On 09/02/2008 18:27, said,
But give a nod to every
other cyclist be it shopper, granny or child.

Only if you give a nod and a wave to every other pedestrian when you're
walking, or to every other car driver when you're driving :-)

It just doesn't work like that. If I nodded to a little old lady on her
shopping bike, she would probably think she was about to be mugged. If
I nodded to a 6ft8in brick outhouse riding a BSO, I would probably end
up in hospital.

People just acknowledge other like-minded people. On my commuter run,
the regular people all acknowledge each other in some form, regardless
of the bike. I've never yet known an MTBer not to acknowledge another,
but roadies don't acknowledge anyone. I was mightily p'ed off last year
by a group of roadies coming the other way when I was on my MTB (on the
road!), when not one of them so much as looked my way in response to my
cheery "Morning!". Miserable buggers!

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/