I’ve been training our new puppy and one of our things has been walking on a local trail. My goal is for her to ignore other people/animals and key on me.
I’m sure some of the bicyclists/runners/walkers are trying to communicate with me, but my concentration is on the dog, so people probably think I’m rude/aloof.
I’m so uncomfortable passing strangers like that. I do try to smile and if they say hello I’ll respond, but it’s soooo awkward. I don’t know if they’d rather be acknowledged or left alone and personally I’d just rather not.
I wonder how many of them had ‘don’t talk to strangers’ drummed so hard into their heads when they were 5 that it hasn’t occured to them that this is one of the rules that change when one grows up.
Maybe they have earbuds stuck in their ears.
My general practice is to at least make eye contact, and nod slightly. It has impressed me how minimal of a nod is perceived. I think it serves a couple of purposes, but basically just acknowledges the existence of a fellow human sharing a path. When biking, it also signals that you are aware of each other’s presence, so you’ll avoid getting in each other’s way. I also think it is a friendly gesture - which is not a bad thing. As opposed to staring through someone, which impresses me as hostile or unwelcoming.
I can imagine folk saying that ignoring someone gives them privacy. And on a crowded sidewalk, I do not smile at and greet passers by.
You move, bro? Unless you moved East hat doesn’t describe the bike paths around here, and I have my National Rails to Trails tee shirt somewhere.
On the trail a simple “passing on the left” is understood unresentedly by most, even the dogs.
I took 12 week old Kizzy and 7 year old Loki for a walk on a nice local trail with access to a couple of creeks today. When we encountered walkers/bikes/runners/dogs my attention was 100% on my dogs, making sure they remained engaged with my banter.
I did sort of listen for any “heys”, but there weren’t any. Maybe.
When I got home, I realized that I couldn’t hear my gf asking how things had gone. I’d forgotten to put my hearing aid in.
Yeah - Elmhurst.
Yeah, I’ve spent most of my adult life in and around Boston, New York City and Hudson Country NJ. Generally people don’t just say “hello” or otherwise interact with me or other runners/bikers. There are usually just too many people around.
Having biked that very path many times, coming from the east …
I don’t have the same experience. The big differences I see are that east of Elmhurst (from where the path starts on 1st) there are many area in which the path crosses lots more streets, it is not as pretty of a ride, and there are fewer people on the path. The people I pass by though all respond to my head nod or “excuse me … on your left” pretty much the same, even when I’ve been looking more like the first cyclist than the second.
FWIW I get the same equal levels of acknowledgement when I’ve gone east of my home on the streets through the predominantly poorer Black west side of Chicago to the lake front.
I use the rural finger wave in my car, and out of habit on my bike too.