(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)
The bike that introduced Portland transportation director Leah Treat to pedal commuting can’t catch a break: It’s now been stolen once from each of the three cities where she’s worked.
Its most recent swipe came some time Thursday night, when Treat cable-locked her blue Breezer Greenway in the loggia outside day care entrance at the Portland Building, where she works.
“Because I had a ton of meetings that night at various places around town, I ended up leaving her overnight,” Treat, who joined the bureau in July, wrote in an email Monday. “I now know that wasn’t such a smart thing to do.”
The bike, which she’s named Beatrice, has a white seat, white grips, black fenders and a “LaSalle” parking permit on the front fender.
a change to white seat and grips.
(photo courtesy Leah Treat)
Fortunately for Treat (and hopefully for Beatrice), the Portland Building has outdoor cameras.
“The building security has the event captured on film and I think we’ll be turning over a face to [Police Bureau] soon, which is great news,” Treat wrote. “Whether that means I’ll get Beatrice back, I don’t know.”
Treat’s bike (which isn’t the only one her six-person family owns — she’s recently edited her Twitter bio from describing her spouse as a “bike fanatic” to merely a “cyclist”) was stolen from the family’s Washington DC garage, and then recovered, Treat wrote. It was later stolen and recovered in Chicago, where she worked until this year.
Treat said she’s baffled as to why her bike might be a theft magnet.
“I have no idea why someone would want Beatrice,” she wrote. “She is totally functional and a great ride, but she’s a hodgepodge of parts because she’s been nabbed twice before. Each time she was recovered parts were banged up or missing, so she wasn’t the prettiest thing. But she is the bike I started commuting on and [I] grew more attached to her because she’d been stolen and recovered twice.”
It’s obviously the thief, not Treat, who’s responsible for this crime. That said, Treat’s experience that a cable lock isn’t enough to prevent theft jibes with trends at Portland State University a few blocks to the south. PSU, the city’s ground zero for bike theft, doesn’t even offer cable locks for sale in its campus bike shop.
Let’s hope Treat is able to recover Beatrice one more time, and that a theft doesn’t deter her from getting around by bike when she wants to.
Thanks for reading.
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High time to upgrade to a real U-lock.
yep, she may be baffled why her bike is a theft magnet but all I had to see was cable lock to know why…
Yeah. I don’t think the bike itself matters to certain thieves, just the easy opportunity of a cable to cut, and sort out the use of the bike later.
You would think the PBOT director would learn and be aware that a U-Lock is needed no matter your bike, I guess some are just slower at learning than others or paying attention to what is happening. But hey it got her media attention.
My bike sits outside on NW 21st and Flanders overnight every night and no problems yet after more than a year, but it is locked up with a good lock.
And it is also named Beatrice 🙂
Wow! Why doesn’t everyone “advertise” where outside bikes sit overnight and invite someone to try and steal it. I can’t imagine giving out my address and telling folks my bike is locked outdoors all night every night. It doesn’t matter what kind of lock I was using.
Thankfully, it’s not the kind of bike most people WANT to steal. It’s old, rusty, heavy, hard to steal, and low return on effort. Plus it’s a bit unusual, so chances of recovery are fairly good.
Mine is out, overnight every night, on 21st and Overton. I dare any thief to try to steal it, those nyc u locks would probably be a real fun challenge for you in the middle of the night! Seriously, go for it!
Hi, neighbor 🙂
No mention of frame locks????? I still use a cable with a frame lock. Sure you might get past the cable, but you’re most likely going to damage the rear wheel or seat stays getting the frame lock off. And least I forget my Raleigh Superbe also has a locking front fork as well which when locked prevents the handle bars from turning- my choice of three positions.
But then again I seldom ride somewhere where it’s out of sight for more than an hour or so, and I’d never let it sit outside over night.
I’ve often thought about locking only the fork lock and leaving it “unattended” somewhere and watching the would be thieves bite it when they try to ride off. But I like my ride too much to purposely crash her.
go check by Ross Island sand and gravel at the start of the springwater, lots of bikes there, also up in the bushes a few yards up from where the path starts, lots of bike up there too
The buried lede in this story: our new transportation director personifies and names her bike. I’m liking Ms. Treat more and more.
