Cyclists of the World Unite! Or at least be friendly

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10 Responses

  1. Graeme says:

    Suspect your problem was you were riding a Sportive which tend to attract “newbies” not “proper” cyclists that acknowledge each other, ask “are you are ok?” if stopped at the side of the road etc. 🙂

    Having said that I always noticed riding around Edinburgh other cyclists were much less likely to be friendly compared to cycling in Fife

    • Diana says:

      I’m not sure I’d agree to be honest. I ride sportives and I always acknowledge others. It’s not just something I’ve noticed on the sportive, just the number of cyclists there highlighted it to me. To my mind, everyone on a bike is a proper cyclist.

  2. Kelly S says:

    Have you thought about riding a bike with your kids? It wouldn’t be the sort of high-speed fun that you’re used to, but there are lots of bikes that can carry older children (cargo bikes and the like) some with electric assist to help with hills. A pair of bikes each with room for a kid on the back would let you ride as a family.

    It seems t0 me that people just aren’t as friendly as they used to be. Granted, I’ve moved from the USA midwest (known for it’s friendliness) to the San Francisco Bay Area (known for brilliant tech folks that are often socially awkward). People generally just seem too wrapped up in their own little world. On public transportation or walking, almost everyone is listening to their iphone, or staring at their phone, or talking on their phone. Driving in a car, they’re doing the same thing.
    People are so concerned with themselves and their own little world that they don’t think that they should help other people. Often it seems they don’t even notice that there’s other people out there.

    I’d like to think that if I passed you when you were on the side of the road, I’d have at least said “you ok? Need help?” but if you’d said yes, I’d have to admit I don’t really know much about fixing bikes and probably wouldn’t be much help. Perhaps people saw that you already had someone helping you, and figured you didn’t need any extra help?

  3. Ross Neilson says:

    Nice post. The description early on about fitting in cycling around children rang true – it’s hard work. I have to admit I’ve always found people friendly and helpful on the sportives I’ve done. Sad to hear that wasn’t the case with the event you did.

    My boys, 7 and 5, are both confident on their bikes and we’ve done quite a bit of riding recently. We love exploring the countryside together. I’m sure when your little ones are a bit bigger you will find the same. Before you know it you’ll all be doing the local sportive as a family 🙂

  4. Swilde says:

    I’ve never had any others of help when I’ve had mechanical problems, so can’t comment on whether people are more or less likely to stop to help, as my number has always been ‘0’.

    On the other side, when I’ve seen somebody by the side of the road I’ve generally assumed that they’d know more about what to do than I would, with the addition that if the person with a fault is female then any offers would not be welcome.

    • Diana says:

      I don’t think that an offer of help should be unwelcome, male or female. If anyone else offered me help when I had a mechanical, I would politely accept or decline, but I would never take offence.

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