Originally Posted by AJW2W11E

I was riding hard on the last leg of 25 miles back in July. There's a short 30 degree rocky hill that I have to climb to get home. On a hot day, it's a challenge. After that I must have veered into the left side of the trail and an oncoming bicyclist shouted loudly and cursed at me. (
I've had people veer across my path, and I've never complained. )
I never thought much about it at that time , but the last few weeks I'm starting to see this guy regularly coming my way on rides, riding the same trail as me . He's 60 plus with Grey hair and he's in pretty good shape. Everytime I see him, he shouts loudly at me.
Today I tossed out the famous two word profanity in return to him.
A smarter me would have said nothing and even smiled, but that's easier said than done when you're streaming along briskly and you're using the primal side of your brain.
I regretted it instantly. De- escalation is the best thing to do in conflict. This is really childish. On the other hand a nasty person is a nasty person, and manners don't always work. I have no idea.
Being 60 plus, I do have one mature insight. Everything just rolls along and passes into time and nothing is really significant. This will all pass.