Amitoj

Need more info on the socks please.

RubeRad

Best pair of socks I've seen is a pair of Maryland state flag socks; one leg was the black&yellow checks, the other was the red fleur-de-lis. The asymmetry was really cool

Wittyname

Orange and blue Hand Stripe from Team Dream

RubeRad

Nice. I'll have to remember that one

robertorolfo

Timing on this thread is good. Just this morning I had an Asian woman on an e-bike riding like a moron behind me in the bike lane, trying to squeeze between me and another rider as I was about to slow for a light (and yes, I gave her a hand signal). She stopped too, so I told her she should ride on the street if she wasn't even going to bother pedaling the thing.

She then said something to me, twice, which I couldn't understand with her heavy accent. Then she put her hand on her stomach and said slowly, "do you have your period?" Suffice to say, there was a pretty long string of profanities from me after that, until she rode away (the wrong way down an one-way street). My patience for the e-bikers and the idiots on the electric skateboards and scooters is down below zero.

Dave Cutter

I was out cycling one morning on the bicycle path (I am retired and have the free time)…. and happened to stop at a rest area around lunch time. A couple very attractive young women who were apparently walking during their lunch hour also stopped. One of them came up to me and told me I was an inspiration to her.... just seeing me out there exercising.

I asked.... "because I am old"?

She said "Yes".

RubeRad

I'm sorry man, but that made me laugh (at you)

RubeRad

Dear Penthouse Forum...

robertorolfo

I realize that, objectively, it seems like a funny comment. But it's less funny when someone is doing something they shouldn't be doing, doing it like a jerk, and then trying to rub it in your face. I'm about as liberal as you can get, but stuff like that makes you think...

NYC is getting worse and worse as people from countries with horrible traffic laws (or disregard for those laws) show up here and do as they did at home. The arrogance and ignorance is too much to ignore. And don't give me any nonsense about having an open mind, because I've been in the exact opposite situation and never once expected an established culture to put up with my nonsense just because it was the way I did it at home.

My thoughts exactly. I was hoping that story would go in a completely different direction...

RubeRad

I get it, funny to the observer, but not to the receiver. I'm sure I wouldn't have enjoyed it either. (Then again I wouldn't have been bold enough to say anything, just let them ride past and away from me). Unfortunately liberty includes liberty to be a jerk, and sometimes non-jerks have to suffer through, be the bigger man, take the high road, etc.

Reynolds 

They didn't speak to me, but I had a strange encounter the other night.
I was riding alone up an overpass at about 2AM, no cars or people in sight. A car passes me slowly, some guys look at me, then they accelerate again. When I'm approaching the top, I see the car stopped there as if waiting for me. It looked like they were up to no good, but if I turned or stopped they could catch me anyway, so I go on. As I pass, someone opens the rear door and sticks out a hand with something in it. He throws me a stream of that white carnival foam (and misses). Not a word, a laugh, nothing. They start and pass me again, don't even look at me.
Sort of anticlimactic, but I liked it better that way.

Amitoj

I have something similar, more colorful. But no one has shown them any love

essiemyra

While riding up a big hill, a gentleman that I would see taking his daily walk occasionally, told me I made it look easy. Another time a cop came up along side me in his car and told me I was going to fast(up another big hill). He has a sense of humor.

RubeRad

Ha, I'd get a kick out of that.

I have a memory of us kids all being in the car with mom driving, and we happened to pass my dad who was out for a ride. Mom had us all lean out the windows and yell "GET A HORSE". We thought it was hilarious.

noglider 

Thanks for the laughs, folks.

@robertorolfo, my friends say I wear rose colored glasses. I think driving courtesy has improved in recent years, even as congestion has worsened. I'm not saying you got what you deserved from that woman, but if you hadn't said anything, you wouldn't have ended up so annoyed. I rarely say anything to all the doofuses, and we have plenty of them.

robertorolfo

That's just the thing... I'm taking the high road 95% of the time. Last Friday another guy on an e-bike brushed by me in a tight spot (at low speed), but he immediately apologized and I just let it go.

But sometimes it's just egregious and dangerous. And when someone takes putting other people at risk lightly, that just sets me off.

RubeRad

yes, it makes a huge difference if the offending party shows any sign they were aware they did something offensive

noglider 

@robertorolfo, every so often, a friend from Ireland visits and we take a ride together. He is ten years older than I am and long ago was on the world bike racing scene, a domestique for one of the big guys. He still rides a fair bit. Once we were in very tony New Jersey suburb, and some entitled dude in an expensive German car honked at us and cut us off. I asked him what he does in cases like that. In a very relaxed tone, he said, "I just ignore people like that." It was a lesson for me. I try, and I don't always succeed, but since then, I've gotten better. And it's just as important with poor delivery dudes on ebikes as with wealthy people in luxury cars.

52telecaster

i think you probably have the build of the cyclists who inspire me. i am not sure what it is, but if i see a cyclist who doesnt look athleticly slender there is a little part of me that cheers inside. i am less than athletic looking myself.

FargoRider

I ride by a YWCA shelter each day as part of my commute. During the school year, there are quite a few kids gathered each morning waiting for their bus. I notice many of them staring at me as I ride by then turn down the street in front of them. One day one of those kids yelled "Cool bike, man!". I just smiled, gave the kids a thumbs up and said thanks. I think that also increased my speed by 1 or 2 mph.

I've had a few lectures about having bikes on streets, but it's always nice when people greet me, or just wave when I'm on my commute.

noglider 

Back when the lower east side of Manhattan was a scary place to be, I was riding my commuter bike, a decidedly ugly but functional bike. Some kid in a gang of about three or four kids yelled, "Cheap bike!" Here in NYC, lots of people are conscious of bikes and their values. I was pleased that I had fooled him into thinking it was crappy.

robertorolfo

Teach me, Zen master! Seriously, sometimes I wonder if I should just be taking some sort of chill pill (as in, the real ones)...

noglider 

Anti-depressants work, if that's what you mean. You could also do a little prayer/meditation/focus before you put your leg over the bike, on how you promise yourself not to get annoyed.

Korina

Aww, @52telecaster, thanks! I think. I'm just happy to be on my bike. Except when the wind is blowing, then not so much. ::glares at waving trees and shrubs outside::

no motor?

I figure the unsaid comments are worse than anything people say, and I hope I'm not discouraging anyone from riding when they see me go by.