Safe from verbal abuse on the

There is a myriad of things I have yet to understand about IU and its students, some I doubt I will ever fully grasp.

One of these mysteries is why you would drive to class when, in most cases, it is just a short bike ride away.

I love biking around IU and Bloomington.

It might not be as quick as driving, but there is always better parking.

I don’t have to worry about making it to the gym, because my exercise is built into my day.

I get to spend more time outside, which is especially great when beautiful Bloomington summers turn into even more beautiful Bloomington falls.

Still, there are ways our community could be bike-friendlier.

In the last month I have been accosted twice by people in cars.

Sometimes it can be intimidating to share the road with giant machines that can easily squash you.

It is more intimidating when it seems like the people controlling those machines want to squish you.

Just because I can hear you yelling at me does not mean I want to listen.  My riding a bike is not an invitation to talk at a stop light, especially when you just want to make me feel uncomfortable and vulnerable.

I should mention, both incidences were deeply rooted in sexism.

It’s street harassment, except this time we’re both in the street, and you can easily run me over.

Harassment is always inappropriate, but for a biker it’s a different kind of scary.

The advantage harassers have facing you is tenfold.

The first time this happened to me, I was afraid the car would start following me.

Needless to say, I made it home in record time.

The second time, the driver recklessly sped past me after asking if I was “eye-fucking” him.

If he had been just a few inches closer, I could have been road kill.

My friend conveyed a similar experience to me, except her harasser was a
pedestrian.

He ran at her, shouting. What if he had knocked her off of her bike? What might have happened?

Another time some guy yelled from his yard, “Ride that bike like a dick, yeah!”

We can’t be the only two bikers in Bloomington who have experienced this kind of harassment.

We cannot tolerate this kind of behavior in our community.

If you’re thinking about accosting someone — anyone, anytime, ever — just don’t. Nothing at all comes from doing it.

It’s not that hard to not yell at someone. It’s not that hard to not make people feel bad.
If you’re with someone who is a harasser, tell them to stop.

Punch them in the arm.

If they don’t stop, or they dismiss you, stop hanging out with them.

Uninvite them to your birthday party. When they call to make plans, just say you’re sick.

Be sick all the time.

I don’t want to stop biking just because some people are terrible.

­— casefarr@indiana.edu