Have you ever had a bike stolen? It kinda sucks. You go back to where you left it, most often to ride it home, and it's gone. Not where you left it. Someone's come along and pinched it. This blog post captures the bikes I've had stolen in the last 6 years (I think I can remember all of them..) Oh, and one that I lost. How do you lose a bike? I hear you ask. All will be revealed below.
I'll try do them in chronological order
1) Easter Holidays 2007:
The first bike that I had stolen was the one I was given from my cousin. This bike had served me well during my teenage paper round years, most often as a back up for when my bike had a puncture and Dad hadn't fixed it yet. When I got to college I used it as a bike for the "3rd leg" of my journey to college. (1 = Cycling to the train station. 2 = Being on the train. 3 = Cycling from the station to college)
The day before the Easter holidays I was round someones house after college and had locked my bike up opposite their house to the fence that surrounded the local leisure centre. I then got offered a lift home to which I obviously said yes. The bike was locked with a D-lock so I assumed it would be fine - even for the two weeks during the holidays.
First day back at college and I went to collect it and it had gone! Sort of. The frame was still there, locked to the fence, but the wheels and saddle had gone. So I did the thing anyone would do with a 16 year old bike - I took the D-lock and left the frame on the floor - oops!
2) Autumn 2007
This bike was a nice bike, if I remember correctly. A sort of hybrid with disc breaks from Halfords. I got it for my birthday and it lasted around 6 months. I used it for my first leg of the college journey and I remember vividly getting to the train station, getting off the train and heading to where I locked it up that morning. Then suddenly - nothing - nothing was there. I remember panicking a little and ringing my Mum. "Hello?" "Mum, my bike's not there" "What do you mean?" "My bike's not there." I wasn't particularly helpful in that situation.
We reported it to the police, but they were as unhelpful as ever an we got a letter through a few weeks later saying that 'Unfortunately the CCTV at the train station was not functional on the day the bike was stolen.' To say we were unhappy was an understatement. My parents claimed for the bike on their house insurance which gave me some cash to buy a new bike. Which leads me onto one of the more embarrassing episodes in my life...
3) Summer 2008
Much like the pretty girl I kissed in a club in Newcastle once, I don't remember this bike. I don't remember what it looked like, I don't remember it's name but I remember being ashamed of my behaviour.
I was late for the train. (Talking about the bike now..) There was no time to lock the bike up so I took the bike over the bridge with me and got it on the train. Just as the door closed I got a phone call asking if I was on the train. I said yes and went to find my friends. We got off the train at college and headed to our respective revision sessions. (It was A level period.) We headed back to the train station via Tescos afterwards and sat on the platform eating donuts. Mmm. Donuts. I remembered I had a doctors appointment that I needed to get to back home. I thought, no problems I have my bike, I'll just cycle up the road and.... wait a second, where's my bike? Did I leave it at college? I defiantly had it on the train. On the train. On. The. Train. Oh, &#%@!
So yes. This is the story how I left my bike on a train. Off it went to London Waterloo never to be seen (by me) again. It was probably a nice bike. We bought it off some family friends about siz months before and I'm pretty sure it was black. Or silver. I think. Needless to say, it was the last bike my parents bought me.
4) Spring 2009
When I moved to Lincoln I used to live in a house about 30minutes walk from work. As I was lazy I bought myself a bike off a friend for £20. Bargain. I used this bike to ride to/from work for at least 6 months (do you see a pattern here?) until one day the wheel buckled. That was annoying. I locked it up about half way to work and walked the rest of the way and picked it up on the way home. (I bet you thought it would have been stolen by then, eh!) Turns out it would be around £30 for a new wheel - £30 repair on a bike costing £20? No thanks. So what I very cunningly did was leave it unlocked outside my house. It was there for about an hour before someone stole it. Some poor sod rode off/more likely wheeled away an old bike with a buckled back wheel which meant I did not need to find a proper way to dispose of it. Score.
5) Spring 2009
Yes, yes, two bikes in the same time period; but they were both strategically stolen-on-purpose.
This bike cost me £15 from a facebook friend. I was warned however that one of the pedals came off so would need fixing. No problem I thought and duly picked it up from him one Saturday morning. I nipped down to B&Q to buy the relevant nut to keep the pedal fixed on and fixed it up and rode it around. After the pedal unscrewing itself every single day I finally got tired of it and - yes, you guessed it - left it outside my house. Now, I must emphasize that I didn't live in a crime hotspot - nothing of the sort actually - but this bike lasted less than 10 minutes outside my house. I left it leant against the wall, went and made dinner, came back to the front lounge and it was gone. Again some poor chap had ridden off on a bike that wouldn't last long until the pedal came off! I realise now that I could have easily swapped the pedals but at the time I didn't have the know-how and to be honest it probably wasn't worth it.
6) Summer 2011
After I got back from the Lincoln2London (www.lincoln2london.blogspot.com) trip, I thought it was time to get myself a bike again. I got given a free(!) Saracen downhill mountain bike that needed new gears and brakes. £40 later and I had myself a really decent bike. It was great for commuting on, handled all weathers well and I was really sad when this one got stolen. I locked it up in town under a bridge and went to work. We went out for lunch and as I walked past the bridge I noticed my bike was gone! The lock was missing too so they left no trace of a bike being there. I phoned the police and reported it missing but never heard anything from it. There was a 4 hour window where someone could have taken it and if it was me I would have got on a train with it and been as far away as possible, as quickly as possible. (Although knowing me I would have left said bike on said train...) For the second time in my life I received a letter from the police letting me know that on the day in question the CCTV was not working and the bike had not been found. What a joke! What's the point in having CCTV up if its not working?! It's not working as a deterrent so sort it out UK Police forces! I was saddest about this bike as I'd had it for a decent period of time and it was a really nice bike just for commuting and going into town on.
7) Honourable mention
This bike didn't actually get stolen but it is worth mentioning as it goes with the bad luck I have with bikes. It was a Reebok mountain bike (you can tell the quality of it from that) which I got for free off a freecycle style website. It needed the gears looking at and I couldn't be bothered to do it so I told my housemate James if he got it fixed and paid for it, he could have the bike. James did indeed get it fixed and rode it around for a few weeks until one day the front wheel decided to lock up and sent him straight over the handlebars! Resulting in a face that looked like this:
Poor James! Unfortunately for him this wasn't the worst thing to happen in 2012.. but perhaps more on that another day.
5 bikes stolen, 1 lost and 1 faulty in 6 years is not exactly a great record... Fortunately I'm pleased to say that in the 2 years I've owned road bikes I've not had either of them stolen, and long may that continue!
Thanks for reading and sorry Mum & Dad for the money you spent on bikes for me that I had stolen and lost!
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