If you’re out driving here on the Island, there’s a good chance you’ve seen him. I call him ‘The bike guy’ because, well, as far as I can tell that’s who he is. You see him riding his e-bike, sometimes towing a cart filled with tools. Sometimes there are flowers sticking up. 

I see him all the time. Practically everywhere I go, there he is: down-Island, up-Island, Edgartown, Middle Road, North Road, State Road, even Dr. Fisher Road. 

The oddest thing I’ve noticed about the guy is that he waves hello at most every car passing from the other direction, and he hails cars and big trucks that pass him going in the same direction as he is. Some of the big trucks actually answer him back with their horns. They don’t just go BEEEP!, they go Beep-be-beep-beep-beeeeeep! Beep, Beep! 

It seems like they know the guy, which as I found out is in fact the case. Like I said, I see him all over but recently I had the opportunity to have a little chat and discovered much about his ways. The encounter occurred on the porch at Alley’s. I saw his bike with the cart parked in front so I decided to say hello.

“Hey, how you doing?” I asked as I walked towards him with my hand out-stretched. “My name’s Joe.” 

“Well, how do you do?” he replied.

He shook my hand without offering his name.

“I’m good thanks,” I continued. “Hey, Is that your bike with the cart?”

“Why yes it is,” he responded.

“I have an e-bike too,” I told him. “It’s a blast.”

“Yes, it’s quite nice,” he replied. 

Then I posed a question. 

“If you don’t mind my asking, I’ve seen you when I am biking around and I noticed that you wave at almost every car and pedestrian and runners. I mean, just about everyone you encounter. I’m wondering why you do that?”   

He sat quiet for a moment. 

“Well, I suppose, it’s quite simple really,” he said. “I was taught as a young child to be friendly. I guess it stuck. It’s quite like shaking hands, I suppose.”

I noticed he had an interesting way with words and an accent somewhere in between an Englishman or New Zealander. We sat in a comfortable silence for a bit, then I asked, “So I take it you’re a ‘year rounder’? I see you out there in all seasons.”

“Well, yes I abide year round, enjoying the journey of floating around the sun, as we spin around on this life giving ball, It’s quite nice, don’t you agree?”

“Well of course, and it’s a wonder we don’t get dizzy,” I quipped.

“Quite right that, quite right!”

“So what differences do you see?” I asked.

He sat in quiet again, contemplating I supposed, then said, “Well, at this time of year the traffic has diminished quite a bit, and I tend to see more people that I know out on the roads. It’s quite nice, I get a lot of waving in. And the beeping, which happens from time to time, continues but this time of year it’s more like friendliness, rather than admonition.”

“What do you mean, admonition?” I asked.

“Well,” he continued, “I think I might be a frustration to some, moving about like I do, and at times it seems like the beeping is more like a scolding than a greeting. You know in the summer everyone is busier, going to the beach or to charity events, weddings and such. The speed of the travelers sometimes perplexes me because on an Island the faster you go, the quicker you get back to where you started.”

“In any case I wave in a friendly manner,” he continued. “I suppose I learned that as a young lad, light defeats darkness and all that sort of thing. The best way to turn a potential adversary into a potential friend is, well, to be friendly, don’t you think?”

“Yes, I‘d have to agree with that,” I said.

“Well, I suppose I’m off and away. I see the sun’s shadow is reaching the curb and I have a fair trek ahead of me. Quite nice to meet you, sir,” he said, standing up and extending his hand. 

I stood. We shook hands, eye to eye as is tradition and he got on his bike, the cart full of fire wood, and meandered off on his way.

I too had a way to go so I got on my bike and headed off. I was going towards Edgartown and as I rode along, I started to wave at cars passing. I got many waves back and as a big truck driven by a guy I knew from a nearby excavation company drove past I heard: Beep-be-beep-beep-beeeeeep! Beep, Beep!

It was quite nice.

Joe Keenan lives in West Tisbury.