Off to court.......any tips?

unless you've already admitted to it - I would recommend you say that you simply gestured with your hand without being overly specific

also, dress smart, speak like a nice well brought up middle class chap, and don't be overly provocative or emotive, just stick to the facts (sans one finger).

Ronnie Pickering strikes again!!

Always amazing that drivers can see so much better in their rear view mirror that out of their front windscreen.
It's as if they do it on purpose and are checking for a reaction. Hmmm.
Good luck.

Don't be surprised if he pleads guilty on the day which may or may not be a good thing depending on your perspective.

This is what happened to me when I was assaulted at work. While I wasn't exactly looking forward to going to court, having sat in the witness waiting room for several hours, reading and re-reading my statement several times and psyching myself up, it was a bit of an anticlimax in the end when he changed his plea.

As a result, I was left with the frustration of not having the opportunity to face the person who assaulted me, of knowing he avoided a harsher punishment through a guilty plea and also knowing the huge amount of time and money wasted just to get to that point.

Unfortunately I've been a witness on several occasions. Go over your previous statements thoroughly beforehand to the extent that you know them inside out and could write them out again verbatim. Be aware of any gaps in the narrative that have developed in the taking of statements. If any descrepencies have crept in (sometimes the documents that reach the CPS lawyer on the day are barely legible and assumptions or mistakes are made) raise them with the prosecutor immediately. By doing this you should be able to be as calm and authoritative as possible. If you have it all nailed down all you need to do on the day is tell the court what you know. If you have a tendency to make short, curt answers practice getting into the habit of responding with short concise sentences. If you tend to verbosity prepare phrases that help you express cycling concepts succinctly and as neutrally as possible without reference to 'cycling jargon', e.g. 'wide enough to avoid defects at the edge of the road' rather than secondary. This will make you appear reasonable, informed and competent which will all help the magistrates'  belief in you as a reliable witness.

The quality of legal representation on both sides can be hugely variable, from completely incompetent to as smart as you would expect in a courtroom drama. By being a quality witness you can go someway to making sure that the magistrates have something to rely on. Whatever the outcome you will also know that you did what you could to gain justice. At this level it can be a bit of a lottery. 

As others have said, the assault in the first instance was the instagating action of what followed, you reactedwith a hand gesture that is an exclamation of anger and frustration at what you consider to be a deliberate act to assault you by inducing fear if not to physically harm and only by fortune that you were not struck. Because there was no reason to get so close given the empty road and that close is not a momentary lapse or mistake and the ensuing ABH it's clear his intention was to cause you harm from the outset.
It would be unlikely he'd be able to see clearly the middle finger but a thrown up hand, to be then set upon after threatening your life with a deadly weapon -liken it to swinging a sledhammer at a child/adult/police officer in the street and then they turn around and attack them after throwing your hand up, is basically assault with a deadly weapon and an ABH, it should go to crown court tbh.
Hope you nail the bastard and the system protects you and society properly from this dangerous criminal.

I hope all goes well for you and that it is not too stressful.  My experience from attending court through my job is that even when you are the good guy it can be unpleasant.  Magistrates tend to be white, middle aged, male so dress appropriately and play the game, they respond well to calm, considered responses so dont rush into answers, take time to think about what you are going to say before answering.  Dont be tempted to fill a silence by speaking, if you have said what you want to say and the defense sit there quietly looking at you, play them at their own game and keep quiet too.  Similarly, if the make a statement (rather than ask you a question) dont feel that you have to respond, wait until they ask you a question.  Not easy I know, it is unnatural to keep a silence going but dont feel obliged to fill the silence unless you are asked to.

Let us know how it goes and have a good christmas.

Hopefully, they'll throw everything they have at him, and he might realise you shouldn't be able to get away with that behaviour. Glad you're OK, and I always react exactly like you did, usually to less provocation

Your defence against the 'Provoked' hand gesture and or verbal response was 'fight or flight' response to being nearly hit and seriously injured or even killed. A totally natural reaction to such dangerous driving A massive adrenaline rush does happen that to normal people Wink!

Dear Pastbybest

Please let us know how you get on. I hope the magistrates give him a good stuffing as a late Xmas present.  You should be apologetic about your angry response.  But, you did nothing criminal, at worst it was "ill-advised".  Stay focused on the fact that assault is a serious crime and the magistrates will not reward it regardless of the provocation.  Try watching Judge Judy.  Although her court is not criminal, it provides good lessons on what behaviour infuriates judges. Also remember that magistrates are not judges - they are ordinary people who live in the area who have taken training to sit in judgement on  minor offences. They have limited powers of punnishment. Perhaps they might rule the assault too serious for them to handle and refer it up to the Crown Court where a judge will preside.  Otherwise, hopefully one or more of them might be cyclists!!  If you have photos of injuries you might post them when the case is resolved??