Man! Watched someone try to steal my bike today

[Danneaux]

Hi All!

As some of you know, I've been renting a car this last week for some out-of-town appointments after my '89 Honda Civic spun a rod bearing following an oil pump failure 'way up in the woods as I scouted logging-road bike routes last week. Long story, high Adventure, made it out of the mountains and home on a wing and a prayer avoiding a 30-mile walk to cellphone service, etc.

I'm now awaiting word from a dealer who is supposed to locate a car for me, so I returned the rental today to stop the clock on fees. I folded the rear seats and popped the 43 year-old Raleigh in the trunk so I could avoid the long walk home through an iffy nieghborhood.

Before I returned the car I parked and walked the bike across the street, removed the front wheel and used my U-lock and heavy cable to lock the lot through several iron bars of the fence surrounding the rental car lot, removed the computer and Silca pump with Campy steel head, then turned the car in.

While I was waiting for three older people in line ahead of me to be served, something caught my eye and I glanced out the window to see a half-dozen members of what looked to be an extended family pushing a couple baby carriages along the sidewalk: Grandma, Mama, three little kids walking and another kid who looked to be around 14 or so.

He was leading the pack and stopped in front of my bike, riveted. He then picked it up, shook it, and tried to pull it away from the fence several times and rattled the lock and cable before finally dropping it on the forks and giving it a kick. I couldn't boil out of the building 'cos the gate had been closed on that side after I entered, and by that time the old folks were trying to negotiate the stairway to collect their rental. I was like a kettle on the boil with the whistle steaming and could do nothing but look out the window. The kid saw me and my gesticulations through the glass, but he didn't even pause in his efforts and just glanced at me with a blank look.

The stuff of Danneaux's nightmares.

What got me was the whole family stood by while the kid gave it his best and appeared to say nothing as they clustered around, watching his concerted efforts. By the time I got out, they had wandered down a nearby alley at a leisurely pace and it seemed pointless to escalate things. Police here do not investigate or respond to property crimes of any sort, and the jail has been emptied due to lack of operations funding, so crime is rampant. Despite that, I'm sure they would have found a place in jail for me if I'd laid a finger on the kid.

I was pleased to find only some scarred chrome on the previously pristine 43 year-old fork ends and awfully glad I'd taken such care to lock it securely and remove everything removable, though it was a hassle at the time. I'd left the bike no more than a minute before they arrived -- I'd seen them cross the street as I left the bike and never figured the kid would try to steal it, at least not so boldly.

A good lesson to never.leave.a.bike for even a moment if the neighborhood or community is as unfortunately Bad as mine for theft, and to keep an older bike for errands or whenever the bike must be left unattended, even within sight. I love the Nomad for touring, but I daren't use it for local errands even if gone for a just a minute -- there'd be nothing left to return to.

Best,

Dan. (...who holds a dim view of local humanity at the moment and plans to put a coat of clear acrylic nail polish on the scarred fork end)

[JimK]

Wow that is a sorry story, Dan!

Around here folks leave even nice bicycles sitting out indefinitely. Bikes do get stolen but it is quite unusual. But I lock mine up all the same!

Things can change so quickly. Either a neighborhood can change or if you are traveling then it is easy to cross the line into a high theft zone. It really is sad though to see such degeneration of society.

[Danneaux]

<nods> Sure is, Jim, and the kid didn't look even remotely like a "bad kid". Nicely dressed with some of those new long shorts in fresh denim, good basketball shoes, a blue golf shirt with white stripes, and a new-looking blue baseball cap with some sort of logo. The rest of the family looked like they could have shopped in the same grocery stores I do. Nothing remarkable about them in a bad way.

I dunno...I guess I had a mental picture of a bike thief as some guy in his 20s strung out and looking like a hood (we have plenty of those, some openly carrying bolt cutters and riding with one hand on a "spare" bike). Instead, this could have been any kid starting the first day of Fall classes at the local middle school on Yearbook Picture Day. Go figure.

