My BIKE - Stolen!!!

[LovelyLadyLux]

It was drizzly and overcast this morning, then it poured down and suddenly voila the sun came out. I figured I'd catch a quick cuppa by way of riding my bike down to the coffee shop. I often go out mid-day for a scone + tea and read my Kindle for an hour.

I have an old bike - nothing to speak of really - and a thick cable with a combination lock. Just bought the lock about 2 months ago. Was 'on sale' but it was a heavy duty rubber coated wire and probably as thick as my ring finger. Wasn't going to easily break.

Locked it up as usual on the bike parking area and went in for an hour. Came out and it was gone - lock stock and barrel GONE GONE GONE!

Some low life #%@&!! must've cut the cable (no easy feat) in broad daylight and rode off on it!! ARSE!! Hope he or she breaks their @#%$#@! neck on it!

Really in front of a busy grocery store (the coffee shop is inside) in broad daylight!! Damn I'm angry!! Nobody saw anything and/or if they did they did nothing to intervene or report it to anybody at the time.

I reported it to the RCMP and apparently I'm not the only one. Seems LOTS of bikes are being targeted and the thieves must be walking around with bolt cutters or heavy duty wire cutters as they more than easily and efficiently cut my lock. AND the store has NO cameras outside.

Guess what I really don't understand in the entire scheme of life - what would they actually do with an old bike? AND is stealing an old bike in broad daylight worth going to jail for?

Still hope they fall off and break their neck!

[Grandad]

Migrants LLL, migrants. From my experience locally a 'must have' for migrants is a bike. I see adults riding around on kids choppers, mountain bikes, or whatever they can get hold of. But you would need pretty good bolt cutters to cut a thick cable.
As you say, somebody must have seen them but all too often we just stand and stare or walk on by.

[LovelyLadyLux]

It all happened FAST in that my usually stay in the coffee shop is about an hour. Sometimes a bit more if the book I'm reading is exciting and/or if I'm trying to finish up a chapter. This particular store does have an interesting front in that where the main entrance/exit is there are plants & fruits and stuff outside. If you walk along the front you pass a brick wall that juts out and then behind that is the bike racks - you can't really SEE them from the side. If you walk along further you entrance the coffee & tea shop area but once inside you can't SEE the bikes ........ soooooo the thief had an excellent spot to steal from cause unless you are out in the parking lot you really don't see the bikes even though they are parked in front of the building in full view.

Now that I've posted my bike as stolen I've been contacted by 2 other people who also had their bikes stolen SAME DAY. One was a student at VIU and the other was a Mom on behalf of her son (he'd just left his bike tied outside the local bike repair shop!!) They wanted a photo of my bike cause IF they see it whilst looking for their bike they'll let me know and asked that I do the same for their bike. I've agreed.

It seems the thief or thieves were stealing serviceable older bikes as these other 2 are just plain old bikes - nothing fancy. Seems a rather organized effort and then the paranoia comes out I paid $40 for my bike couple years ago so WHY would anybody flirt with arrest and jail for a cheap old bike? AND seemingly be stealing and collecting a few of them same day?

AND - Murphy's Law - I'd been using a really really cheap old combination lock (cheap chain covered in plastic). Am sure if a man pulled it it would have broke. JUST bought a new heavy cable wire lock and THAT was the one that got cut! GEEZ!!!

NOW I need to start looking for another bike

[Jayway]

Bad luck LLL, and when you get the next bike forget your canadian manners and put the thing right by the shop window where you can see it. And if anyone complains I am sure you could think of something to say . . . . ....................

[LovelyLadyLux]

It totally sucks that some creep stole my bike from 'in front' of a busy store! BUT if you actually study the lay out of the store you can see that NOBODY can SEE what you're doing over by the bikes.

I doubt i'll get my old bike back so am now looking for another old bike. I'm going to by CHAIN that would hold a cruise ship, am going to take the seat off and bring the damn bike INTO the shop with me!!

I'm posting it far and wide everywhere that my BIKE has been stolen complete with photo and I'll keep doing it for a long long long time. At least I'm going to make it real well known that it is stolen and hopefully make it more difficult for somebody to re-sell it.

Have my eye on another OLD bike so will probably soon be peddling. I was riding a man's bike but am not thinking I'll get a woman's bike as I think it would be harder to sell a woman's bike than a mans bike.

