to think he should not have called me a c*nt!

This is what I think. If you were so close to home, you should have pushed your bike along the pavement.
I used to jump out the way when cylists came down the pavement and rang their bell seconds before they would have hit me, now I don't, they can either get off the bike or go onto the road if they can't get past me.

Forget it.

Recently my dh and I were cycling along a remote narrow single track road. A big white stupid Rangerover car appeared behind us and honked the horn but given it wasn't safe to pull over (grass verge, deep ditch) we kept pedalling. After a minute or so, there was a slight bay to the side of the road so we gently pulled in to let the car past. At that, the car slowed down and I swear Gemma Collins' Scottish twin leaned over and shrieked, "FUCK OFF YOU INCONSIDERATE CUNTS!" at us.

Well we 😆at her. Comedic classless, ignorant bint.

You shouldn't have been on the pavement but given there was no threat to the fellow, he was unreasonable to call you cunt.
Just be glad you're not him.

my point is that he was being MORE unreasonable!

You were breaking the law, he called you a name. He was definitely not being more unreasonable.

Also he wouldn't have called me a cunt if I was a man
How do you know? Men call other men cunts all the time, particularly if they're angry.

did I miss why you couldn’t go back and get your lights on your bike? I am really tired of having to navigate cyclists on pavements . Peripheral neuropathy from chemo means I am unsteady on my feet and changing direction sharply can make me fall. Do you have insurance for if/when you cause an accident colliding with a pedestrian or would bike insurance not cover collisions when you ride on the pavement ? People do react aggressively when in fear, not nice for you but do try and own your choices and actions.

@OdeToBarney

Travelling by bike isn't a privilege. (Well other than having the health to do so)

No there wasn't anything to stop her pushing her bike, but I certainly wouldn't push a bike when I could ride it.

I love swearing but I’d never call someone a name in an aggressive manner.

I don’t clutch my pearls over ‘cunt’ any more than I would other profanities. In my work team, I’d say you’d be likely to hear something like ‘what an absolute cunt!’ on a daily basis. 🤷‍♀️

Both in the wrong imho.

but how can you say there was “no one around” twice when clearly there was. 🤷‍♀️

There is no "MORE unreasonable". You shouldn't have been on the pavement. Period.

At the point you realised you had to get off the road you should have got off your bike. You can't try to justify your actions by finding offence in being called out on your behaviour.

Also I think you're clutching arguing that just because a man called you a cunt he did so because "he wanted to have a go at someone smaller than him" maybe he was just generally annoyed by the entitlement of your actions.

@Indianajet

maybe they do, maybe they don't. But you're not with them 24/7.

theyre adults, they don't have to answer to you.

@stressedout1994

You are massively over reacting.

I hate the word, but it's becoming common use, to & by, men & women.

I used to cycle a lot, I don't have an issue with you cycling carefully on the pavement. He was obviously being a dick, it happens 🤷🏻‍♀️. Don't waste your head space on it.

But no, as much as I hate 'cunt' you're over reacting to him saying it to a woman.

Regardless of the rights and wrongs, I am amazed so many people find using this sort of language is acceptable. I have five adult sons, and none of them would use such language to a woman - and they would have me to answer to if they did!

Everyone deserves to feel safe, and perhaps he did not feel safe with a bike being cycled towards him on the pavement. I am absolutely sick to the back teeth of cyclists in London. There's one particular light controlled crossing near my office where it is only a matter of time before a pedestrian is injured or killed, as apparently, traffic lights do not apply to cyclists.

If you want the privilege of travelling by bike, do so within the law. There was absolutely nothing to stop you pushing the bike home, you just chose not to. YWBU

Female on a bike is an easy target for bully twats, you were not endangering him in any way, i pity his poor wife

He shouldn't have called you a cunt and I doubt he'd have been so brave in the face of a big, powerful man.

But you were actively endangering pedestrians by riding on the pavement so what you did was far worse. I'd focus on making sure you don't forget your lights in future rather than what this bloke said.

Actually OP you say you know you shouldn't have been cycling on the pavement in the dark but you don't really seem very sorry about your behaviour. You seem more annoyed that this guy called you out on it than accepting that you were in the wrong.

People have been killed and badly injured by people cycling on the pavement. It's also quite frightening for a bike to be coming towards you in the dark on the pavement. He had every right to be annoyed and it was reasonable of him to express his annoyance to you. It's only his choice of language I have a problem with.

You seem to be using his choice of language to somehow make his behaviour appear worse than yours. He could have been killed or injured by your bike but his language couldn't physically hurt you. So there is no comparison.

@stressedout1994

but I actually think that women should feel safe when walking round the capital city!

Maybe, but you were cycling, on the pavement, which is an offence, and cycling without lights during the hours of darkness, which is another offence!

You broke the law twice and were, in so doing, being very inconsiderate and entitled, and he was a bit rude, maybe. No comparison.

I think you deserved, at the very least, two fixed-penalty notices.

Give your head a great big wobble.

Also, why the 'capital city' only? What about other cities and smaller towns? Are they exempt?

You was more than unreasonable, you were breaking the law. 🤔

I am female and probably would have acted the same way if the op did that to me

So can't see its right but this 'I was wrong but he was more wrong' is plain weird and does not justify what the op did

You shouldn't of been on the pavement and you shouldn't of forgotten your lights. Can't drive a car without lights, bikes ought to be the same. YABU.

The man wasn't breaking the law and acting dangerously - the OP was.

He's just a foul-mouthed officious creep. One more bullying unpleasant man. Ignore him.

Sort your lights this weekend and forget him. He's not worth headspace.

You think his behaviour was ok?

Look he is a man everything he does is wrong I am amazed he was allowed out

Your behaviour was far worse than the man. While his language was a bit over the top, I think many people would have responded exactly the same if an adult was cycling towards them on the pavement in the dark. It's people like you who make pedestrians and other road users feel so angry about the entitled attitude of cyclists and their complete disregard of the Highway Code, which actually applies to cyclists as well.

Of course in an ideal world you shouldn’t have been on the pavement but, as you explained, it was a one-off error and you were clearly attempting to let the man past. The inconvenience to the man you encountered was no more than a few seconds; he could easily have dealt with it with grace and a smile.

Swearing in that way is really aggressive (swearing can be an assault) and there was no need for it. I’m sure you felt really unsettled by it and I’m sorry that happened to you.

There has always been the occasional ‘angry person’ but I’ve also noticed that it’s much more common nowadays and the default setting of so many people seems to be OTT anger at tiny things that, a few years ago, could have been handled calmly and with at least a semblance of decency.