@cyclingfool 93128 wrote:
No, I get that. And when people obviously know what they’re doing and have everything out, I usually pass by without asking anything. In this case, it was still sprinkling rain, and the guy seemed to be cluelessly poking at and pulling on his chain. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say the jogger who stopped seemed to know more about bike mechanics than the rider, but that’s conjecture based on what I saw the cyclist doing with his bike as I approached.
In any event, given the weather there were very few cyclists out, so he clearly wasn’t being flooded with offers of assistance, er, interruptions. Besides, how hard is it just to say “I’m good, thanks.”? That’s all I’m saying. He doesn’t even need to make eye contact. Just engage his vocal chords for a split second. After all, someone on his way home from work (me) was kind enough to stop and potentially give up several minutes of my own time w/ family, etc., to make sure that guy could ride on.
I can appreciate it from both sides. But as someone who was an avid runner for over 15 years before switching to cycling, one of the things that drew me straight away was the overall support and generosity of the cyclist community. I was out running once and twisted my ankle on the WO&D and was limping back home. Not one other runner even missed a step to ask me if everything was ok. However, I had several cyclists slow to make sure I was alright and ask me if I needed to use their phone or anything. When I first started cycling, I remember feeling like a total noob and being fearful of coming off as a moron to experienced cyclists with my first few flats, mechanical issues and lack of lingo. I certainly appreciate the help and generosity of fellow cyclists that not only offer their help (from air to tubes to tools to expertise), but repeatedly demonstrate that we are a community that really takes care of each other. As much as I may understand and appreciate the alternative perspective, that will not dissuade me from slowing to ask every single time I see a fellow cyclist that may possibly need assistance. Needed or not, to me the offer represents the spirit of the cycling community and outside of the joy of the ride itself, is one of the primary reasons I am proud to call myself a cyclist.
I’ll work on a base route with let’s say 4 or 5 primary stops. Then we can have sub routes for those electing to take a shorter ride and/or that could have final stops that extend closer to FC and DC for those starting from that area to end at on the ride back.