<grumble>

Best,

Dan. (...who keeps the Nomad locked in his livingroom leaning against the fireplace mantle -- silly though it may sound)

[JimK]

Here is a similar sad story. My brother down in San Diego had been telling me about his project to fix up an old Stumpjumper. He got a Crane Creek headset that didn't quite fit so he put the bits on his lathe and machined them. A real nuts and bolts engineer!

Just a couple weeks ago he got it all put together and rode it to the grocery store. Used a cable lock to secure it. Came out of the store ten minutes later and it was gone!

Here is a before photo. San Diego Police Case # 13-033808 if anyone has a tip!

[Matt2matt2002]

Dan. (...who keeps the Nomad locked in his livingroom leaning against the fireplace mantle -- silly though it may sound)

Is that the fireplace mantle with the shotgun above it?
 

Thanks for sharing your story and pleased it had a reasonable end.
Maybe it was a good idea you were not able to get hold of the kid.
The laws over here are all based in favour of the young criminals.

Some years ago I came close to laying hands on a young girl who been throwing stones at me as I locked up the local tennis courts at night.
I was so mad at her stupid antics..........
Fortunately for me, sense prevailed and I just spoke to her.

What's the moral of all this?

Matt

[jags]

oh i wouldn't think much of that motly crew  burned at the stake ,oh i had better not make a comment dan will only delete it anyway

[sdg_77]

Dan - a sad story but very glad to see you are ok and there is little permanent damage* done.

*apart from what is says about modern 'society'

At my SkyRide leader's course we were all advised to bring our bikes inside the community centre which is close to a known haunt of local drug addicts, and yet I'm always struck when I drive or cycle past there how the probably 90+% of straight forward locals all get tarred with the same brush.

The bike racks at our railway station were moved onto the platforms after a spate of thefts,  even though the old racks were at the queue end of the taxi stand.  Now it is a case of lock your bike on the London platform as it is too easy to pass a stolen steed over the fence on the Birmingham side.  I don't cycle to the station as I wouldn't leave my Sherpa or Cannondale there and the police say Claud Butlers are particularly prized by the local neer-do-wells.

I am fortunate enough to live a few kms away from all of this!



sdg.

[Andre Jute]

Awful story. I don't know what is worse, the damage to a 43 year-old bike or the criminal mentality of a whole family that can just stand there watching and not remonstrate with the thief, or having to ride a second-rate bike in future for fear of having the bike of choice stolen.

Worst of all is that you can't even defend your property...

I feel for you, Dan.

[jags]

Andre it would be a case of,Daddy daddy looked what i robber today,well done son we can flog that on no problem. i'm telling you you can spot these guys a mile away..
but to be honest Dan i would have taken  the bike into the dealership with me, if the neighbourhoob looked dodgy theres a reason for it.

[Donnydid]

Theft of my Nomad is something I think about all the time, I park it in my living room
with three locks on it hoping that if ever I get another visit from low life down the road
they will just leave it alone. I have been burgled four times in the last 10 years, I live in
a nice area but the culprets are from 2 miles down the road, each time the Police have
said that they think they know who is behind it but they never pin the theft on them.
Dan, I guess a bit of damage is better than no bike at all but it is so maddening that
there are people in todays society who have no respect for other peoples property who
are quite happy to steal or damage other peoples property and not give a s***!
Makes my blood boil!

[Danneaux]

I feel for you, Dan.

Thanks, All. You can imagine the embarrassment I felt at my community when John Saxby met me for breakfast at a local restaurant and I had to help him unload his motorcycle touring load and transfer it to the covered hatchback well of my car in the parking lot so it would still be there when we finished dining.

The most the police do is to chastise and warn the public against leaving anything valuable within sight in their parked cars...even pocet change, a sweater, or a book are enough to "encourage" a thief to break in to see if there's anything more of value.

