On the road...you know, the speed the road was designed to pass traffic at and other road users expect to be able to do without hinderance.
No. The speed limit is the maximum legally permissible speed, full stop. It's not the minimum speed, a passing speed, or an entitled speed.
If its 35 mph then all good; car guy should not be a twat.
If its 55, cyclist should let faster traffic pass.
Absolutely, but there is a right way and a wrong way. I've been riding Angeles Crest Highway since I was a teenager and the side of the road is a bad place to be at 30-50mph. You end up in debris, broken pavement, and when paving
is done, close to the raised edge of the paving. Also, cars absolutely will not slow down for you, and many of them are shit at taking a clean passing line and holding it. They'll hug the inside line and pass you with inches to spare at full speed instead of the legally required 3 feet of clearance, simply because they're not afraid of cyclists but they are afraid of oncoming traffic. Who do you think loses when a car is passing you at the exact moment oncoming traffic is passing in the other direction? You're going to get pushed right out to the very edge of the road.
Instead, the safer way is to do exactly what cars are supposed to do: Take the lane (bicycles legally considered vehicles for road use and entitled to do this) and like any slower traffic, be conscious when someone is coming up behind you and take the first safe turnout to let traffic pass. That generally works fine, because most questionable drivers are merely thoughtless or unskilled. The problem is once in awhile you get an occasional driver who refuses to yield no matter how unsafe the pass would be - either to you or to oncoming traffic.
