What Kind of Wave Do You Do?

Submitted by Kantbe Thursday

Taking a break from my bike ride, I’m sitting on the front porch of a popular roadside cafe’ and bar, having a cool one while I people watch the other bikers. Some are also taking a break, but many are just passing by. I start paying attention to whether they wave to each other and the different kinds of waves when they meet.

Some of the older bikers on their big bagger V-Twins do that straight arm fist down biker “wave”. I’ve never quite understood this one since it’s not really a wave and moves your hand so far off the handlebars. Maybe it’s some sort of throwback thing harkening back to the days when big bikes had a foot clutch and a hand shifter. Then there are some who just wave, but not many. It’s usually some sort of a point or peace sign unless it’s someone on a sports bike. This newer crowd of bikers who arguably dominate the biker scene these days tend to have a quick flick of the wrist with a point or peace sign with minimal movement from the handlebars.

Even though I ride a small Harley, I like that sport bike wave. I do that little flick of the wrist and flash the peace sign. I’m cool.

All the waves communicate the same thing. We aren’t waving to everyone on the road that we meet. We wave to each other. We’re fellow bikers. They may not agree on what makes a good motorcycle or what makes the most fun ride, but as different as bikers are in age, shape, and motorcycle, we all share that same joy of the ride, wind blowing against us, and being more exposed to the elements.

Kinda like the surfing community, huh?  The surfing community in SL has gone through a tremendous number of changes from it’s early days where there was basically only one surfboard engine, then a couple more. Waves started out also with a limited number. Now we have choices of a handful of different boards and more waves than I can count on my fingers.

Just a few years ago, it seems as if you could hang out at a surfing beach and if there wasn’t already a small crowd there, before you knew it, you’d be joined by other surfers to surf together or just hang out (or both). I don’t see that happening much anymore. Maybe it’s because my times inworld are much more limited than they used to be. Maybe it’s because instead of having a half dozen surfing sims, we have something approaching seventy. Maybe it’s because the big bagger wavers and the sport bike wavers don’t mingle. But we’re all on the beaches for pretty similar reasons.

The next time you’re on a beach and someone shows up, give ‘em a wave and see what happens. You might find that they share that same joy of the wind in their face, sand, salt, and water that you do.

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