Opinion: No greetings when cycling? Not at all!

Our colleague Dimitri Lehner, who prefers to ride home alone on his gravel bike after work without meeting anyone, finds it "annoying". Just him and his bike. But then there are other people on gravel bikes. And they greet him, pull him out of his wandering thoughts, even force him to greet them back. Worse still, as soon as someone comes towards him on a wide tyre bike with curved handlebars, he gets stressed. Do I have to say hello? Is it enough to raise my fingers slightly? Is a nod enough? Is a grin enough? He wishes, let it be, the greeting.

When my colleague Marc Strucken and I read his opinion piece on the annoying gravel greeting, we knew there was at least a second side to the coin. We want to shed some light on it. And first of all: Rick Zabel, ex-professional racing cyclist and son of the famous Erik Zabel, agrees with us!

Greeting as a gesture of togetherness - Sandra Schuberth

In our society, we so often see people pitted against each other, car drivers against cyclists, cyclists against pedestrians and, yes, that too: cyclists against cyclists. A greeting in the forest may be a small thing, but it is also a strong gesture, one of togetherness and cordiality.

When the heart breaks

However, this togetherness is always very limited. While some people, like me, greet everyone on bicycles outside the city, there are others whose socks are not white enough or are the wrong length, whose glasses are not fast enough or whose temples are under their helmet straps. We've already experienced this: not saying hello is sometimes even explained. "We don't talk to people who have panniers on their bikes", my friend was told as he overtook other people on his road bike and happily said a nice greeting on the first beautiful day of spring.

Greetings from the city limits? - Marc Strucken

I already noticed it on my MTB tours out of Munich: the Grünwalder-Gruß border. Up to the outskirts of Munich in the south, the greeting - and unfortunately also often the consideration - is rather the exception. As the distance to Munich city centre increases, but in leaps and bounds from the Grünwalder Bridge onwards, the number of people who greet in a friendly manner increases - and also give way at narrow places and allow oncoming traffic to pass with consideration.

And the trend is continuing! I've been living in the outskirts of Munich for a year and a half now, about 35 km from the city centre. Here in the outback, it's even the other way round: people greet each other in good humour, from gravel to MTB, from jogging shoe to racing bike - from sportswoman to sportsman. What is striking now: The stressed-out city biker and the over-performing city racer make their burning tracks down the village street without a greeting, while the locals are surprised by the unrequited greeting, frozen in motion. "The people of Munich again!"...

City stress as a reason for greeting allergy?!

The kitchen psychologist Dr Prof. G.E. Hirn explains: "The physical confinement and crowdedness of the big city, the increased pace of life of those living there have resulted in a reduced willingness to make contact with others at will. In other words: leave me alone - and I'll leave you alone.

Nobody demands that you constantly greet all cyclists on busy roads. That would indeed be at least annoying, and sometimes even dangerous. But a good dose of relaxed behaviour - we are, after all, mostly in the recreational sport - with a healthy dose of consideration would not only make cycling in the city and the surrounding area happier for everyone, but even safer. I see the people I greet, and they see me. And not like the unfortunate biker who recently ran over one of our colleagues - even on his bike.