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 honestly don't know how many times I have to say this.... let me say it very slowly....

The. Issue. Was. Not. That. He. Rang. The. Bell.

It. Was. That. He. Continued. To. Ride. Dead. Centre. Down. The. Wide. Path. Forcing. Me. To move. Further. To. My. Left. To. Avoid. Being. Hit. Or. Bumped.

I. Was. Walking. Off. Centre. But. Because. He. Insisted. On. Riding. Dead. Centre. I. Had. To. Move. Right. To. The. Far. Side.

Ok…..We hear you and hear you and hear you.
It seems like it’s probably time to put this one to bed and just move on with your day, perhaps?
I find young (often oblivious) young women frequently walk 2 or 3 abreast on footpaths chatting, which means I have to either stop, or step into the road to pass as they carry on without acknowledgement. It’s not a male vs female thing, it’s just people are sometimes fucking morons and there are several billion of them out there. It annoys me for a minute, then I move on with my day because one day they too will be where I am.
I think you’re just winding yourself up more by going over and over (and over) this.

In that situation, I would have been very tempted to get out and ask if he needed help reversing. But of course, being a woman I would have had to take into account self preservation. Annoying. If I'd had a man with me then maybe I would have done said it!

Yes she is. There is absolutely no requirement for pedestrians to step off a narrow path to let a cyclist continue cycling unimpeded. Cyclists have to give way to pedestrians, not the other way around.

@SirChenjins or a wide path...

You. Are. Coming. Across. As, Just. As. Rude. And. Entitled. As. The. Person. You. Are. Complaining. About.

So he continued to ride dead centre, which was rude. And you were determined to walk dead centre, which is just as unnecessary. Try looking where you are going!

No she wasn't - she's already explained she wasn't in the centre of the path and wasn't determined to be in the dead centre of the path. She was already off to one side. However, when a cyclist continues in a straight line the size and speed of them means that pedestrians often have to move over even further, or off the path altogether, to protect themselves.

I think I'm coming across as someone who is tired of people not understanding. I wasn't walking dead centre. I was off centre. Which was kind of the point of my issue...!

She also explained that she wasn't looking where she was going anyway.

This. People on their phones don’t pay sufficient attention to their surroundings.

Women with prams are worse round here.

Yep - but your claim she was determined to be in the dead centre wasn't correct, she'd already explained that.

Have you ever driven behind a cyclist who's been on their phone? I have, and I slow right down and move well over. I don't continue on my merry way without adjusting my position and speed - I take account of the fact that the person who has priority isn't paying close attention, because if I didn't that would make me a twat.

Aah, i got it. So, in fact, the REASON he didn't move over so that we could each pass each other on our side of the very wide path was because he wanted to make a point about me daring to look at my phone on a (very wide) path?

Obviously I was therefore hugely unreasonable. <sarcasm alert>

To be honest, I mentioned being on my phone because I wanted to highlight that I didn't think it was odd that he rang the bell. that seemed reasonable to me.

Did you even read my previous post? I regularly have twats on phones walking (near) dead centre suddenly decide to side step, meander, and stop right in front of me because I am fucking invisible on my mobility scooter; am supposed to psychically detect what idiotic thing they are going to do; and more than half the time they also haven't heard me yelling at them because they have their earphiones in and turned up loud.

The OP was no more "considerate" than the cyclist. Look where you are going, whatever your mode of transport.

With respect, your situation is nothing like the OPs. The fastest thing on the shared path (the cyclist) has to give way to pedestrians (the OP), not the other way about. When you are driving or cycling you have to move well over to accommodate the slower moving people - this cyclist didn't.

I'm going to reupload my image to demonstrate, again.

But also, I'd argue your situation is different. My sense is that mobility scooters aren't very agile so I probably would have happily moved out of the way.

Having said that, in my view on this path, I would have thought there would just be an automatic thing where people each keep to their respective left, with no one travelling dead centre. Whether that's a cyclist, pedestrian or mobility scooter. But this man wanted to be dead centre. [shrug]

Of course, sorry, I didn't realise that only one opinion was allowed and everyone else must "get out of the way".

I have stated my opinion, I am sticking to it - everyone should be looking where they are going, full stop. You carry on with your opinion because I won't be reading it.

No you don't have to. But equally choosing to deliberately block an entire path just to be difficult is twatty behaviour. Poor behaviour from some cyclists does not justify equally poor behaviour towards others.

You do you though.

Is the path marked cyclists one side, walkers the other?
I cycle to work on a shared use path. Some parts are marked like this but there are quite a few pedestrians who appear unable to understand the large cycle and walker markings painted on the path.

If the path is narrow then there simply isn't room for a cyclist to continue on their way without adjusting their speed and/direction as well - or even getting off and walking until the path widens. So yes, I'll do me as I follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, either as a pedestrian or a cyclist.

The Scottish Outdoor Access Code does not say that you shouldn’t step to the side to allow cyclists past you. As a cyclist, me giving way to pedestrians doesn’t mean that I need to suck up being stuck behind pedestrians who choose to walk in the middle of the path and let their dogs take up all the space either side. If there is space to do so, the only reason that I can see for a pedestrian to not step to the side of the path allow a cyclist through is that they are being a twat.

From the code “Cycling on hard surfaces, such as wide paths and tracks, causes few problems. On narrow routes, cycling may cause problems for other people, such as walkers and horse riders. If this occurs, dismount and walk until the path becomes suitable again. Do not endanger walkers and horse riders: give other users advance warning of your presence and give way to them on a narrow path. Take care not to alarm farm animals, horses and wildlife”

So no - pedestrians don’t have to step off a narrow path to facilitate cyclists, and not doing so does not make them a twat.

If it is wide enough to walk along with two dogs, one either side of you, it is wide enough to move to one side for a cyclist to pass without you having to step off the path.

No it’s not - 2 dogs on a short lead does not mean there’s enough room for a cyclist to pass by on a narrow path without altering their speed or direction.

Think of it like cyclists on a road. If you’re driving a car and you come across 2 riding abreast then you wait until you can get past safely - they are not required to facilitate drivers. Sometimes that means drivers waiting behind them for quite a while.

Cyclists need to understand they are vehicles in this scenario and must not expect anyone to move aside if it’s not easy to do so. They do have to stop riding. Unfortunately most don’t and expect to be accommodated even when walkers are elderly or there are children. It’s not just a London thing. I’ve even had cyclists getting annoyed at me when I’m on a footpath and they are not meant to be riding on it at all. They can be very rude.