So I’m in rural Maine. We recently bought a tiny cottage here. And my husband bought me a bike. I haven’t biked since I was a kid, and never on rural roads with no shoulders. When I first moved here in July I took my bike out and tried the road. I wasn’t too nervous because it’s Maine, right? Not NYC, my other home, where everyone is in a hurry, and people honk if you are too slow crossing the street. But I was wrong.
Although all but one car or truck that passed me, slowed down and moved over, one guy in a big souped up truck honked at me and startled me so much I swerved over onto the gravel and crashed. Bleeding knees, humiliation, and several cars stopping to see if I were okay–because truly most people in Maine are courteous. I got back on my bike and hustled home and and tended my wounds and left my bike in the shed where it sat until yesterday when my husband patiently rode behind me on the road, giving me pointers, building back my confidence enough that today I set a goal to bike about four miles just on our road.
And it was going fine, cars moving over, some waving at me, the school bus pulling over, and then a big souped up truck zoomed past me, very close honking, windows down, and shouted, “get the fuck off the road,” before the truck disappeared over the next hill. I wanted to crumple into a heap and cry.
But I was about two miles from home, so I kept on biking and as I pumped I thought about how if I’d been a male biker, or a more aggressive biker, maybe they wouldn’t have honked. Did I look weak and pathetic and like someone they (it was two males) could abuse?
I got mad. I decided, this is my road too. I have the right to bike and be safe, and I was at the edge of the road, not in the middle. And guess what, because it’s rural Maine, and there’s a chance I’ll see these guys and get yelled at again if I continue biking every day. Now I’m looking forward to my bike ride tomorrow.
Make my day, stupid male harassing truckers! I’ll be watching for you and memorizing your license plate to report to the police.
Lots of people think harassment only happens in big cities, but if you are on foot, or bike, for me, my worst experiences have happened in less populated areas. Harassers live everywhere!!!
– Beckie
Location: Maine
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