Cycling UK Forum

I've done my fair share of chasing down the guy ahead on the road, I quite like a bit of a natter and the chasing down is made easier by riding a recumbent which is itself a good conversation starter.

So today the reverse occurred; a cyclist appeared in my mirrors with a stance that suggested he wanted to chase me. I made the rather judgemental assumption that he would be a monosyllabic 'mamil' and played the game for the next (flat into headwind) 2 miles, accelerating slightly whenever he sprinted to close the gap. I knew a steep hill was approaching where my heavyweight machine wouldn't match his carbon beauty so waited for the catch and hoped I was wrong in my assumption.

Sadly, I wasn't, I got a brief "Hi" but only because I said "Hello" first before he motored on.

Am I just a sociable chap indulging a passion where most of the proponents want to be left alone?

In the words of Jane Austen should I learn to become 'unsocial and taciturn'

What do you think his perception was of you repeatedly accelerating when he tried to close the gap?

Thanks

Jonathan

Hmm, guess I'd like to have chatted about it

Playing the ‘uncatchable carrot’ sounds like perfectly acceptable and necessary behaviour ………of a kind that I am finding is increasingly difficult to take part in.

If I'm on an exercise ride, I'll likely just say hello or wave.
If I'm on a trip, I'm more sociable and like to chat with fellow cyclists, especially at the cafe or on a ferry..
So a bit of a schizo-mamil really. The worst sort...

I do remember meeting a colleague close to work as we both cycled in. I engaged in a little banter but as we arrived at work I was chided (in friendly fashion) for making him miss his best journey time for the year by just a few seconds

Whenever I use the North Wales coastal path, NCN5, I always pass a grim faced mamil who I guess does the same route every day of the year. I generally say Hi but he never replied for may be the last 25 years but 3 days ago he replied with a Hi which made me chuckle with surprise.

Stradageek wrote: ↑13 Jul 2023, 1:28pm Am I just a sociable chap indulging a passion where most of the proponents want to be left alone?

Why should anyone else want to chat just because you share a mode of transport?
Try talking to your fellow bus, tube or train passengers, see where that gets you!

rareposter wrote: ↑13 Jul 2023, 5:38pm

Stradageek wrote: ↑13 Jul 2023, 1:28pm Am I just a sociable chap indulging a passion where most of the proponents want to be left alone?

Why should anyone else want to chat just because you share a mode of transport?
Try talking to your fellow bus, tube or train passengers, see where that gets you!

When I ran a car club (2cv, dayne, h-van) we'd often wave at other 2cv-ers on the road and they waved back.. both of us happy that our ignition coils weren't yet cooked enough to cause either vehicle to conk out....
It wasn't uncommon, when I used to motorcycle, that motorcyclists also waved at each other... unless you rode a Harley..
VW van drivers still do...

When I'm out on a leisure ride I'll give a quick wave or a hi to other riders, but I don't want someone to ride alongside and start talking at me. I can cope with it on an audax for a while and then I generally want to be left alone.

My entire function when cycling on the road is to provide a feel-good factor for roadies, who sail past me with ease. I usually get a cheery greeting as they do, although I suspect that sometimes it’s really a cry of triumph, as they perceive they’ve ‘bested’ me.

What they probably don’t spot is that I’m on semi-knobbly tyres, twice the width of theirs, at half the pressure, that my bike probably weighs twice what theirs does, and that I am focusing on looking for the next hole in a hedgerow that leads to a weed-grown bridleway.

Still, if it cheers someone up, all to the good.

I very rarely encounter other cyclists deep in the countryside, so it’s a sort “Doctor Livingstone, I presume.” moment if I do.

cycle tramp wrote: ↑13 Jul 2023, 5:57pm When I ran a car club (2cv, dayne, h-van) we'd often wave at other 2cv-ers on the road and they waved back..

Haha. As an ex 2cv owner, I recognise this behaviour.
Slightly tangentially, when I do my simulator training every year, I find myself waving to oncoming virtual train drivers...

When I had a 2CV, I too would wave at passing motorists. Usually in an attempt to flag them down for a lift to a petrol station because the binary petrol gauge (some - none) had done its evil stuff again.

(I did eventually get the plot and always carry a gallon can full in the boot)

cycle tramp wrote: ↑13 Jul 2023, 5:57pm When I ran a car club (2cv, dayne, h-van) we'd often wave at other 2cv-ers on the road and they waved back.. both of us happy that our ignition coils weren't yet cooked enough to cause either vehicle to conk out.

For ‘2CV’ substitute ‘Morris Minor 1000’ and for ‘ignition coils’ substitute ‘fuel pump points’.

A few weeks ago, I was riding Moulton and I could see in my 'bar mirror a chap on an (obviously) electric bike. I could see his stance and riding position and how he was pedalling in a much higher gear than if it was a "normal" bike.

We carried on like that for a while, then I saw him making an effort to catch me up, and eventually, he was on my back wheel.
I never let on that I knew he was there, and he made no attempt to come alongside and have a chat.
After a few minutes like that, he dropped right back and as far back as he was before.

I got the impression he was checking me and Moulton out, probably expecting to see that I had an electric motor.
The road is fairly level there for a couple of miles or so, so I had a constant speed.