Why do people say what they do?
 

So I was riding a paved mup on an early sunny afternoon. A cyclists approaching from opposite direction with flashing lights yelled out at me, "Lights".

Another day I was loading my bike onto vehicle from the bike shop. A family walked past me and said, You are going to ride your bike?? Shouldn't you stop riding now, its so cold. The temperature was 15C.
It's like if people feel it's out of the norm for them, then it's not normal. Never mind what you feel is ok to do.

What do people say to you while your'e cycling that leaves you scratching your head.

While turning onto a bike path a few weeks ago, some cyclists were approaching from the opposite direction. The head Karen shouts at the top of her lungs "Bike Up!!!".

Admittedly, I've only been riding since about 1971, so this was new to me.

Most anything. I ride solo a lot. So anything they say, I probably won't hear enough of to understand as we pass each other.

Short things like "hello" and other one or two word greetings I might get! <grin>

He may have had trouble seeing you, particularly if the sun was behind you; this time of year, the sun can get low pretty early and make for challenging lighting conditions.

I try not to focus on the negative/inane.

I remember things like the congratulations I get from strangers when I am out on tour. And, of course, the "nice legs" comments.

I do, however, remember some young woman yelling out of a passenger side window that I am was riding on the wrong side of the road during a descent while on tour in Vermont back in June. I was riding on the correct side of the road according to VT state law.

Not new to me. That first person was warning the people behind her there was a bike approaching from the opposite direction and to make sure they didn't veer into your path. In the club I belong to it is common practice while riding on narrow bike paths

If the sun is behind you, headlights won't help. This is the one situation where lights won't help. The military actually uses bright lights as a camouflage in this type of situation.

It wasn't at all narrow, and even had a dividing line down the middle. It was most likely directed at me, not the followers.

I was actually scratching my head on this one. 😅
So that’s what she meant. 👍🏻

Flashing lights might.

I stopped under an underpass to take some photos of my bike, because I liked the lighting there. A group of cyclists rode by and one of them said to me "Tagging! Oh man that's NOT COOL!!". She must've thought I had stopped there to do some graffiti (which I wasn't). They were gone before I could think of a witty reply.

A flashing light on a MUP might be frowned upon. Some group rides don't allow them either.

So you could have responded by saying "Hey what's with the flashing?" in an incredulous tone.

Most passing motorists who yell something at me sound like they're saying, "I'M SOO STUUUUUPIIDD!"

That's the message, even if it's not exactly what they're yelling.

Okay, Maverick.

I'm not talking about sun on the horizon, directly behind you, just generally behind so that the sun's in their eyes; bright lights can help quite a bit in those situations.

I'd probably be a little concerned that the next thing yelled from the group was going to be "Bike Down".

John

It most definitely was not directed at you. "Bike up", "Hiker up", "Car up", etc. are all used to communicate that the group is approaching the mentioned object. In mountain biking groups, obstacles like logs, other riders and hikers are called out in a similar fashion. Some people are a bit overzealous in their yelling out of these warnings.

I can't remember anything anyone said to me recently. Maybe that's because I see many more antelope than people on most of my rides.

I skirted wide of the path, because there were also a telephone pole and guy wires to contend with when overtaking a disheveled looking homeless person. I still said “passing on your right”. He yelled at me angrily “I would have moved over for you!”

I agree, prima facia. But had you been there, you might think otherwise.

No, it absolutely, positively was not directed at you - as mentioned, this is an exceedingly common practice. People cross over the line all of the time and groups, especially, tend to sprawl over them; "bike up!" was the lead rider's warning to riders behind them to move out of your way, if they weren't already.

I can vouch for this. “Rider up!” is a fairly common warning in my neck of the woods when there is a group approaching an oncoming cyclist in a situation where things could get tight.

I rarely think of a witty comment quick enough, in response to some weird shoutout to me during a ride.
One time, though, a small group of men walked along the sidewalk during the lunch hour near my office.
My ride just started winding down, with my office a half mile away. One of the dudes made a loud cat-call at me.
Within a split second, I simply said, "Sorry, I'm not that sort of man!" His buddies all broke out in laughter.

You've been riding for 51 years and never heard of this??? Have you never ridden in a group that understands safety and proper bike etiquette???

Proper safety protocol when riding in a group is to warn about hazards and also to warn fellow riders in the group to be aware of their surroundings. Yelling bike up, as some have already pointed out, is to let fellow riders to either not swerve into your path or to let other riders to behind the leader to single up should they be doubled or tripled. This is no different than yelling car up or car back when group riding. Yelling bike up wasn't directed at you just as yelling and pointing to warn about a branch or other debris isn't yelling at the hazard, it's a warning to fellow cyclists. As for the line in the middle, often on bike paths cyclists may ride near the line and even cross it if it's not too crowded.

Ultimately, whining about something you should have known after 51 years is ridiculous, (unfortunately there's no agreed upon name for a male-Karen), and "the head Karen", doing what was absolutely proper, might have saved YOU from an accident.

I was riding up the steepest part of a very popular local road (6-12%, a 600’ climb or so)on Sunday afternoon. there’s an uphill bake line and a downhill car lane, separated by those semi flexible plastic pylons. I was going slow on the 10% ish section, and an elderly biker-looking dude on a robust eBike towing a trailer with a dog in it swerved out from behind me into the downhill lane, and then back into the bike lane in front of me. he yelled out “smooth move lance.”

I am not sure what move he was referring to, other than riding slowly uphill. maybe my “move” was not hopping the curb on my road bike to ride along the rocky embankment so he could pass me in the bike lane? that certainly wouldn’t be very lance-esque.