I don’t seem to get too much verbal abuse, and when I do I can’t make out the words most of the time. Other than one slightly heated exchange where someone took the trouble to tell me that I should have been indicating when I was trying to negotiate a junction on a steepish descent where I needed my hands to brake. Pointing out that I’d looked and used road positioning to indicate my intentions, and as it was a t-junction on a fairly narrow road she’d need to wait behind me whichever way I was going didn’t seem to help.
The most idiotic conversation was with someone at work. She knows I cycle in and was commenting that she wished she was brave enough because it was quicker than driving.
“But there’s not enough room on the roads really. I always worry when I overtake cyclists because I have to go quite close to them.”
“So why are you overtaking them then if there isn’t enough room to do it safely?”
“They’ll make me late”
“But you just said that they’re faster overall. Chances are they’re only delaying your arrival at the next queue of traffic rather than actually making you significantly later…”