By: Kate Pearce
Road biking is so calm up until you realize you’re on a road. With cars. Thankfully, for the most part I’ve really felt safe on the roads. Most drivers give us lots of distance, and we’ve also had the luck to be on some less populated roads, Example A being the “loneliest road in America,” Route 50 through Nevada.
They even make a tourist attraction out of it. At gas stations and little shops in the sporadic tiny towns, they hand out “passport” stamp books which you fill by getting stamps in each lonely town in the desert to mark your survival. They sell shirts saying “I survived Route 50.” This is for road-tripping drivers, so biking through this desert land certainly gives us even more of a sense of accomplishment.
The smoke from the California wildfires also drifted in, causing the skies to vanish and the surroundings to be hazy. It’s sad to be missing out on what I assume would be beautiful views. Also, it’s scary to think about the natural disaster sweeping California. Here’s to hoping that all of those hard at work on containment achieve success.
On this lonely road, though, seeing a car is an exciting rarity. Delia and I try to wave at oncoming traffic. Unfortunately, we don’t often get a wave back. We are just trying to make the lonely road less lonely, but oh well.
With that said, though, this random blog post is all about the different ways people say hello. Any positive acknowledgment from passing traffic is appreciated, especially as opposed to the sometimes scary close passes and honks we can get.
Here is a ranked list of some of the ways car people say hi...
“Window Peace Sign” - my personal favorite. It entails a driver or passenger rolling down the window and throwing out a peace sign as they pass. It’s a nice show of positivity and respect, and also takes some effort. It’s much appreciated.
“Whoots and Fist Pumps” - this one should be ranked higher, except for the fact that it is initially startling. This can involve the shooting of “WHOOO” back and forth between car riders and cyclists as well as the fist pumping circles through the air enthusiastically. We got one of these from a passing trailer with two cyclists in front. They were the only other cyclists we had seen so it was also exciting. I later looked up “Triathlon Across America,” which was written on their van. It’s crazy! The man, an ex MLB player, swam 7 miles near California, then is biking to Chicago, and then is running the rest of the way to New York to raise awareness for physical education programs in school. And we thought biking all the way across was hard! Throw in running and swimming and we just might drown!
“Surfer Dude” - kind of like a thumbs up but a little more niche. Thumb and pinky out, other fingers curled in. Rotate it a little side to side and you’ve got the surfer dude salute.
“Steering Wheel Thumbs Up” - almost like #1 but lacking that extra push to the open air. Users of #4 give a nice thumbs up while still holding hands close to the steering wheel inside the car.
“Wave and Smile” - like #4 but a slight wave as opposed to a thumbs up, visible through the front windshield.
“Hand Up and Serious Face” - almost a wave but minus the wiggling and happy face. The hand version of the cool guy’s head nod. Aware but reserved.
“Beep Beep” - the cute double honk turns out to be friendly and encouraging, but the first honk makes you jump.
“The Head Nod” - simple and effective, but super mild.
Not to be forgotten are our other biker friends, the motorcyclists. We tend to be pretty psyched to get the cool motorcyclist’s salute. Sometimes they pull a #6, but the best one is a finger or two out to the side at a forty five degree angle, grazing the leg but hanging loose. It’s pretty simple but something about it is really cool. We like this one. In the picture below, the right side is a traditional, friendly wave. The left side is what I’m talking about. It makes us feel cool when a hard-core biker gives us that motorcyclist’s wave.
While this list is kind of a joke, it’s also a testament to all those friendly people out there. As we bike through the desert in 100 degree heat, any friendliness or encouragement is super appreciated. Thanks to all of the kind and courteous drivers out there, regardless of how they choose to say hello.
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