It sure wasn't like this when my family returned to the area over 50 years ago from another town 60 miles away. It is such a beautiful areas with real wilderness so very close by and a wealth of outdoors recreational opportunities in stunning scenery. I'm sad it has changed so much in the last 20 years. A lot of people have moved here from out of town, the timber-based community went bust, and widespread methamphetamine addiction took hold, driving property crimes involving anything metal, which is stolen and turned in for recycling value. The phones and electrical service keep going out as a result:
http://projects.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/updates/19844158-46/story.csp
http://www.registerguard.com/rg/news/local/30336316-75/thieves-dexter-telephone-wire-cable.html.csp
http://www.registerguard.com/rg/news/local/30156438-75/centurylink-copper-wire-working-company.html.csp
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Latest+wire+theft+gets+blame+for+Sunday's+power+outage.-a0269380206
There are occupational hazards for those who engage in such acticities: http://www.registerguard.com/rg/news/local/30283676-63/mill-fire-harris-office-panel.html.csp
People are even stealing trees to the tune of millions of dollars!: http://projects.registerguard.com/web/opinion/27349334-47/timber-forest-service-theft-industry.html.csp

Terrible thing about your brother's bike being stolen, Jim, and especially after all that hand-work.

Is that the fireplace mantle with the shotgun above it?

Yes, Matt, it is (Not. Oddly enough, I am one of perhaps three Americans in the whole country who doesn't own a gun. Not opposed to them and all my friends have them for hunting. It is just that I don't hunt and can't think of other situations that couldn't be made worse by using one).

What's the moral of all this?

Times have changed locally, and I have to be really careful if I'm to hang onto my stuff -- bicycles, especially. Beyond that, well...I still believe in the inherent goodness of most people but I'd hate to leave it solely to them. I recall an old man watching me carefully lock my bike in a rural town of some 900 people. After I finished he nodded and said, "People here are honest and that lock will keep them that way".

Makes my blood boil!

Me too, Dave. Sounds like we're in the same boat. I think it especially grates on me 'cos I always waited to acquire something until I'd earned the money fair and square, and never stole or cheated myself. Something in my mind says, "If I can do things honestly, why can't others?"

Dan i would have taken  the bike into the dealership with me, if the neighbourhoob looked dodgy theres a reason for it.

Wish  could have, jags, but there wasn't room for it. The office was a manufactured building that had been trucked in and elevated on a stilt-like structure. I do wish I'd locked the bike on the *inside* of the fence, though. It would have at least required the kid to come onto the car rental lot instead of doing his work from the sidewalk.

Best,

Dan. (...who grumpily wishes bike thieves would get electrocuted whilst committing theft as sometimes happens to wire thieves)

[Matt2matt2002]

Not quite in the same category as theft, but something to prove most folk are honest........

We recently moved house from Dumfries to Inverurie Aberdeenshire.
The first few weeks were mayhem and in the space of 2 days I "lost" my phone, wallet, car keys and camera in separate shops.
On each occasion the items were handed in and returned to me.

Could have been the same guy following me around?
 

Matt. Who is now not allowed out of the house by Mrs. Matt with more than one lossable item.

[jags]

Here is a similar sad story. My brother down in San Diego had been telling me about his project to fix up an old Stumpjumper. He got a Crane Creek headset that didn't quite fit so he put the bits on his lathe and machined them. A real nuts and bolts engineer!

Just a couple weeks ago he got it all put together and rode it to the grocery store. Used a cable lock to secure it. Came out of the store ten minutes later and it was gone!

Here is a before photo. San Diego Police Case # 13-033808 if anyone has a tip!

did he hear anything on that bike jim or is it history.a friend of mind had his shed broken into all his bikes were stolen, he was just after finishing the build on his pinerallo  maybe about 6000 worth he was pretty sick. he had them insured but still he felt rotten about the whole episode.

[JimK]

did he hear anything on that bike jim or is it history.

It's looking like history at this point. Yeah my brother is really unhappy about it - he put a lot of work into that bike and it came out really nice. First day out riding, gone.

[jags]

yeah and if he did get it back for some reason it doesn't feel like the same bike strange that.i never felt threatened here in ireland(touch wood) but its never out of eye sight for long.