Please Stop Asking If I am Okay

[TwoWheelsDC]

Don’t worry Bob, I’m happy to ignore you on the trail.

[DSalovesh]

You feeling okay, Bob?

[rcannon100]

@DSalovesh 161401 wrote:

You feeling okay, Bob?

[eminva]

It’s just their way of congratulating you for your victory in the “Grand Grand Grand Masters division.”

Liz

[rcannon100]

@eminva 161403 wrote:

It’s just their way of congratulating you for your victory in the “Grand Grand Grand Masters division.”

Liz

Yup. The winner of the division gets a free colonoscopy! h o o r a y !

[consularrider]

You’re still just a young whippersnapper, so get off my lawn ya punk! :p

[Rootchopper]

Ooh, trailside colonoscopies!!!!

[dkel]

I’m told that yelling incoherently and shaking your fist is effective in running off would-be samaritans, and that it doesn’t make you look like a crazy old codger at all.

[Rootchopper]

Now that I think about it, the next cyclist who passes me and calls me “Sir” is askin’ for it. (Except I couldn’t catch them if my life depended on it.)

[rcannon100]

@dkel 161408 wrote:

I’m told that yelling incoherently and shaking your fist is effective in running off would-be samaritans, and that it doesn’t make you look like a crazy old codger at all.

I have started taking a survey, asking people why they are asking me if I am okay – what it is about me that resulted in the offer of assistance. Generally its just “trying to be helpful.” M’eh.

[drevil]

@rcannon100 161399 wrote:

[rant mode on]
Oh yeah, can I also mention that this did not happen 2 years ago when I was not quite a gray beard. But now that I am a gray beard…

[ATTACH=CONFIG]14957[/ATTACH]

[TwoWheelsDC]

I generally only ask if the person clearly has a problem and look like they’re struggling to fix it. If a rider is calmly sitting in the shade fixing a flat or drinking some water or whatever, I usually ride on by. If the rider looks a bit flummoxed, I’ll ask if they have what they need (flummoxed could mean either lack of expertise to fix the problem or lack of tools). It’s subjective, but I generally err on the side of assuming people actively working on their bike on the trail have the capacity to fix it, and if they don’t look distressed they probably would prefer I don’t bug them.

I also am averse to being asked if I need help….so much so that when my front derailleur cable slipped, resulting in a major chain-suck a few weeks ago, I coasted to the nearest trail exit and fixed my bike in a cul de sac so no one would bother me.

[anomad]

I would only stop to shout at you for being a woman or failing to file a Federal Register Notice before passing.

[Harry Meatmotor]

Next time you pull off of the trail, just yell, “I’M NOT OKAY!!!” at every person than passes, and i’m sure you’ll get the solace and quiet you require.

[ShawnoftheDread]

There is not one hint, not one bit of evidence, nothing to suggest that I am having any difficulty whatsoever.

Come on now, you own a mirror. There’s no way this statement is true.

[Author]

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