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The Ticket to Ride

By Joe Hall • 28th October 2011 05:17pm • Posted in Misc

The word etiquette in English derives from the French étiquette - a "list of ceremonial observances of a court" - which in turn descends from the 16th century noun estiquette, a licence or permit, a ticket. Whilst these French words are now obsolete, the English term etiquette lives on and so, I hope you’ll agree, should the practice of good road riding manners.

The importance of cycling etiquette should not be overlooked and sets our noble sport apart from other less gentlemanly (and gentle-womanly) activities: The gruff fat men in wee shorts, who spend 90-odd minutes thumping a leather case around a muddy field is one example (and I don't mean cyclocross). They of course have their own etiquette, but spitting and headbutts don't stick on the Sunday club run (some sprinters may disagree).

We had an email from Mr. Ian Winfield, Rapha evangelist and reputable print-maker:

Hello,

Popped out this morning, waved at a Rapha Dutch jersey, to be greeted by a big fat nothing. Livid! All Rapha jerseys should come with cycling etiquette instructions on how to give a huge chapeau to oncoming cyclists.

Best wishes
Ian Winfield

And so, we felt compelled to make a small song and dance about this malaise. In fact, out on a ride myself the other day, in Ian's beloved Essex, I took a left up Tawney lane, spotted two riders decorated with monochrome kit and shiny carbon and gave them a big "ayup", raised a hand from the bars, blew them a kiss … F**k all back.

Many riders, in the latest eye-shades and astride the quickest machines, do respond but it can be a disparaging "look", rather than acknowledgement that "it's a lovely day, we're out on our bikes, road cycling is amazing, well done for being part of the fraternity!" Nope, not this time … Perhaps it's me.

It's usually the older riders who are quicker to raise a hand from the bars, give a nod, a smile, even a wink. The old buzzards who've been in the saddle all their life, they are men and women we should respect.

Aside from the abusive car and van drivers one encounters from time to time, I like to think that no one really dislikes cyclists, but I've noticed more and more that vilification of the roadie has extended beyond mountain bikers and has evolved into rivalry, inverted snobbery, a new kind of road-rider. Whilst Lance Armstrong said "no gifts", he was riding the Tour of France, and even the steel-eyed Texan had time to shake hands with his rivals and let them through, once or twice …

We should all take the time (OK if you have your eyes down in a headwind perhaps you're excused) to say hello and celebrate with our fellow comrades the joy of cycling. It's not flummery, cycling is an egalitarian pursuit: even in the pangs of battle road racers have the sporting goodwill many other athletes seem to overlook … (I've heard).

When I smile at another human rolling in the opposite direction, regardless of age, sex or components/geometry, it's not insincere. It's not flattery (I also say hello to horse-riders), it's just a convention that sets cycling apart from the usual behaviour of life behind city walls, amongst motorists and other lesser beings.

This chivalry also extends to those riding in the same direction: Your training acquaintances and strangers who happen to be wheelsucking. Hands should not only be used to wave at passing brothers and sisters, they should also be used to signal turns, point out road-furniture, pot-holes and dead badgers.

Even if you’re not carrying tools or a spare tube at least pretend to offer to stop for a troubled or punctured rider. It's about manners really, and whilst your 11 speed groupset cost most of X amount of wages, the camaraderie and respect you get from showing your ticket costs less than 80psi. Perpetuating cycling etiquette is, fundamentally, cool.

Most will know the famous line uttered by H.G Wells, British fore-father of science-fiction:

When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. 
- H.G. Wells

But I do sometimes, not for humanity but for the harmony of this wonderful way to kill time. Perhaps we should consider the bicycle as a blessing rather than a right? Machines that empower the physical and mental in such a way should be celebrated and anyone who is part of these festivities should be acknowledged, perhaps even people on recumbents.

Comments

Howard Taylor

28th October 2011 05:48pm

Here, Here! Couldn't agree more. I've recently returned to cycling after many years, and now that I have some fitness back, I'm loving it all over again! But the one thing I have noticed since my return is the distinct lack of friendly cyclists, maybe 1 in 5 acknowledge me, and they tend to be the older seasoned cyclists! Come on, it wouldn't kill you to raise a hand from your bars or possibly just smile, would it?

wyn gilley

28th October 2011 07:12pm

Loving the sentiment here. The acknowledgement of a shared passion and camaraderie is priceless.

For the record, I find (road) riders around my weekly haunts of Epping Forest and the Essex/Herts borders to be pretty responsive chaps and chapesses - for which I count myself very fortunate, as it enhances every ride I take, not least on a cold Sunday morning.

