Hello hello and Happy New Year and a retroactive Happy Holidays to boot! I hope everyone had as pleasant and active a December as I did.
I have been riding to work and back as always, and had ANOTHER bike stolen off my porch (the CUBE I had written of a while ago)! Although nobody deserves to have their stuff taken, this time I did forget to lock up my bike due to some kooky distracting and routine-altering events on that fateful day and the bike disappeared overnight. Relating those events would be quite boring for you for sure, so I won't bother.
Having 2 bikes taken off one's porch might suggest to a normal person that keeping the bike on the porch is simply a bad idea. I am not normal, however. I am fortunate enough to have a nice front porch that makes outdoor storage of my bikes easy and convenient to my daily comings and goings. I stubbornly refuse to give that up; I mean, why should I? Because some lowlife bike thieving scum says so? No way. I am currently just being super careful to remember to lock up; Winter isn't exactly bike-thieving prime time anyway. Before Spring, however, I am gonna have to come up with some very strong security measures. If I lose another bike off that porch I am just stupid. Frankly, I just don't get it. I live in a nice neighbourhood. Are local bike thieves checking my lockup Every F-ing Night? Seems like it sometimes. You can see the saddle and handlebars from the street, so maybe every late night rambler who sees it takes a crack. There is a lot of pedestrian traffic around my house. Normally we consider that a nice thing.
I'm currently riding Mutant Winter IV , although it no longer features the weird fender because I had handed the bike down to my son, who does not ride in winter and didn't require mutant customization. Now that I have commandeered it for my own selfish needs I'll have to dig up or buy some fenders again I guess, and figure out a new/different bike for my son!
Having 2 bikes taken off one's porch might suggest to a normal person that keeping the bike on the porch is simply a bad idea. I am not normal, however. I am fortunate enough to have a nice front porch that makes outdoor storage of my bikes easy and convenient to my daily comings and goings. I stubbornly refuse to give that up; I mean, why should I? Because some lowlife bike thieving scum says so? No way. I am currently just being super careful to remember to lock up; Winter isn't exactly bike-thieving prime time anyway. Before Spring, however, I am gonna have to come up with some very strong security measures. If I lose another bike off that porch I am just stupid. Frankly, I just don't get it. I live in a nice neighbourhood. Are local bike thieves checking my lockup Every F-ing Night? Seems like it sometimes. You can see the saddle and handlebars from the street, so maybe every late night rambler who sees it takes a crack. There is a lot of pedestrian traffic around my house. Normally we consider that a nice thing.
I'm currently riding Mutant Winter IV , although it no longer features the weird fender because I had handed the bike down to my son, who does not ride in winter and didn't require mutant customization. Now that I have commandeered it for my own selfish needs I'll have to dig up or buy some fenders again I guess, and figure out a new/different bike for my son!
We in London Ontario have enjoyed the extended Fall weather that most others in North America experienced. The first truly Cold day was yesterday. It was -17 C (1.4 F) on my morning ride. We have had very little snow so far, so riding the paths by the river is still possible. In terms of commuting, the New Year has been wonderful... cold can be very pretty. These pics grabbed from my helmet cam video don't come close to showing how beautiful the river really looked yesterday (and this morning for that matter).
Yer Pal,
R A N T W I C K 
6 comments:
Awesome pics and you are a hearty soul to be riding in those temps, tip of the hat to ya. as for the thievery, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice...? why not keep your bike out back where the guard dog and his land mines live as a deterrent? Maybe throw a tarp with some bells attached over it to keep it warm and dry and out of sight? =)
If no one was ever arrested for the thefts, your house has probably become a regular checkpoint among thieving scum who may be working your neighborhood. Why rip off in a crappy neighborhood? Go where people have better stuff and are more likely to think people are basically good. People who steal will do so until they're locked up or until some rare epiphany turns them to a different course. Thievery is like an illness that strikes a neighborhood and persists until the infectious agent is gone.
Just a thought , but wouldn't it be a great video if your bike were wired up like an electric fence. Or better yet... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tufnWwV2J5I Bait bike in the hood. =)
As Catfiend said....Thieves from a scummy area are going to ply their trade in a nice neighborhood where they can expect a quality level of bicycle to steal...
It could even be the same scumbag coming back every so often to see what is new to steal..... I think I would be setting a trap to catch the thieving scumbag......
Like lights, your locks can never be too many, or too strong. Stay locked up, my friend.
Digging up an old thread, but I thought of you when I read this:
www.londonpolice.ca/en/about/Welcome-to-our-website.aspx
"Other initiatives that we are building and hope to release soon include:
A bicycle registry program that will allow you to log the serial number of your bike with us"
Maybe you still have your old serial number somewhere? I know I have mine saved at bikeindex.org.
Post a Comment