Originally Posted by noisebeam
I think my use of subtle was partly wrong, what I also meant is that slightly different response may be needed to deal with slightly different 'personalities' of the aggressor. Ignoring may work for one, stop/slow sign for another, moving left, shrugging, glaring, etc. And what may work for one may have an undesireable effect on or misread by another.
Now that's what I'm talkin' about!
And how are we as the cyclist to know?
You try and see what happens. You try to read them. You figure out what is required. Maybe moving right was the best move with this particular guy? If I see some young hoodlums behind me, I might just do that. There is nothing unassertive about a rottweiler, who could eat a Chihuahua for lunch, moving aside to let the yapping annoyance get to the food bowl first.
I think what the first aggressive passer in this case did not like was my assertive behavior. The slow/back off sign I assertively gave clearly set him off on a further aggressive response. He was probably expecting me to move right and when I didn't that pissed him off even more.
Could be, could be. Riding in traffic is a
social activity, and it involves reading people, and making yourself readable (or, rather, making what you want of yourself to be readable to be readable).
Reading people in traffic, and learning what works with what type of people, is like anything else... it comes with experience. And, also like anything else, you can't get the experience unless you do it. It reminds me of management. Some managers manage all of their reports using the same style. The most effective managers seem to learn to adopt to different employees differently, depending on their particular needs. It's an art.
In this case I think slowing down, maybe a look back with a disarming smile, perhaps sticking your tongue out and down (not pointed at them!) to indicate "you're pooped" - something to
humanize you for the moron - might have helped. But it's impossible to say what exactly would have worked since I wasn't there.