Ffs. Today I had to move for a male cyclist!!!

[MattCauthon]

This takes patriarchy chicken to a whole new level! Walking in the park. Wide path (2-3m wide). I am walking along just off the centre. Admittedly, typing a message to.ds on my phone. Bike rider rings his bell at me. I look up. He's coming straight at me, requiring me to take a couple of steps to the left to get out of his way. There was space for about 3 bicycles to the right of me.

It makes me so angry. He was on a bloody bike- it's a gentle curve and he's past me. Middle aged white guy. Who, in my experience, are the worst for this.

Every time I am in London j am constantly having to move for men. I am so so tired of it. Sometimes I try not to. But I am a small middle aged woman who knows.perfectly well I will just be sent flying.

I prefer bell ringers because I’m mostly oblivious

Was it a cycle path? Was he even allowed to cycle there?

He was probably just pissed off with you being on your phone and not looking where you were going on a shared path. Female runner rather than cyclist here - but it’s one of my pet hates and yes I get arsey when I have to slow down to account for some idiot who doesn’t understand that they don’t sole use of a route and might possible step into my path because they’re not paying attention when they should be.

The man who shoved the woman was a runner and the woman who shoved the cyclist was not, so it didn't immediately make me think of that case when I read the comment I quoted.

Just to check with you @memorabletrenchcoat, am I allowed to mention anything a man does on here without immediately coming up with an equivalent case involving a woman? To make it fair 😇

I had a similar experience recently walking along a narrow bit of pavement (security fencing both sides as the road is being dug up). There is enough room, just, for two people to pass each other. I saw a man walking briskly towards me, right in the middle of the path. I tucked in to one side and expected he would do the same, but no, he stayed in the middle and physically walked into my shoulder.

Unfortunately (for him) the impact caused him to drop his vape and it rolled under the security fencing. I’m afraid I don’t know if he got it back, as I decided to keep walking… 😂

Of course. Mention anything you like, I’m not the boss.

Ah goady one, gotcha 👍 👋

Not at all, just one who’s fed up of misandry where it’s not warranted.

If this is about male entitlement, you might have a point. I say might, because we don't have data how many times women do the same. But if you want to claim this is about misogyny you're dead wrong, as men just as often experience this kind of behavior from other drivers.

Yeah - from other male drivers.

Your dammed if you do and damned of you don’t with a bell. I see plenty of comments on MN and other forums that suggest that ringing your bell is aggressive and entitled. I also see plenty of comments complaining that cyclists DONT have a bell and just go past with no warning.

Basically as a cyclist you’re always in the wrong.

This post does nothing for feminism. You just sound like a terrible man-hating offence taker OP; and this sort of crap plays into the hands of those who laugh at people who want genuine progress.

How do you know do you know all female cyclists? you seem obessed with men

This. Ringing a bicycle bell does not mean “get out of my way”. Have you ever ridden a bike? The worst and most unpredictable road/path users are pedestrians. They do the most bizarre and unpredictable moves sometimes and they can’t hear you. A surprising amount of people seem to just use their ears to make themselves aware of hazards leading to things like pedestrians just walking out in front of you. Especially if looking at a phone. I would have rung my bell too if approaching you as you could just suddenly move in front of me as you hadn’t seen me. Ringing the bell would be to warn you of my presence.

There are many cyclists who seem to be under the impression that if they ring their bell the pedestrian on the shared path must then move right into the side to let them proceed. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to step off a path to facilitate cyclists.

Ringing the bell is good practice, especially if the pedestrian isn’t paying attention to their surroundings.
Riding towards you when there was plenty of room to the side was bad and potentially dangerous.
Cyclists should always be prepared to slow/stop to give way to pedestrians on shared paths - there are often signs to that effect.

We walk on shared paths quite a lot; the vast majority of cyclists behave sensibly but a few buzz far to close, without any/adequate warning. They do it to DH not just me but it’s almost always men that do it, women are almost invariably polite.

I don’t know why you’re getting stick OP, it happens, its usually men, they usually do it to women and not other men because other men are likely to react back and they’re cowards. I don’t cycle but I walk a lot and if a person refuses to move or moves into my path forcing me to move, it’s not every man but those who do it are usually men.

You are an utter knob

No she's not - she's absolutely right to continue walking on the narrow path. No pedestrian has to move off a path to accommodate a cyclist.

Keep left as he was, pay attention, put your phone down enjoy the surroundings.

I am walking along just off the centre. Admittedly, typing a message to.ds on my phone. Bike rider rings his bell at me. I look up. He's coming straight at me, requiring me to take a couple of steps to the left to get out of his way.

To be fair - older disabled female mobility scooter user here - I am not defending whether or not he was being an arse, but I have problems with pedestrians like this all the time - and I mean several times a week. Single individuals walking in or near the centre of the path, totally focussed on typing on their phone. You may not realise it but (a) people doing this are often "weaving" one way then the other and (b) often suddenly stop or move sideways for no discernible reason. I am not going at speed and despite what looks like a lot of room either side really isn't when someone suddenly decides to move without looking. So I am left trying to figure out what some random person who hasn't even seen me, isn't looking where they are going, and often, just to add spice to my life, has earphones in and can't hear me literally yelling at them at times.

I am definitely not defending some men's sense of entitlement (or some women's, to be fair) but if you aren't paying attention to where you are going, and want to use your phone to text, why not stop and make sure that you aren't in the way of other people? And that goes for in the supermarket as well as the park, please.

This, people are so quick to jump to offence. I cycle in a park, routes are for all users, walkers, runners cyclists, dog walkers. You need to be self aware and considerate to other users. I will use my bell to let people know I'm approaching from behind and say 'Coming past on the right' or something like that. It's courtesy, let's people know you are passing, avoids accidents, bell only makes people scatter like sheep. The worst users are buried in their phones oblivious to their surroundings and others, or prams/buggies 4 abreast who clearly think they are special. Keeping left is the general social code when passing too in the UK. The pedestrian wandering down the middle of the route, nose in phone is at fault here.

No she isn't. She is conflating the way she thinks some cyclists behave towards her on the road with how she should treat one other cyclist on a path. Deliberately choosing to obstruct the entire width of a path with dogs on leads is twatty behaviour. It could be a runner or faster walker trying to get past, still wouldn't be able to if someone is blocking it like that.

I’ve seen someone do this to DH. He’s got quick reactions and doesn’t give a shit so just braced himself and the cyclist took a tumble.

DH is also a very keen, regular cyclist and gets v pissed off when other cyclists give him a bad name.

Quite. It’s not 100% divided by sex on either side, but the entitled path or road users are much more often men IME, and the people they try to intimidate are more usually women, or less alpha males. It may not exactly be misogyny but the effects of it are similar.