"The Zen of Public
Relations." PaceLines by Kathy Hoke
"The Zen of Public
Relations."
We bicyclists are often misunderstood. To many people who have yet to experience the activity we have come to love, we look strange in our lycra, stiff shoes and helmets.
The proprietor of Pappy’s Bait Shop reminded me of this during our "Ride the Darby" tour in August. After stopping at the bait shop near Madison Lake enroute to London, I said hello to Pappy, who then declared, "You bicyclists never spend any money."
"Look at them," he said, pointing out some riders, equipped with sleek bikes and technical clothes, riding by at 20 miles per hour. "They’re so serious. Why are they in such a hurry? They don’t even look at you!"
Pappy went on to say that he liked the bicyclists he saw on Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure (GOBA), which had passed through in June. They spent money, he said. And, they waved.
Hmmm. An interesting contradiction, I thought. Not being the silent type, I explained to Pappy that this was a very different ride than GOBA and that some of the riders on this Saturday tour were indeed in a hurry because they had something to do later in the day. Others were riding fast because that’s the way they like to ride and that it probably was unsafe for them to wave, especially since they had just made a left turn and had to ride up a short hill at that spot.
My friends saw me and rolled in. More stopped, perhaps because they saw us, or perhaps because the john behind me beckoned more than the cornfields. I asked riders to prove Pappy wrong — to go in the bait shop, buy something and say hello. Between the fishing crowd and the cycling crowd, Pappy was pretty busy, not to mention running down his inventory on cold drinks.
Maybe you won’t ever run into Pappy in your travels, but all of us will have many opportunities to spread goodwill to people whose activities and interests don’t include cycling. Say hello when you can. Buy something if you stop to use the facilities at a convenience store. Tip generously at restaurants. Tell folks how much you enjoy the beautiful landscape where they live. Bicyclists are a minority in car-crazy America. We need all the good PR we can get. The person you chatted with at some point on yesterday’s ride may be telling their fishing buddy tomorrow to lay off on shouting at the bicyclist sharing the road with a pickup truck in rural Madison County.