Attacked

Tynan, you might be the well seasoned type for that kinda action ... good for you. In the end of the day, if someone cut me up closely, but I am still riding, it is up to me to elevate that situation to the next level or not.

And if you're a friendly cough fella like me, then you might express anger loudly and explicitly, but the step to physical violence is a completely different thing. If two fingers mean the challenge to a fight for that driver, then I didn't want to express that in the first place.

Not that I am saying I would loose out necessarily, but even if I "win" because I kick the fuckers knee in and stick my thumbs in his eye sockets right after in the heat of the moment, I might be charged with assault, have a criminal record etc. All stuff that I could avoid by just sneering instead of shouting and sticking the two fingers out ...

... and I still find myself doing it. Not very often, but I do.
Yes, I'd probably be more angry if it wasn't me but my girlfriend.

On one of my first rides of the few we've done since I persuaded her to try cycling, we went up to canada water from peckham, round the back roads. When we hit the greenland dock she was really liking it, and it was perfect to practice. On the way back from the riverside towards surrey quays there was a guy who tried to overtake. I kindo blocked the road on a pedestrian crossing, where the street gets narrow, so he couldn't scare her while overtaking on the most narrow spot. A five seconds wait! The guy got so angry, started pressing his horn, coming real close. My girlfriend didn't really see it, but got quite intimidated. Then the guy drives past, and I stick my two fingers out and laugh at him. He must've heard and seen it, and he stopped 30 meters down the road. Well, I chose not to go past him, and told my girlfriend just to wait a while, and eventually he drove off. Imagine how much she would have loved the idea of getting into cycling if the guy and I would have had a fight?