the ride home got me a little upset. I was cut off before a narrow section of road where there is barely room for one car let alone one car and a bicycle. I wouldn't have minded except for the way that he waited till the last second to try and pass me and he came dangerously close to me. I yelled something like, "watch out, I have the right of way here" and I might have included an expletive in my moment of heightened adrenaline. He instantly slams on his brakes right in front of me, and I swerve around his car on the right side (luckily the road had widened slightly by this point to allow room for me on the right) and he keeps rolling next to me for a minute, pulling his cell phone away from his ear to start yelling at me (keep in mind that it is illegal in NY to use a cell phone and drive unless it is a hands-free device, which it wasn't).

jerk in car on cell phone -"What?! am I not supposed to pass you?!" (expletives deleted)

me - "You're too close, I need some room!" (expletives deleted)

Something along those lines, the exact dialogue escapes me at this point. Soon after this exchange he came up on a long line of cars waiting behind a car turning left, and had to stop. I passed him and he yelled something else at me. I kept going along the side and I got pretty far away. As I was coming up to my street, I signaled a turn and took it. He had finally caught up to me (undoubtedly by speeding as fast as he could to catch up) and took his last opportunity to yell something at me, "nice signal!" (expletive deleted).

It took me about an hour after I got home to calm down. I was upset first that I almost got hit twice by him, then because he had been such a jerk afterwards, and then because I realized that I had escalated the situation by yelling at him, by just trying to make a statement in defense of my right to the road. I am feeling better now, I just wish I had been able to clearly state to him, "it wasn't safe for you to pass me like that, and you endangered my life, which I do not appreciate. Please be more careful in the future, and do not pass if there isn't room. Thank you and have a nice day." How do you get that across in a couple seconds?

anyway, I am done venting, I am sure you all have similar incidents, and it's something I can look forward to happening again. But other than that, I had a great ride today.