Actually I have been thinking about bike locks. I had a fairly heavy cable. It would have taken a large wire cutter (like about a 2' long type unit) to cut it BUT it was cut. I'm now thinking about another style I've never owned but it is U-shaped and solid metal (but I think it takes a key). I don't know if that would make it more difficult to cut or break than another cable wire lock with a combo-lock........???

[Robbo70]

anyone half adept at lock picking will have it open in minutes. it depends on whether your thieves just rely on bolt cutters or not. Find a hobby cyclist page of facebook and ask them for recommendations. They usually share their info happily enough

[LovelyLadyLux]

@Robbo - good suggestion re: finding a good lock......I'm half between buy 2 huge hulking slathering frothing drooling scar'd up pitbulls crossed with rottweillers and parking them beside my bike to chaining it with 3 chains, removing the seat and taking off the front wheel (but I'm too lazy to do that )

I had another email last night from a student at our University. He started with "G'day" and proceeded to say he is from Australia and since the start of the school year has had TWO of his bikes stolen by way of having the locks cut while he has been in class......TWO!!!

I'd imagine he is on a student budget too and NOTHING on this island is cheap so am sure he can't afford to keep buying bikes just to have them stolen.

Was never aware there is such a busy trade in stolen bikes!

[Jayway]

Maybe you could find one of those folding bikes? you can push it along like a pushchair to take it with you, but takes less room . I had 2 - they sold well after I fell off - -

[LovelyLadyLux]

A folding bike might just be the ticket I'm actually not an ardent bike rider but I don't mind heading out in nice weather for a ride especially if I can stop for a cuppa and a read and then return home.

I'll get another old bike - at least the bike they stole was OLD and cheap (which also confounds me as to WHY anybody would steal an OLD bike).

I think maybe Granddad was correct in saying it was a migrant BUT we tend not to get too many migrants coming through here especially this time of eyar. It is pretty wet and cold and we don't have hostels or anything much like that. And really there is only 1 road down the middle of the island so you're really only going north or south. There isn't much more UP north - couple of towns but if you're a migrant travelling through and anybody gets the sense you're up to no good - wellllll - I wouldn't want to be thieving a bike and have one of our RedNeck logger types catch me. He'd make the 2" x 4" whacking of an Egyptian thief as engaged by another of our now MIA Posters look like a hand tap!

[LovelyLadyLux]

Was just reading in the local newspaper that our RCMP have cracked and arrested several individuals who were thieving up and down the Island! The RCMP have recovered an absolutely enormous score that is being touted as the biggest recovery of goods ever. Matter of fact so much so they've had to rent and haul in a storage container just to house all the stolen goods they've recovered.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed they'll have my bike! Maybe (I hope).

I have to give them a call down island once I'm back in Canada as apparently while the thieves were robbing up and down the island they were storing the stuff in Victoria.

On the RCMP website they have a page or so of photos of all the stolen stuff - most of which seem to be power generators, tools from construction sites, coins and jewelry but no photos of bikes.

H O P E F U L L Y (And - since I just purchased another old bike I'm sure I'll get my first OLD bike back! What is that Murphy's Law? Karma? Dumb Luck?

[Horus]

Ooh, you will now be a two bike family, very posh

[LovelyLadyLux]

YUP - move on up!! IF I do get my old bike back I will be MOVING ON UP!

[LovelyLadyLux]

So - UPDATE TIME!

Last week the local RCMP did a major bust and have recovered something like 12 dozen bikes!! Right in the area (as in REAL close) to where mine got stolen.

There was a group of FIVE low-lifes stealing them. One of the ONLY problems is that they took apart lots of the bikes.

These FIVE were arrested, did appear in Court and then were ALL released with a promise to re-appear in another month or so.....yeah right (The DOWNSIDE of our legal system)

I've got a call in to the RCMP to see IF they have recovered my bike. Just hope if they have it isn't in pieces.

HOPEFULLY

[Horus]

What were they doing with them, selling spare parts?

[LovelyLadyLux]

That would be my guess. I'll find out more when I talk to the RCMP and see if I can identify it (doubt I can ID parts)

[Kiya]

Hope you get your bike back with all parts ...........it's looking doubtful though

[Jayway]

Good Luck LLL. hope you get to choose a nice full set of parts !

[Horus]

Good Luck LLL. hope you get to choose a nice full set of parts !

Yes, you could make yourself a really nice bike and claim it was all your parts

[Grandad]

Any good at DIY LLL?

[LovelyLadyLux]

I have no voicemail messages back from the RCMP. Will have to call them again tomorrow if I don't hear from them.