Road etiquette

I passed a local group of cyclists today and as I was passing them I was wondering what is the ‘social rules’ as far as passing/saying hi and any other etiquette/rules etc are concerned.

I passed a few on a climb said hi to a couple but didn’t want to be that dickhead who says “Hi how are you” completely not out of breath 👿 whilst your slugging it out and dying a death. (It’s happened to all of us admit it) All that you think is “what a knob” X( .

When we got to the descent I sat on the wheel of a person as I didn’t deem it safe to pass, when we got to the bottom of the road straightened out I picked up the pace, as I was alongside said hi how are you and other pleasantries, complemented a couple of them on the bikes (a nice cannondale in team colours and a steel framed model that was very nice) and then got up to my usual speed, leaving them behind.

So…are there any other rules? 😕 What do you do when you pass an older gentleman on his sunday social ride who is dying on a hill? Is it ‘rude’ to put the hammer down?

The local group are more of a beer club that likes cycling than a cycling club that likes the odd beer (nothing wrong with that obviously)