A different kind of story involving a truck

So I am about a month into riding seriously, and have really started trying to push myself further and further each time I ride. I was a little hesitant because this forces me to ride on roads where I will have to deal with traffic, and after all of the horror stories I read on here about getting hit, verbally abused, or having things thrown at you, I do my best to avoid anywhere with more than light traffic.

Today I had my first real encounter with someone in a vehicle. As I am riding one of the busier roads near where I live, a truck comes up behind me and slows down. I think "Oh, what a nice person" as usually people don't touch the brakes and just give me 3-4 feet of space.

I then turn on a dirt road, and I notice the truck appears to be full of teenagers, and it hits the brakes and follows me onto the dirt road. As the truck begins to slowly creep behind me, I have now gone from "Oh, what a nice person" to "Oh S#!t, here comes one of the horror stories" . As I keep riding, the truck pulls up next to me and just matches my pace, and continues this for about a quarter of a mile. I just try staying in my zone, near the shoulder, preparing for the onslaught of whatever projectiles these teenagers could scavenge in this truck.

Finally, I give in, I can't take the suspense anymore, if I am about to be annihilated in a barrage of garbage, then it was meant to be. I look over and just see everyone in the vehicle staring at me. So I awkwardly laugh and give them a thumbs up, because I have no idea what else to do. Then the weirdest thing happened, they smiled, returned the thumbs up, and drove off laughing. No hail of garbage, no string of insults, nothing!

I know this is a lot to read, but I just wanted to share my experience, because it seems to me that only the horror stories get shared, and not every person in a vehicle is out to get you. Every person should be cautious and stay safe, but don't let the stories scare you away from what I have learned to be a great hobby.

TL;DR: Truck full of teenagers found a way to mess with a cyclist that didn't involve insults or projectiles.