On the talking thing: If I have both head phones in, the right move is to smile or FanningHeadNod. The wrong move is to make me take out a headphone. It's like they think I have all rough ridin' day or that they know some super easy way to get a 1 hour workout completed in 35min.
As for the timing, I am an evening guy by necessity. I wish I could work out every morning at 10am. I drink coffee on the way to the gym when I do work out in the morning on the weekend. Like, 16oz of it. Prob why I like it better.