This thread has given me some perspective - thanks for all the responses - and I'm still searching for an approach that works for me. But this is how I currently attempt to approach bullies on the roads:

I absolutely refuse to be bullied off the road and I refuse to even acknowledge the horns, obscene gestures, and yells.

This has been hard for me in practice since I have an overdeveloped sense of justice. My instinct is to give them the finger right back or chase them and tell them that I have just as much right to the road as they do. But I've discovered that that doesn't do any good and I usually end up feeling worse about the situation. It's still a drag that there are jerks out there who think I am a jerk for merely doing what they are doing (using the public roads to go to and from work) but I'm no longer going to let them ruin my ride. Instead I'll vent here!

So here goes with the venting:

• Isn't it strange that when there is not enough room to pass safely it is the fault of the person driving the vehicle that takes the least space?
• Isn't it strange that when there is not enough room to pass safely some motorists think their only choice is to pass unsafely? It doesn't seem to occur to them that the safe and legal solution is to wait until it is safe. I actually had a motorist tell me that he had no choice but to squeeze me out!
• Why do some drivers insist that I use a bike path that is one way in the opposite direction?
• Where did that jerk motorist get the idea that "If you're in the road, you're part of the road"? What does that even mean? That I am considered a speed bump?

This is a pretty intense topic for obvious reasons. I too am amazed at the general decline in respect for human life, which is what people are doing when they endanger bicyclists thru words or actions with their cars. People forget that their driving license is a privelage that can be forfeited if they do something wrong with their car, but bicycling and walking and running on public roads is a RIGHT, one that does not require a license in order to perform. So based on that, WE have more rights on the roads than they do. But still the quandry over what to do when someone is aggressive to you remains. It is a problem that will most likely always exist.

Expensive motor vehicles often have financing terms that far exceed job security lengths. The loans can last as much as five years with steep monthly payments, whereas employers can and often do lay off competent employees with no notice whatsoever. So one can feel like they are driving are borrowed time. And even if one manages to stay ahead of the game and pay off that $50,000 vehicle, the vehicle has already lost a large portion of its value. It's a rotten game to feel stuck in the middle of. It can certainly make one ill-tempered.

In my entire adult life, I've been unemployed less than one month. But since I've never had to finance a bicycle, I've never had to worry about losing a bicycle due to financial concerns or had to worry about the costs of bicycling interfering with my ability to provide for my family and give them the creature comforts that make life fun. One of my favorite bikes, my chopper bicycle, cost me only about twenty five bucks and the time involved in welding two forks together to form a chopper fork.

So we're to understand that driver angst is rooted in the payments that drivers elect to make for their vehicles, which they freely make based on an assessment of their current and future value to employers, understanding that their employment is on an at-will basis, and realizing that the value of their purchase will actually depreciate over time.

Imagine how drivers would act if they had no choice on what vehicle to purchase, were forced into a job-for-life, and knew that there would be no buyers for their annointed vehicle and, therefore, had immediate, 100% depreciation.

Jupe, I live in Minneapolis too. I have noticed HUGE problems with motorists. I get honks and angry looks even when I am in the bike lane! I will give them all the finger and sometimes with both hands. I am just waiting for one of them to stop their car and get out. Then the headline will be, "Motorist killed by biker in road rage incident" Ok, so I am a little mad. I recently had a "multiple honkage" incident though. I was in the bike lane on Summit (I think, the one with the really really nice bike lane on both sides) and this SUV honked at me as he drove past. Then I caught up to him and passed at a stop sign. He honked again! Then when he passed me again, yep! more honking! I was at such a loss, I just laughed, nobody can be that stupid. I was thinking about how my cleats would make nice scratches in his side door at the next stop sign, but figured it wouldn't be worth unclipping. Anyway, to sum it all up, MINNEAPOLIS DRIVERS ARE RUDE, DUMB, IDIOTS, who also drive bad on freeways and all other places cars go.

Today I was on my roadie, zooming along to meet my family at a friends house in San Jose. Along the way I saw a biker without a helmet crossing a very crowded intersection, leaving the signal island to cross the traffic lanes at exactly the moment the light had turned green.

Of all the moronic moves I've witnessed by idiot bikers, this one takes the cake. I bet if this fool were clipped there'd be people on this board blaming motorists who had the audacity to never conceive of a moron pulling this kind of act.

princebaal, keep up the mature, professional approach. We cyclists, as a class, really need your example to show motorists how we operate.

Aahhhhh, Mr Andy Dreisch must be riding his bike near my mail route. I see lots of stupid things every day, and have been in serious danger from other cyclists the times I've commuted.

Well, Dchiefransom, let's just say motorists are predictably stupid, and many cyclists are horribly, unpredictably unsafe. Not that I'm any boy scout with my riding, but most people on this board piss and moan endlessly about bad ol' cars and motorists and rarely ever take an introspective view of our hobby.

This is because if I hit/get hit by an incompetent cyclist, I'm highly unlikely to be killed or even break a bone. The same can't be said for incompetent drivers. A tonne of steel does make a difference. As far as I'm concerned, there is a direct correlation between the amount of damage one is likely to do and the amount of responsibility one should be expected to take.

Yes, I know in some extreme 0.001% of cases from ridiculously obscure angles, bicycles can also be fatal. However, let's be realists and look at what is likely to happen in the majority of instances, shall we?

Ok, I like to drive. I am a what some might call an agressive driver. But I am always very safe and very alert as to what is going on around me. I have never been in an accident and have never had any problems with pedestrians or cyclists. I also like to ride my bike. I am very good at that too. I follow the rules and do as I am supposed to. It's not just rage against drivers when I am on my bike, I don't like other drivers when I am in my car either. So I guess my driving would be the same "mature, professional approach" that I take while biking. Hey, my point is......If everybody drove and rode like me, there wouldn't be any problems!!! Hehehehe. Thank you and good night.

Never said a cyclist actually hitting me is the problem.

I am saying that cyclists bring upon themselves a lot of the blame. That idiot I saw today, if he were hit, God forbid, would have been the cause of his own demise.