I am usually a courteous rider, acknowledge good drivers and usually give the bad ones a stare and a shake of the head without lashing out. I guess on this occasion it was the disbelief that I'd almost ended up in an ambulance on my first ride for months
This following guy however, was a total w****r..
During the first few weeks of lockdown (remember when people were buying bikes as if they were bread and milk?) I was cycling in top gear down a narrow path and spotted a family of four with a dog walking towards me. I slowed down and when I got ten yards from them, the father (I assume) said, "slow down please," to which I replied, " yes, I have."
He then sarcastically said, " Didn't you see us coming? I told you to slow down!" This guy was out for an argument.
I had, by now slowed down to a standstill and asked him politely to put his menace of a barking dog on a lead. But by now the red mist had come down and he was frothing at the mouth and spraying his saliva everywhere.
I politely told him to keep his distance and not to become the schoolyard bully with me. His son was now trying to pull him away.
"Yeah, yeah, ok," I calmy said as I slowly rode away.
"This provoked a reply of "W***R!"..."P***K!"..."T**T!"
I could not believe how unreasonable his behaviour was.
Thankfully people like him are rare!