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Sunday, June 10, 2007
Had a nice ride out to Rantoul to meet up with the Illini 4000 riders. It's a group from the U of I (here) riding fro NY to San Diego to "raise awareness" of cancer & funds for Camp Kesem. They were really fun to ride with and talk to - they were really friendly and enthusiastic, and also easy to ride with. They kept the pace to about 15 and had an appointed caboose who made sure "the last guy" didn't get too far behind, and stopped totally and clumped up at every single solitary stop sign (which also helped keep the group from getting too spread out). Okay, there was one stretch where I'd rather have gone single file (or a cleaner double) and let traffic by - but that was short.
It also connected "cycle club" riders with "illini" riders - we don't cross paths all that much. Might have some new folks out at the Monday ride :-)
Cultural observation: some of the young males of the cycling culture performed the "chest bump" ritual I have sometimes seen at basketball games. THese guys had a slightly different approach that the spontaneous hurling at each other; one would say "chest bump!" or "chest bump?" and then a more carefully orchestrated simultaneous leap would ensue, generally with a brief commentary on its quality. Perhaps the announcing of social rituals is a workable way of participating in "personal space" kinds of rituals in a diverse society.
It also connected "cycle club" riders with "illini" riders - we don't cross paths all that much. Might have some new folks out at the Monday ride :-)
Cultural observation: some of the young males of the cycling culture performed the "chest bump" ritual I have sometimes seen at basketball games. THese guys had a slightly different approach that the spontaneous hurling at each other; one would say "chest bump!" or "chest bump?" and then a more carefully orchestrated simultaneous leap would ensue, generally with a brief commentary on its quality. Perhaps the announcing of social rituals is a workable way of participating in "personal space" kinds of rituals in a diverse society.
