Retro Grouch 

I'm thinking that you're giving the people who do those things credit for more wondering than their feeble minds are capable of.

genec

Nah, smile and wave is pretty much shock and awe to those feeble minds.

Velo Dog

I'm with Rob--I'd seriously rather go without a helmet (which I don't ever do) than ride with earplugs. You only have two senses that keep you safe on the bike, and I just can't see deliberately giving one of them up. I'm much more likely to hear somebody coming up behind me than to see them.

As far as dealing with rude drivers and passengers, I very, very rarely see any. I've ridden a minimum of 1000 miles a year for 40 years (high of 5000, average probably 2000+), and I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times anyone has ever yelled anything. Nobody's ever thrown anything at me or threatened me or "tried to hit me" (the perpetual cyclist's complaint--"He tried to hit me." I doubt it, or you'd be dead. They can't ALL be lousy shots). I do see oblivious and incompetent drivers, but when i talk with somebody who has constant problems with cars, I'm inclined to suspect the cause may lie with the cyclist. I've been a rider all my adult life, and I'm completely sympathetic to the problems of cyclists on the road, but I see a LOT of arrogant roadie pr!cks out there.

zonatandem

Tell 'em: "No habla inglis" (or whatever foreign language you're familiar with).

charmed

I like the smile and wave. If they get within earshot I tend to do it more friendly, and include "Tell your mom I said "Hi". Then they really worry, for weeks, wondering when mom will find out their road habits.

Artkansas 

Velo Dog, you don't say where you are, but I have discovered that location has a lot to do with driver's responses to bicyclists.

I am certainly no arrogant roadie. I'm educated, conservative and prudent in my riding. I've ridden about as far as you have.

I had been riding for over 30 years when I got the first thing thrown at me. And when that happened I was riding close to the shoulder of a very wide 4 lane road, well away from traffic flow on my way to work from jury duty. The only traffic on the road was the car whose passenger hit me on the helmet with a tossed coke can. Luckily, it wasn't full. I just got sweetened not injured.

Now that I moved to Little Rock, especially in one section of Little Rock, incidents like this have become more common. But since they have occured on the only commuting routes available to me, I didn't have much choice about re-routing.

Don't underestimate the difficulty though of accurately throwing something at a moving target from a small window when you are moving at 30-50 mph. Notch up the difficulty if the motorist is drunk, which is why most of the beer bottles miss.

And when I was intentionally hit. I know it was intentional. After the car hit me, the 4 people in the car leapt out and stole my bike.

I suspect I just ride meaner streets than you. Count your blessings.