Excellent insight. And sort of the whole point of the post was that I, in fact, never, ever, ever engage with these kinds of people. Never. But today,for whatever set of reasons or non-reasons, I did. I violated my own continuous and longstanding advice to others to disengage and move on. This shows, I suspect, that even very cautious and conservative people like me who are completely non-confrontational can, in the right or wrong set of circumstances, actually be provoked. It is possible to provoke a reaction even from me. And I find that an interesting observation about human nature.

We all have a trigger point. It is usually at its lowest when we least expect people to behave badly, like in the early morning when you are having a nice, easy ride.

Glad you are OK. Be safe!

That is just weird. Best to avoid. I'm seriously angry about some things right now. Trying not to take it out on anyone that doesn't deserve it. Or the mentally incompetent, like that cyclist described in the OP

There is always that 2% of any group, and I sure that cyclist are no different. They are pretty much what that guy called you.

I have found the best way for me to handle this kind of situation is to change the route I am on, turn in any direction, and leave it behind.

I have encountered many inconsiderate or idiotic folks whether cyclists, motorists , or pedestrians and have , at times been vocal and let my feelings be known. I interestingly I find that when I do not engage , I tend to get over the anger quicker and get on with my blissful ride. I speak only for myself, Joe

I was thinking the same.

You were waiting for the light to change, he passed you on your RIGHT, and called you an a$$whole while doing it? Is that right? That's flippin bizarre.

I’m glad things didn’t turn violent on you. You just can’t tell who is on drugs, packing heat and having a generally bad moment that will push them over the edge. Sounds like he had zero concern for his life, therefore none left over for yours. When reading your story (well written) I was hoping you would just catch him offguard and drop him in a fly-by, at least I would have and maybe let go with a laugh. Nahhh that wouldn’t have helped either. :lol:

I've seen this a number of times and it's still hard to believe someone would modify their truck for the express purpose of assaulting someone who is powerless to retaliate. The definition of a coward.

Yes. That is exactly correct. I was in the right half of the big, green box.

If someone is unreasonable and treats you badly, and you don't do anything about it. Sometime in the future they normally do similar things to others, and there may be consequences. Their attitude comes back to bite them.

I'd be tempted to keep catching up to him to crank him up some more until he finally blew through the wrong intersection and ended the problem for everyone. Well, everyone except the vehicle that finally shut him up.

There are psychopaths, sociopaths and antisocial misfits everywhere. Most of us -- them, I meant to write them -- just manage to restrain ourselves --themselves, I meant to write themselves -- better. Maybe the only difference between a lunatic and a "normal" person isn't how they think but how they act.

When I encounter a D-head like the one you encountered, either while riding or driving, is to pretend I have a rocket launcher, and just imagine him (or sometimes her) being blown to bits. I know it shouldn't but it helps me forget about it and go on with my day. I would never engage with someone like that. People that do stuff like that are not right in the head in the first place and you don't know what they might be capable of. Besides that, its highly unlikely that anything you say or do would get through to them anyway and that will just anger/frustrate you more.

I read your first post a few times, and it still doesn't make any sense to me. My guess is that you did something inadvertently to impede his progress without knowing it. I'm more of an Idaho stop kind of guy, and it happens to me all the time, but I only swear at people I'm sure won't be able to catch me ;). Whatever happened it doesn't excuse the behavior obviously.

That's a good thought--had not considered that. On the other hand, he was coming from our industrial district. Maybe he was just laid off...

bpcyclist, having followed your posts for quite a while I know you to be very level headed and patient with a long fuse. You certainly had good reasons for doing what you did. That fella was way "off scale" for whatever was bothering him that morning.....I'm thinking he was really aggravated at something and he was really wanting and maybe needing to impart how he felt on somebody else.....you just happened to be the target of his immature emotions.

We've all been there. Hopefully it didn't mess up your ride that morning.

Sometimes I have to remind myself (about once a ride around here), to not let a motorist or another entity ruin my ride that day. If I let it linger then they've won....and I hate losing!!!

Thanks for sharing!

But NOT in Ventura County, we are all easy going, considerate, happy cyclists. :D

I completely agree with all of this, though I confess to not having employed the rocket launcher technique--yet...

Thanks, jppe--I appreciate it. Thankfully, I was able to turn it around on the back portion of the ride with a whole bunch of very friendly and socially appropriate runners and cyclists, so, faith restored.

The sort of people described in the OP are the 'ragers we all are concerned about. There's simply no telling what such a person is capable of, if he/she is prepared to be so "off" like that. Scofflaw? Psychopath? Who knows. Disregard of risks and danger ... disregard of civility ... disregard of the law ... zero qualms over lashing out at people ... Wouldn't take much for such a person to be doing the calculus of risk-reward and to actually blow sideways in such a situation, via a full-on attack, or pulling out weaponry. All because the person feels affronted by someone daring to hold them accountable (or even take an interest in what they're doing). You never know.

I'm fully prepared to put a person down, hard, if assaulted. I'm unwilling to ever be the "aggressor" insofar as the law is concerned. And that generally includes letting such abusive scofflaws continue on their karma wheels as they see fit, so long as people aren't directly attacked. But, that's me.

Having been spat on, hit with unknown liquids, hit with bottles and cans, hit with a ball of ice, and threatened by all manner of psychopaths I have decided that a little shouting or a few cruel words out of a car window ( you usually can't understand them anyway) aren't that big of a deal. If it happens I just like to smile and wave, or ignore them.
Most of them don't get physical or get out of their car so why encourage it by flipping the bird? I had a friend knocked into a parked car after he flipped a driver off who then circled back to assault him. Hit him with his car and just drove away.
There was a guy in our road club who was a martial arts expert, even spent time in the Guiness Book for some kicking record. Anyway 4 or 5 of them were riding along and an idiot started screaming and threatening them. He pulled his car over and pulled out a cane and started swinging it at them as they rode by. Martial art guy disarmed the fool and put his ass on the street and held him until the cops got there. So there, a happy ending, for once.

I have a solution that I can’t mention here but suffice it to say the letters of such...CPL.

I feel you. A year or so ago I was rearended by a cyclist when I came to a complete stop at a light due to cross traffic approaching. Instead of apologizing he got mad at me for stopping.

Seems to me more and more these days that people cannot admit their mistakes.

The end game of course is violence for a sociopath. "it's never wrong" in his mind, and, "if caught by police, I will lie my way out of it" and claim I was the victim.

If possible, it is far better to just ignore and do not engage him. Even a remark like, "God loves you" is a stimulus for aggression. "Just wait 'til someone says something to me" is his self-talk. So spit in his soup and do not engage. As one retired homicide detective (my direct manager) once counseled me, "Sticks and stones. . . "

Fortunately, I practiced discretion is the better part of valor and avoided physical confrontations. It is easy to go into a rage and become the criminal as well in the guise of self-defense.