Originally Posted by
timtak
I also find that it is often working men (e.g. building labourers, and truck drivers) that come too close to me on the roads. I wonder if this is because they think, "Here I am working hard, here on my workplace, the roads, and this yuppie is using my workplace as a playground."
I doubt it.
Having lived in California, Florida, and now Virginia/DC I'm more inclined to think that they're not thinking about you at all. I've gotten more into the habit of looking at drivers as they pass me (or as I pass them). A good number of them are either talking on - or looking at - a mobile device such as a smartphone or standalone GPS. Others look kind of spaced out or thinking about something.
I've only been honked at once by a driver who was clearly staring at me with an angry face. All I was doing at that exact moment was standing over my bike, parked in on the far left of the rightmost lane (so that he could make a right turn if he wanted to), waiting for a red light. He was parked behind me.