Polaris OBark

For the record, neither of mine (nor their predecessors) are/(were) anything like this.

genejockey 

Friendly to everyone? Playful? Energetic? Sounds like my Golden.

drlogik 

I only occasionally encounter a female out riding. I neither speed up nor slow down. I maintain pace and if I pass, I pass and keep going. If I get passed I don't speed up, I get passed. I have been passed a couple of times and looking at the young woman that passed me, she's probably a triathlete or racer.

burnthesheep

When you go to the grocery store for a few items and are pushing the cart or carrying a little basket, do you chat up someone at the meat counter then hope to follow them around the store while you all shop? Then challenge them to a mental game of wits on prices, deals, or nutrition?

That's how it reads when I hear about expecting casual bike/run encounters anymore than simply seeing another citizen outdoors. You can be kind or friendly and wave, say hi, nod, whatever.

There's local groups and clubs you can meetup with and chat up folks. Local to me there is some group with nearly every imaginable speed/ability level ride going on at least half the days/nights of the week.

I'm not trying to be mean saying that, just that lots of folks are different these days and may take offense. So the safety of bike friends at a bike group is great fun and fellowship. I keep the casual public encounters to being a good citizen.

genejockey 

This. Some folks are like me - an introvert with low social needs and conversely a need for solitude and some time dedicated to it in which there's nobody joggling my elbow.

Herzlos

Sadly, lots of people struggle with things like social interaction. That's why I'm always happy to take questions at face value and try to respond to them sensibly. Maybe we've actually helped someone on this thread, you never know.

prj71

Larry,

I think your comments and described actions in this thread is what gives roadies a bad name.

wolfchild

Stalking women isn't a good thing, don't do it, especially if you're shirtless on a bicycle.

Rolla

I'm skeptical, but that's a good point.

LarrySellerz

lol, I dont look like a roadie

SurferRosa

Great episode!

njkayaker

You might freak women a bit less if you did.

Toadmeister

Like 4 pages in and we haven’t done this yet?

70sSanO

Nah. I stay behind them and quickly speed up an run them into the end cap so I can check out first…

…in the context of a friendly competition, that is.

John

VegasJen

Personally, I wouldn't mind it as long as the guy(s) let me know they're there. I'm at a pretty decent level so if a guy is keeping up with me I know he's not just some creeper that jumped on a bike when I passed by.

Of course, it's part of the environment too. I live in a rural community and there just aren't a lot of riders around so there's an implied familiarity just because of the shared interest. I don't know any of the other riders in my town personally, but I've seen a handful out at various times. But only two or three times have I been riding the same route with another rider, and nobody here has passed me yet.

trailangel

What about shirtless on one of those naked rides? Do you ride behind, or up front? It's ok to talk to the opposite sex.

urbanknight

For starters, refer to them as women, unless you're actually talking about underage females... in which case I may need to file a SCAR.

LarrySellerz

why do you think I freak women out?

mschwett 

i find these threads a little confusing. at least 1/4, maybe 1/3, maybe more of the riders i see on the road around here happen to be female. i don’t hang behind them and draft unsolicited, and i also don’t do that to males. nobody ever does it to me either. 6,000 miles in the last year and ONCE someone asked to hang on my wheel for a few laps of the public cycle track. once a guy drafted me a few lengths back for a mile or two and then dropped me with a “nice work.”

i am 100% for making sure one does not do anything to make anyone - especially women, children, the elderly or disabled, etc - feel threatened, but the tone of this conversation makes me wonder how many people here actually live normal lives off the internet in the world in which 51% of the population is female.

veganbikes

I don't want to know how Larry treats daughters if someone was whacky enough to create children with him.

LarrySellerz

1/3 of riders are women, but its a rare occurrence for me to see a woman who can hold a fast enough pace on the flats to warrant drafting/racing. Hills are another story, lots of beastly women crushing them. Watts/kilos

GamblerGORD53

That's the exact opposite IME. I've passed some on hills with my SA 3 speed heavyweight.
The fastest girl I ever saw was on a fixie going 25 mph DT here. Happened to be my first ride with my Rohloff14. I cranked out 23.5 mph. LOL, never did go 25 on any bike. Later found out she was likely a messenger and track star.

rsbob 

Sure beats the alternative.

MarcusT

I had similar but opposite experience. I was riding a new MUP, when it entered a residential area and was having a hard time finding my way out. A nice lady in a car followed me for a bit then indicated where the path was. I thanked her, but then she started talking. Not about biking or the MUP, but about random things, after a couple minutes, it started to feel weird, and I told her had to meet my wife (I'm not married).
So, yes, I can understand the uneasiness women feel when strangers come up and start talking.

Reynolds 

I use to ride on a road which is the roadie's go-to in my area. So it's not uncommon to draft/be drafted by strangers. A couple years ago a girl about 20 passed me and kept close, looking back every now and then. Perhaps she felt safer riding near another cyclist, as the road was nearly empty. I told her we could do the "road circuit" if she wanted to. She accepted and we took turns drafting. At the end, she told me "Bye sir, were you a cyclist in the past?" (I was 68 at the time). I smiled and replied that I still tried to be one...