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jimmy_james
hoefla
You are correct, and as you have identified, this makes helping in the moment difficult. It's even more difficult if we're talking about things that happen on bikes - the incident will be over quickly as everyone will probably be moving, and in the off-chance that you do find yourself a stationary bystander, if you're on a bike and the harasser is in a car or on foot, you'll be at a physical disadvantage if you get involved, and they're more likely to be aggressive towards you because cyclist. All the same, here are some bystander tips, some of which might help in various situations: http://www.stopstreetharassment.org/resources/male-allies/bystander-tips/
Obviously those tips all rely on your being a bystander to street harassment in the first place, and you're probably not going to be in that situation very often. Outside of those situations IMO all you can really do is believe and support women when they share these kind of stories with you, and work within your own (male) social circle to create a culture where acting like a threatening bellend is unacceptable. The importance of peer culture can't really be over-stated, as the only thing that will really help is wider culture change, and you can't be that on your own. You would need to perform this work this publicly and loudly (try not to speak for wimmins if they're around when you do it, though), and my god, it will be work, you better believe it. More reading material on that: http://www.shakesville.com/2009/08/crank-it-up-to-11.html