Ah, that's the problem, he's homophobic

I would guess it was one of the following:

1. He was having a really bad day already and your pass just irritated him for some reason.

2. What you interpreted as a right turn signal was actually meant to communicate something else to you and he was aggravated that you ignored his signal.

3. He didn't notice you at all until you were beside him and he was startled.

Case 1 just happens sometimes and there's not much you can do about it. When drivers yell at me and I can't figure out what I might have done to cause it, I tend to just assume they're having a bad day and try not to let it bother me. It makes sense that the same thing could happen with a cyclist.

Case 2 is a wild guess. What you describe seems pretty clear to all of us, but he might have thought it meant "slowing down, be careful behind me" or something like that. You never know.

Case 3 seems most likely to me. I don't know how close you passed him, but I'd guess you probably gave him plenty of clearance. That doesn't always matter. A lot of people react with anger whenever they're startled, especially if they're in a situation that makes them uncomfortable to begin with. The safety vest probably indicates that he perceives himself to be in at least some danger. If he's new to vehicular cycling, he may have been on edge throughout his ride. In that case any sort of surprise might have set him off. A simple "on your left" might have helped, but a lot of times if you're close enough to be heard even that can startle people. Maybe a nice friendly bell?

Why didn't that word get censored?

A vertical forearm signal with a closed fist is unusual. "Hold up, don't pass" would be an open palm downward, I think, same as a "stopping" signal.

A quarryman?
https://vimeo.com/108898457

...sorry. The video is great, though.

With Topsiders and Vuarnets? That was my mid-80s preppie uniform.

You have exactly described a guy I dubbed "Crazy." Only he rides around downtown Oakland terrorizing the locals, chasing the jay-walking working stiffs off the streets and onto the sidewalks at 6 a.m.

I made the unforgivable mistake of passing him once without calling out "on yer left" loudly enough. He screamed obscenities at me for the next mile and a half, chasing me through town.

Actually, I haven't seen him around for quite some time now, so I seriously wonder if it's the same guy; old MTB, safety vest, skater helmet. Seat too low, duck footed cadence of about 120. Garbled screaming in a voice torn up from too many cigarettes and colds nights on park benches. Old white guy, 65+ easily, white hair and a few yellow teeth.

I witnessed him make a run at a woman as she crossed the street. She tripped on the curb trying to avoid his attempt to run her down and in doing so, fell to one knee tearing her pants. I called OPD and followed him for nearly 45 minutes before finally giving up. Apparently they didn't want to be bothered. This is Oakland after all.

Maybe he moved south for milder winters.

-Kedosto

You assume the OP is a guy.

Andy K, #1 and #3 sound possible. It couldn't have been #2, because he was making the signals long before I caught up with him. If he ever knew I was behind him, he never showed any sign of it. I'm betting on a combination of bad day, surprise, and crazy.

rm -rf, that is a cool video!

Kedosto, I've seen people like that who make it their mission to enforce the rule book, to the letter. It drives them crazy. Or maybe they were already crazy. In any case, this wasn't your guy. He was in his 30's at the latest.

Reynolds and RubRad, I am a guy. Collared shirts are required where I work, and I like pink, hence the pink polo. My shoes were steel-toes, if caloso wanted to know. I have an even more obnoxiously vibrant pink shirt on today. It's a good high-visibility color. Maybe he was upset about being passed by someone less manly than him?

Still can't believe that Bart didn't take down the win there.

Sometimes you never know what triggered someone's rage. Once I was riding on the white line and a car passed me ultra close. I didn't mind much about it, but then he slowed down and did the same again, this time touching me with his mirror while his wife yelled at him. Then he sped up and drove away. To this day I can't imagine why he was so upset.

Road ragers are all the same. They just hate it when someone's in front.

What camera is that made with?

I think I passed the same guy on Dobson Rd a couple times. Same deal. He was upset I didn't call out as I was passing even though I gave him ten feet of clearance. I passed him again a week later, calling out first. Made his day lol.

That's good to know! I'll try warning him next time... unless you're being sarcastic about "making his day". ;)

get a mirror and be ready to chop his bars when he passes you too closely. Really just have to move left a foot at the right time.

I don't call out most of the time, preferring just to pass at a safe distance. It doesn't really startle anyone any more than calling out.

A couple of low end action cameras HDR-AS50 on the front and an SJ6 on the rear.

Someday I'll get better hardware, until then its low res.

I thought they looked pretty good compared to my cheap amazon camera. Thanks

If you can't pull a reasonable still in good light from your footage every now and then, either your setup is wrong or the camera is junk.