external environment (watching for cars, uneven road surface, etc.), but it takes less mental effort/CPU cycles to do that than it does to ride an MTB fast. And as you plug away down the road, aware of how you feel, your breathing, your heart, and your legs, you will soon find that concentrating on those things has actually allowed another part of your brain to enter a meditative state. It's from that state that you can monitor "pain and suffering" since it's really neither, but it's both. It's only pain in the same sense that a weight-lifter describes their efforts as pain ("no pain, no gain"). It's effort. It's not easy. But it's not truly "suffering" or "painful" except for possibly at an elite level that I've never attained, and I suspect most of those weekend hero roadies we all see haven't either.

Remember the quote attributed to Greg LeMond - "It never gets easier, you just go faster." 

So the next time you see a douche-bag roadie who doesn't respond to your attempts at friendly communication, try to understand that he's just on his ride. Not yours. And if he responds to being passed by accelerating, catching up and passing you, it wasn't about you. You presence just gave him a short mental break, a chance to push himself a bit harder, to expend a bit more effort, to dig deeper and immerse himself into the effort. It probably wasn't about you, he wasn't pissed, he wasn't an a-hole. But he wasn't all there, either, so getting a smile and wave out of him was asking a bit much.

Oh...to the guy who thought that roadies were scowling at him for doing tricks on his cyclocross bike? 100% of the roadies I know would be saying "cool, that's guy is awesome, I wish I could do that." Now...if we were halfway through a ride and already wasted, we might just be sitting there with a dull stare. That's not being a douche-bag. That's just being wasted.


_


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## PlatyPius (Feb 1, 2009)

Dad Man Walking said:


> If you think this is bad, you should hop over to MTBR.com to see what some mountain bikers have to say on the subject. Here's a classic: Roadies - Why so Grumpy?
> 
> I'll excerpt my own essay from that thread, in case you are click-challenged (or your virus checkers block MTB sites, for all the obvious reasons  ):
> 
> ...


That's the most awesome response ever, and quite true. Perhaps not as satisfying as my "You're a wanker! I'll put a pump in your spokes!" replies, but it conveys a truth that only someone who does both MTB & Road can comprehend.


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## Oxtox (Aug 16, 2006)

the fact that you're disturbed because total strangers don't acknowledge you is possibly an indicator that counseling is in order.


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## Dad Man Walking (Sep 19, 2002)

PlatyPius said:


> ... "You're a wanker! I'll put a pump in your spokes!"


That was you??!!!


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

When I'm concentrating on the road in front of me... and cars behind me... there's a high probability I'm not going to notice your wave from way on the other side of the road. I often see people wave out of my peripheral vision as they're going by. I wave, but they're already past me. Guess they think I'm unfriendly.

In the future do this about 50yrds in advance. Wave your hand over your head and shout "Hey buddy... over here... how's it going?". I'm sure you'll get more response.


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## tednugent (Apr 26, 2010)

plantdude said:


> Seems that more and more there is a lack of response when I give a friendly wave, nod, or even a simple finger wave from the bars. Noticed it especially this weekend while out on a long ride to Palomeres and Calaveras. Very few cyclist to whom I gave a friendly gesture responded. Totally understand people not wanting to take their hands off the bars, or when they're descending in deep concentration, but c'mon folks, really? What's up with the unfriendliness?
> 
> Maybe it's just me, or my hairy legs, or 10 year old bike, or lack of TDF kit.
> 
> Sorry for the rant, but I'm of the opinion that we cyclists need to watch out for each other and being friendly out on the road is part of the sport.


Because people are in the Strava-zone.... their focus cannot be interrupted.

It happens to mountain bikers also.... there are some friendly mountain bikers... once others "in the zone"


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## MTBryan01 (Oct 17, 2011)

Has nothing to do with the Strava zone. 
I put a lot of miles on my road bike but also my Jeep and motorcycle. All groups have 'wave' issues. 
Personally I always wave and often don't even look for a return. 
Yesterday I was so hammered at the end of my ride (heat issues and my Garmin showed 106.7 after 60 miles and 4700 feet of climbing and little water) I couldn't muster up a wave in the last 10 miles. I'm sure those I dissed think I was being a roadie ahole but the truth was I was debating calling 911.


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