My bike was stolen

I was riding the bus home with my neighbor Ping yesterday, and she remarked, “I’m surprised you left your bike at work.” I told her that I didn’t ride it yesterday and she expressed worry– she hadn’t seen my bike in the bike rack that morning. Sure enough, my bike has been stolen.

I’m frankly shocked. I had the bike U-locked, in an off-street bike rack not visible from the street. I’ve kept it there for almost two years. And there’s no sign of the bike or the lock… at least all the other bikes at the rack seem unmolested. I wonder why they took mine.

I’m pretty sure that it’s gone forever, but Teisha has been a sweetie and posted this stolen bike notice on Craigslist. The bike was originally ~$500.

If I do have to get a new bike, I’m going to get a cheaper bike, and always keep two locks on it. In a good thought, though, I could get a lighter road bike rather than a mountain bike, since for my daily commute a road bike would be nicer.

So.. yeah. What a sucky surprise, but life goes on.

4 Responses to “My bike was stolen”

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Bummer. Stolen bikes always hit close to the soul for me. I’ve known of far too many.

Couple of suggestions while I continue my procrastination: New York couriers use fat chains and big padlocks for locks, next to impossible for someone off the street to get into, but also heavy as can be, and well, you’re not exactly in the city. Maybe keep one chained to your home rack. Make sure not to get one of the old ULocks with the round key, you can break into them with a Bic pen, I’ve done it, major design flaw. Skinny tires are key for commuting, I’d recommend something old and steel, it’ll never break on you and you can prolly dig one up for under $100. And make it unique, decorate with stickers, streamers, noise makers on the spokes, much less likely to get stolen.

Hope Cali is treating everyone nice.

Eszter - April 28th, 2006 at 6:21 am

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Eww. Sorry to hear your bike has gone to seek greener pastures! Hope you’ll be back on the road soon, riding in comfort and style.

Fleepy - April 28th, 2006 at 12:04 pm

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Thanks for the kind words and suggestions. 🙂

My goal is to find a skinny-tired decent bike for under $200, then lock it with 2 god-damn locks all the time.

The customization tips are good, too– thanks!

Paradoxdruid - May 1st, 2006 at 10:57 am

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Sucky to hear about your bike, man. I’ve not had a bike stolen, but I’ve had one stripped of everything not locked on to it. Replace all that “quick release” shit with real bolts, and just make sure you have a wrench with you when you go a-riding.

I came out of my townhouse one morning a few months back, looked down to the end of the sidewalk next to the last townhouse, and thought, “Huh, that bike sitting on the sidewalk there looks suspiciously like mine. Wait a second… that IS mine.” I’d been keeping my bike on the back porch where nobody just driving by would have seen it (so, yeah, I sort of kind of suspect a neighbor). Luckily, said thief did not know that I have not ridden that bike in over a year, and the tires were completely flat. I put it up in the attic after that on the off chance they came back with a pickup truck.

Owen - May 2nd, 2006 at 5:00 am

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