Matthew Randall

29th October 2011 01:52pm

Yeah I totally don't understand why so many cyclists seem so ignorant and don't even acknowledge me when I say 'Hi' or give a 'nod'.
I used to think it was just me but clearly not from reading this post!I refuse to be beaten by it though and will not turn into an 'igno-cylcist' myself.

Carl Hunt

29th October 2011 04:34pm

yea…besides, it's the right thing to do…be nice!

awesome article.

Ian Winfield

30th October 2011 01:23pm

Having dropped Jimmy the teenager at Lea Valley Youf CC and feeling ever inch the dapper gentleman in cross 3/4ters, Mortirolo jersey and cycle club cap, I set off into the Essex lanes.
A salute and a smile from the Shutt on the Genesis at Chigwell and the world's a better place.
Not another cyclist until Epping Lane, the road parallel to Joe's lovely Tawney Lane. A wave, a smile and a nod only to be greeted by a big fat nothing by the f$£k in the Campag jersey. I will not let Mr Campag's ignorance ruin the ride.
Left onto the lovely Tawney Lane and not another cyclist until the husband and wife team at Toot Hill. A wave from Mr DHB pulling on the front, whilst the wife hangs onto the husbands wheel through gritted teeth. Now that's how to resolve a domestic.
Fly down Toot Hill and along Berwick Lane, with only the pheasants for company.
Left onto Shonks Mill with a wave and a smile from the mountain biker. Grind up Mill Lane, revelling in the autumnal canopy growing over the twisting single track.
Coming back into London, I see a recumbent ahead and vow not to acknowledge the attention seeking pillock, only to be greeted by a wide wave and a smile. Despite myself, I grin widely and respond accordingly. Joe you must have had 20/20 hindsight.
The world is now a better place, with only one miserable Campag jersey to spoil the ride.
Joe, in order to bring a little cheer to the wider cycling public, Winfield Print will print you 5,000 cycling etiquette postcards, at cost, to send out with every order.
Let's spread a little Chapeaux or two around the cycling fraternity. :-)

David Sangan

30th October 2011 06:37pm

Also vigorously endorse the sentiment and like the thought of a list of etiquette reminders being sewn into the pockets of Rapha kit.
Having said that, the odd cycling grumps that I pass are rarely wearing Rapha but usually stuffed into ill-fitting budget lycra.

Could there be a correlation between being comfortably clad and being warm hearted and friendly on a bike or conversely sweating along in a nightmare of nylon, with gritted teeth and totally unaware of anybody else on the road? …One for the marketing department perhaps.

There are of course those who can be forgiven, and I count myself occasionally among them, who glide along totally lost in their own heads often down quiet country lanes whose thoughts are elsewhere:

“When I go biking I am mentally far far away from civilization.
The world is breaking someone else's heart.”
Diane Ackerman

Stefan Rohner

30th October 2011 07:43pm

Camaraderie, is something normal here in Spain, "we are all cyclists" we say here, lycra or not.


"""Having said that, the odd cycling grumps that I pass are rarely wearing Rapha but usually stuffed into ill-fitting budget lycra. """

David, excuse me, I read some prejudice in your words. sounds like wearing Rapha is "better" than wearing ""budget lycra"" and ""a nightmare of nylon"".

A lot of categorizing above.

best Stefan

Dominik Sowinski

31st October 2011 04:19am

It is a shame that such a beautiful sport has such a lack of camaraderie and respect amongst its peers, I think it is fair to say that as cyclists we tend to be disregarded by the vast majority of road users, we should not have to suffer such indignity and indifference from each other.

This action (or rather in-action) won't stop me from giving a smile/wave/nod/tip of the hat to cyclists I pass, regardless of attire/frame material/team colouring/smoothness of legs/etc… in the hope that maybe one day someone will smile/wave/nod/tip their hat back at me.

David Bolles

31st October 2011 02:59pm

It is funny to me, as a commuter who dresses in "budget" road attire, the lack of waving. I say hello to basically everyone. A nod, a wave as I pass, good morning to the ones I see daily. I find some days that it's just a person's preference to not wave or anything. Almost like it's a safety precaution. They will NOT lift their hands of the bars to wave hello!
It's funny because it's no specific sort of cyclist. Just that persons temperament.
It would be very clever to put an etiquette slip in Rapha jerseys. Honestly, I'd find a small, cheap frame for something fun like that… Ha!

joseph melnyk

31st October 2011 04:46pm

couldn't agree more. i find it fascinating that roadies in particular seem to strive very hard to make it appear as though what they're doing is very very difficult; it cannot be interrupted, even just for a smile or a nod. they must always have a permanent grimace on their face, with a stone-cold gaze through dark shades at the long, tough road ahead of them.

which is BS, really. i'm usually riding the same surface/gradient/headwind as them, and at a similar pace. yet i still manage a smile/nod/wave, ignored or not. obviously not all roadies are this way, but i see quite a few. it seems they've apparently forgotten how to actually enjoy riding a bicycle.

one final point: i will not extend etiquette towards strangers secretly wheelsucking. they're endangering themselves and me and need to learn better etiquette. at least say "hello. nice day. mind if i sit back here and stare at your glorious rapha shorts for a while?" at least then i'll know they're back there.

