October 20, 2005
Somewhat Locked...
Usually my morning routine consists of waking to my alarm at 8:35 and busting out the door at 8:48. Funny times, they’re somewhat dictated by Caltrain that I take to San Mateo for work. This morning headed out the door and up the steep San Francisco hill and found a bike locked up against a pole at the top of the hill. What really caught my eye was the bike wheel that was locked to the same pole, through the spokes, I was thinking how easy it would be to clip those spoked, take the wheel, and replace the spokes. Then I cast a closer look at the bike that was locked up there and it looked like this…
So the wheel was locked up through the spokes but the frame was completely free. Takes a quick flip of the quick-release and the bike is properly stolen. Ouch. I headed to Thinker’s Cafe where I’ve been getting my morning routine coffee and got a to go food bag and used their sharpie to write a note to the bike owner that this was a very precarious method of locking up a bike and that it was a fortune that the bike is still there. I went back and tucked it into the spokes of the front wheel of the bike.
40 minutes later, already in San Mateo, walking to work, I came to the realization that the lone wheel that was locked to the same pole… probably belonged to a bike that was locked up by someone using the same technique. That bike had probably already been jacked.
Fast forward to the end of the day, I walk past on my way home, and I found no trace of the bikes, locks, or wheels,… save for my note, lying next to the pole.
I wonder if the second bike got jacked as well and my note ended up being a smartass insult as opposed to an earnest warning. I guess someone learned their lesson either way.
Had I made the mental connection that there were probably two bikes there earlier I might have gone back and locked the bike to the pole properly and left my phone number when they wanted it back, or left a key at the cafe… something… I’m still not quite sure what the right strategy would have been.
So on this note… here’s another picture from August 31. I’m pretty sure this one would have required a front and rear wheel removal, but either was I think someone was trying to be tricky but actually just put their bike at risk… I look at bikes a lot, seeing how they’re locked up. Sometimes I cringe, sometimes I marvel at the ingenuity.
bigger question is applicible to more than bikes, i think: do i say something, or remain anonymous? the mean city is a nasty place...how much urban nonsense do i take in silently and what do i choose to call out? the rule out east seems to be: don't talk to strangers and mind your own damn business. it all is quite desensitizing. hopefully things are better out west.
jojo has a red bike that looks like that second one. but damn, that's a great way to lock up a helmet.
Posted by: taus at October 20, 2005 08:52 PMI look at bikes a lot as well. Sometimes while I am moving on a bike myself, which can be hazardous. About the second bike, it looks as if it is as simple as picking it and walking with it, which sometimes happens. Granted, that second bike looks to be worth less than the 2 locks that are 'securing' it.
On the general karma note, I was talking about bike stuff to the members of my group project at Simmons. One of my members said that halted a bike thief mid-steal outside the Ruggles (Ruggles) T Stop, in mid daylight, right in front of a Northeastern University Public Safety office. Good work PS. I thanked him for the owner of the bike.
Also, Jojo's bike is better than that one.
-Peet-
Posted by: Peet at October 21, 2005 09:57 AMwoah, i finally fiured out the bottom bike, it is in fact secure, well, according to my current thinking, for a while i though it could be passed underneath with the wheels taken off, but then it's actually still attached, because the cable loops around the big metal tube in the ground. my bad, very nice locking technique. the one on top is still screwy, and of that i am sure.
Posted by: 1e at October 21, 2005 01:02 PM1e, I tend to disagree- if you were willing to sacrifice the helmet on the 2nd bike, or even just the helmet straps, wouldn't the bike just come free? I mean, you'd have a cable on it, but that can be dealt with in due time.
All this bike locking in the city calls to mind several times I've inadvertently locked my bike poorly (read: not at all, missing the bar with the mini-lock) and come back to discover it still just the way I left it. Once, as you know, in Stern Grove amidst tens of thousands of people. Another, in my driveway in the ghetto. It begs the question: Do only people who love bikes and hate to see them stolen carefully inspect the lock job? Or are people just more good than we give them credit for?
Posted by: Marla at October 26, 2005 08:34 AM