Mountain Biking: Rubber side down- Time for a TurnaroundWell, my friends, things are finally looking up, and good timing, too, since I’m sure you’re all sick of me bitching. Recent bike build, including wheels… fun! In what feels like a fairly short time, I’ve come from sitting around … Continue reading → […]
- This Raised My PulseHey, baby… wanna ride? I may be injured, but I’m not dead yet. I can still have racy thoughts. Here’s more info. In other news, UBI was an awesome success! I had a blast. I highly recommend it. Overhaul day…. … Continue reading → […]
- Time for a Turnaround
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How to protect your bike from thieving scum
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Busted padlock | flickr user marckjerland
Well, I returned from a three-day vacation and discovered that one of my two bikes was stolen. Or perhaps magically disappeared. In some ways, this further makes me an official Boulderite. Â
It’s important to learn from these things, though, and there’s plenty for me to learn.
IF YOUR BIKE IS STOLEN
1. FREAK OUT
OK, get mad for like 15 minutes. Just get the worst of it out of your system. Invent some new swear words if you need to.
2. POLICE REPORT
File a police report. Depending on where you live, you’ll do this either by phone, online or by walking into your local police station.
You can quickly and conveniently fill out a police report online for the city of Boulder. Nice, but right now I still feel a little… helpless.
3. LEARN
See below.
PREVENTION
Let’s say you have a bike and you want to try to keep it from getting stolen.
Lock it up. Apparently a lot of bikes get stolen because they’re just not locked up. So. You know. Lock it up.
My bike was secured with a combination lock, but a determined thief will just cut right through that. Also, if you search combination bike lock on Google, one of the first results is “A simple method to open any cylindrical turndial bike lock in less than 30 seconds.” GREAT.
Busted U-lock | flickr user LEthean
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Write down your bike’s serial number. This site shows where you might find a bike’s serial number.
Boulder has a bicycle registration program. Use it.
In 2000, over $160,000 in bicycles were stolen. Owners were able to report the serial number of their stolen bicycle in only about 20 percent of the cases. Without the serial number, it is very difficult to prove a recovered bicycle is stolen, or to return it to its owner. The bicycle registration program serves to deter theft and aid in returning recovered property. It is a free program funded by the Boulder Police Department.
Make your bike ugly. The theory is that if your bike is really ugly, no one will want to steal it. My bike was a simple, inexpensive, but clean Schwinn. It had a rear rack and a basket, which may have been as appealing to the thieves as the bike itself. MAKE magazine offers tips on making your bike unappealing.
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[...] week in the 208 as I lose faith in local ne’er-do-wells: I had a bike stolen over the weekend, too. Observation crime,graffiti,hooligans,ne'er-do-wells,scum,villainy You can leave a [...]
[...] If you’re missing a bike, as I am (though mine was certainly not worth a lot of money), you might do well to check out the Boulder Police Department’s property and evidence list. Hopefully, you’d registered your bike and already reported it stolen. You would have if you’d read my guide to (sigh) living with bike theft. [...]