Stefan Rohner

31st October 2011 05:05pm

Joe, you should post these missionary words on Facebook, sure we would have fun reading and writing. ;)

=

1. people who wear rapha feel that they wear something better. (well at least they feel something ;).
2. parrot lycra cyclists have only eyes for their Garmin numbers.

nice evening.

Joe Hall

31st October 2011 05:51pm

If I look at it objectively, people can do what they want on a bicycle - as it's the escapist in us all that draws us to it time and again i.e. freedom offered by riding your bike (see David S's Ackerman quote). You can choose to wear what you want and behave how you want, but those who have an understanding will inevitably enjoy it more.

@Stefan - You have a nice evening.

@Ian - Thanks for the inspiration and we'll consider that offer.

@Joseph - No one likes a wheelsucker. Thanks for your analysis.

Thanks all for commenting and keep your heads and smiles up.

Steve Mawhinney

2nd November 2011 08:14pm

Couldn't agree more. I'm an expat living in the Bay Area, CA.

I currently live in Berkeley where riders of all ages, novice, pro, carbon or steel pretty much all wave to each other.

I used to live in Marin. Now that's a different story. In Marin plenty of riders had adopted Rapha as their kit of choice, but didn't adopt Rapha's unpeachable cycling personna.

Slate Olson

2nd November 2011 11:37pm

Joe, we work together, so don't take this the wrong way, but this is some of your best work. I am always baffled and slightly amused by people who forget that we're the lucky ones and can't seem to muster a 'hello'.

The same way that motorcyclists give the nod to one another (good luck getting them to wave to a push-cyclist by the way), we are all on the same side as cyclists and a little respect between us doesn't seem too much to ask.

Doesn't matter if someone is wearing a 'Parrots of the Caribbean' (don't laugh, I've seen one in real life and it's not to be scoffed at), expensive clothing or cheap gear, the notion of "at least they're out there" holds true. I'm not suggesting pageant waves and high-fives for anyone on two wheels, but a quick and knowing greeting is a simple consideration.

While I'm at it, I make a habit of waving to cars that don't hit me as I ride through the city. Like it or not, we will lose the fight to an auto nine times out of ten. For me a little wave works to either ensure the driver sees me and it often catches the driver off-guard, taking them from a 'damn cyclist slows me down' scowl to a 'hey that guy's not a scary pest after all' smirk. Sometimes they still respond with the single finger wave (two fingers in the UK), but who can blame them, there is no etiquette or sense of group for those stuck behind the wheel.

Joe Hall

3rd November 2011 12:44pm

Thanks Mr. Olson.

Nice comments and I like how your philosophy for riding extends to the city streets. Sometimes the adrenaline gets the better of me with motorists but, as your pal Bill Strickland discusses here » http://www.rapha.cc/city-scopes-ii, pedal "with kindness" in the city, transcend the aggression and be cool.

lindsay dakota

3rd November 2011 04:47pm

@David. I tend to disagree. My experience as an amateur racer and my experience of having ridden with some of the worlds' top pros is that the wannabe's tend to generally be too wrapped in their " training schedule" and therefore too "important" to wave. Screw that. I rode with somebody who was prepping for the Giro and the Tour last year and he made time to stop and talk and let me ride with him. There is no excuse.

Stefan Rohner

3rd November 2011 09:58pm

why there is this feeling in the air that riders who wear rapha "are something better"…..? not only here, from time to time you find traces of "we rapha riders are something special" also in some of the rapha videos.

maybe you did ride in the north of Spain, on a Saturday or Sunday. or Italia around the Adriatic Sea, on the weekend. it is impossible to day hello to everybody. ;) Mallorca in spring, you have to say hello 10 times each 5sec. trillions of cyclists, how do you do this? ;)

charles moreau

3rd November 2011 10:19pm

I agree with Stefan Rohner.
Here in South of France it's the same … too much bikers to greet everyone.
And for me it's not important what kind of clothes someone wears ..
there are other important things which make him a good companion.
Regards
Ch. Moreau

Ian Winfield

8th November 2011 11:21am

How very French.
Whenever I've popped over to France and asked directions or help in a shop, I too have been ignored.
I have never seen the French wave; it's more a Gallic shrug.
This can be difficult to see whilst riding and can be misconstrued for hitting a pothole or riding over a bump.
Here's to Entente Cordiale and lot's more Chapeauxing.

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