Not all places are like that in the US. It is a big country. It is by far the most aggressive country I have been in however. Just look at what comes out of Hollywood and that says a lot. Read the magazines when you are at a checkout line in a grocery store and that also say quite a bit about the culture here. Pick up trucks, drunk college students, women on cell phones driving Excursions (huge SUVs) and the list goes on. I would love to ride around Europe on a bike and blend in better.

I will say, I do not take any crap from people. I ride by a very urban high school close by quite often and have had some students want to try and scare me while riding. They soon back down as I pick up speed and look them in the eye and ride towards them with meaning. I will indeed hit them if they don't move, because I really don't give a **** what happens. Maybe they know it when I look at them?

Better to keep your cool though. I wish I could, but I don't. Only back down once when a guy told me he was going to run me over with his car. I was run up on by some guy once at a stop sign. He hit my rear tire while I was waiting to cross the street at a stop sign. This was in a black neighborhood and all the people on the side of the street told the driver not to do that. I just calmly turned around and looked at him in the eye and then turned back around. Once again, I was in no mood and really didn't care what happened. Probably not a good idea. Some days if you are in a bad enough mood, it is hard to just back down, but it would be the smart thing to do.