I went through something similar yesterday. I was cruising down a two way street with a single lane in each direction (there is a bike lane for each direction). I usually stay alert and when I hear engines approaching from behind, I ensure i'm not invading their lane. Well, I hear this car, and just felt it/hear it come really close from behind. I moved, all the way to the right edge of my lane as a precautionary measure and it passed me about a foot away. The side view mirror was even closer, i felt the wind against my left elbow. Had i not moved, the side mirror (if not the car) would have certainly clipped me.

As soon as it passed me, I gunned it and started chasing it. At that point i was thinking, this mofo, I'm gonna tap on his window and just tell the driver off. I was furious but decided against it at the very last second, as my fist was about to contact their rear window.
I looked inside the cockpit and see two older asian women who were just clueless about what had just happened.
I quietly cursed them and just went on my way.

Unfortunately, sometimes you just have to be ready to face the consequences of your actions. If I scream at someone, i expect them to retaliate and this may involve a physical altercation.
So although I have a VERY short temper, I evaluated the situation, I can barely walk with road shoes, much less fight or run away if needed.
And the way i see it, if they pull a bat or knife against me, then I'm pretty defenseless too. I don't think a plastic water battle would do much damage.

Though I would not hesitate confronting most people in my everyday life, we are pretty defenseless against someone enraged with plenty of time to either look for an object to inflict damage, or simply clip you from behind with their 3 ton monster and driving away as you start to move forward.


Be safe out there!!