The Recumbent Wave - If you've ever ridden a recumbent, you know about the wave. It really should be called the “What we have in common wave”. Not only do we wave, but we smile too, as we're having so much fun. I've seen it in other situations, such as when riding cross country and you would see one of the few cyclists riding in the other direction, and they would nearly always wave. About the only exception was when we were in El Paso and passed a line of racing wannabes who were too cool to wave.

We used to wave or nod on the W&OD trail in the early years, when there were just a few of us brave souls out on the gravel-covered trail. Now it's just us recumbent riders and a few “interesting” characters who wave. There aren't that many recumbents out there, but I sense that were are nearing the peak of the wave. As more and more people purchase bents, especially the road bike people who buy the lightweight high-pressure tire recumbents, fewer and fewer people will wave.

As with most entries I post, at some point I'll do a Google search to see if others on the Web have written about the topic. I did find one reference to the secret recumbent society wave at this recumbent site, in the 2003-08-10 entry. [Note: After looking at some of the entries on the site, it was interesting to note that the owner of the blog is from Northern Virginia and rides the same sections of the W&OD trail as I do. Maybe the bent wave is a local phenomenon].
posted by Bruce Wright at 9:35 PM #