Hunting Down Your Stolen Bike

Have you ever had a bike nicked? Writer Patrick Symmes has. In fact, at this point he’s had seven stolen. It all started on a sunny day in New York City when his blue Novara Metro hybrid was snatched by two men who got it loose from the lock after hacking at it for 17 minutes, as over a hundred people walked by.

Symmes knows this because a surveillance camera caught it all on tape. And watching the video made Symmes want to learn more– he set off on a multi-state effort to track down the people who steal bikes.

He bought some (probably stolen) bikes, attached GPS trackers on them and waited for them to be taken. Sometimes he couldn’t get the bikes stolen when he tried. But in other cases, the bikes were “pinched” as he calls it, pretty quickly. In one case was able to catch a thief, who was mentally ill and gave it back to him.

Symmes writes, “In America’s rough streets there are four forms of currency: Cash, sex, drugs and bicycles. And of those, only one is routinely left outside unattended.”

Facebook: Has Your Bike Been Nicked? Join The Conversation

Guest:

Patrick Symmes, who wrote the article “Who Pinched My Ride” in Outside Magazine

We welcome comments from all of our listeners. Post below. Please stay on topic and be civil. Comments may be moderated by us, but you are solely responsible for the content of your comments.

http://www.facebook.com/klcooksey Kathy Cooksey

I had a friend who converted a bicycle into a powered bike with a two-stroke engine. It was stolen from his backyard. He immediately started watching Craig’s List for a bike fitting his bike’s description to post. When it did, he had a friend pose as a potential buyer and set up a “sting” with the local police. All went as planned. He got his bike back, and the thieves were at least hauled away in a cop car.
J Rich

This won’t work for bike messengers but leisure riders should never get off their bike, unless it’s to rest beside it. Never let it out of your (or someone else’s) sight.
DKB

Why can’t public authorities set up locking bike stands that use your credit card as a unique combination key? Many hotel safes work this way: lock reads your [unique] credit card number, stores it, and locks your bike in (with STRONG bolt). When you return you unlock it by reading the same card and the lock then forgets the number to wait for the next use. Cheap battery or solar recharged battery could easily power it. Even with a good system, don’t leave your bike too long and use a lock that will, at least, slow down a thief. Write down serial numbers and put your name and phone # inside the frame.
Kristi Sturdivant

We stored our bikes in a shed with a lock on the door. Three times the increasingly heavy locks were cut and the bikes stolen. Then the final straw came. The theives tried to cut the lock without success, and damaged the door facing. The next night they returned with heavier tools and ripped off all of the wood around the door and stole the bike. At this point we gave up, repaired the shed, but did not put a lock on the door. After some weeks, we again replaced the bikes and have since stored them in the uinlocked shed without problem. Go figure!
Cindy Brasher

My 86 year old father worked two jobs and attended middle school after his father had died when Dad was nine years old. Five children and his mother had counted on Dad’s contributions to survive. When I was in elementary school, my Dad told me stories about the Depression and growing up in WV, but the most indelible story was the one when he had saved enough money to buy a bike to increase his paper route, and the bike was stolen! His story taught me about the “Greatest Generation” work ethic, the importance of character, and love of family.
cdigs

That pic is of a ghost bike. Who strips those? Sheesh.
Evan

In Boise, ID, you can register your Serial Number online with the Boise Police Department. I don’t know how effective it is, but I do know of a few people who’s bikes were recovered using the serial number.
Lightingguy

This past year my children and I had two bikes stolen on two different nights in the same week from our front yard. it was plain to tell by looking at our yard that we were a family with lots of kids. We decided to post an ad in our local newspaper for next week saying that we hoped whoever took the bikes from us needed them more than we did and if so, to please keep them, otherwise to please return the bikes so we could resume our family bike trips. Apparently the former situation was the case, because we never saw them again.
Biker 12

In college, my bike was stolen. A few weeks later, a buddy saw my bike on campus and stole it back.
Dave Shelman

Traveling east on I-84 this past Monday evening, the strong east wind blowing out of the Columbia River Gorge “ripped” the bike from the rear mount of our Outback just as we were exiting the freeway. By the time we figured out what happened and went back for it, it was nowhere to be found. The next morning my wife put a “lost” ad on Craigslist under the title “Flying Bike”. Within hours we received a response and it had been discovered and retrieved by a neighbor in our rural community–not 5 minutes away!!

We were relieved to know that the bike had not caused an accident or injury; blessed by our Good Samaritan; and maybe a little piqued that we don’t get to shop for a new bike (looks like it will only be a $75 repair bill).
BHA in Vermont

If it takes 17 minutes to hack one lock, perhaps 2 would dissuade the thieves – at least the broad daylight in a public place thefts. Easier to find a less well protected bike.
Jgreko

this is 1 of the reasons I rode a skateboard all through college.
Peter Oxford

PETE O

I helped run a bike store from 1975 to 2000. When we realized people were bring us stolen bikes, we started a policy of requiring a sales slip for that bike including a serial number, owners name and phone number. This solved most of the problem and avoided those awkward moments for our sales people when they thought a bike they were being offered might be stolen. Many times when we knew a person’s bike and had it in our hands, we told the thief to leave it with their name and phone number. They always ran. Our customers were intensely thankful, loyal, and came back for generations.
Bigskymind49

Listen to “The Apology Song” by The Decemberists.
Tenkyong2008

GLAD to hear Igor was arrested!!
I lived down the block from him on Queen Street and went there to find my stolen bike to no avail. But later I was at home, watched a couple walk along and try car doors; they were unsuccessful. A half hour later same couple glided down Gore Vale to Queen. I followed and watched the cash exchange
Kris Akins

My startup Company: BikeTrak is developing a Bicycle Theft Twarting system: A GPS device covertly attachable to bikes that alerts the owner when bike is moved unexpectedly and tracks it if stolen. An app will file a police reprot, alert social networks, and list bike on stolen bicycle registries. We are in Portland, would love to talk with you, Patrick. Please go to http://www.biketrak.com, sign up and send me an email. We want to get this problem under control!!