I don’t understand why people only use cable locks.
It’s typically a lesson you only need to learn once. Perhaps the third time’s the charm?
My bikes all have U-locks, heavy cables and most have a ring-type frame lock installed. I try to work on the theory that a thief will go for the less secure bike nearby.
If ‘Beatrice’ is recovered, perhaps a trip to Clever Cycles is in order for the purchase of additional locks.
Great to hear they have the event on video, but it would be nice to have a few sting operations set up to help root out the thieves and their parts networks.
Cable locks are great, when used on bike thieves.
(tongue in cheek. this poster does not endorse whipping anyone with steel cables)
Now, with a U-lock or NYC-chain…
Does the Portland Building have indoor bike parking?
If not, maybe they’ll get some now.
Indoor parking is soooo much better for bikes. They’re more secure, of course, but if its climate-controlled, bikes dry out during the day, so their seats, tires, cables and lubrication all last longer.
You can also set out your jacket, booties, gloves, and helmet to dry in the bike room, too, instead of have them drip all the way to your office.
Ted Buehler
There’s a ton of bike parking at the Portland building. It’s down in what used to be the public parking garage. As a newbie she may not know it exists.
It’s a ton of very crowded bike parking throughout September and well into October, but yes, Leah should get her security badge upgraded to give her access to the garage. They let me in–they should definitely let in a bureau director!
If you’re coming and going a lot it’s a hassle to use the garage because it takes extra time. I’ve parked outside the building in the “loggia” for almost 8 years and never had a problem, but I don’t have a fancy bike, I use a U-lock, and I never leave it overnight.
I stole my own bike at City Hall last fall. Part of the cable lock combination lock guts fell out just as I was locking up the bike, and the lock wouldn’t open.
I came back at 4:30 pm with a hacksaw and cut it free. Done in 5 mins, nobody noticed.
I’ve always used a U-lock on my valuable bikes since then.
FWIW
Ted Buehler
Don’t get cocky: I cut through a U-lock in less than a minute with a portable dremel tool with a carbide wheel (my bike, btw).
A mass produced bike with a hodge podge of mass produce parts is exactly what an opportunist thief would want. The cable lock just make it THE bike they want.
Yeah, it’s really not about how much something is “worth”. If the thief can get ten bucks for it, then it will be stolen. If the thief can sell it to someone who can’t afford a legit bike, then it’s worth it.
Is there no indoor bike parking at the Portland Building? I’m asking because I’m genuinely baffled as to why such a thing wouldn’t be available (when lots of other office buildings have it) for an important person like the head of our transportation department.
Nope, nothing for nobody…. I’ve had friends get SEATS stolen parked outside the Portland Building.
Well, that’s not true at all. There are at least 100 bike racks in the basement. You have to be an employee to access it though.
Good! I sure hope Beatrice is recovered and the thieves caught.
And you have to have your city ID swipe card programmed to allow garage access. It is (seems?) very secure.
“”The building security has the event captured on film and I think we’ll be turing over a face”
turing=turning ? you need a spell checker MA
sure wish everybody got front page treatment on stolen bikes. she shuuda maybe learned after the first theft ?
Thanks, TOM. It’s from the email but I standardized some of the punctuation (as I usually do with everyone), so I’ll fix the typo too.
Shuuda = should have or should’ve? You need a spell checker TOM, or to realize you are not txt’ing.
WHT!? I txt ll th tme! ttl tme svr!
(link here is NSFW BTW)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auFlioaRZKc
Somebody that’s a big city transportation department director gets their bike stolen not just once, but twice, and now…three times…still doesn’t realize their bike, for various reasons, is one thieves like to steal. Apparently is also slow to realize that one of the wimpiest types of bike locks, the pathetically feeble cable lock..hardly discourages bike theft.
How Treat hasn’t yet picked up on and taken effective measures to keep her ride from being stolen, isn’t easy to figure. Maybe the city should put together some more, better public service announcements about avoiding bike theft. Featured in those PSA’s, if she’s on for it, the theft of Portland transportation director Leah Treat’s bike may make some kind of positive difference.
Hope she recovers the bike. Looks like a nice one, scratches or not. Worth spending $80-$100 or more on a quality u-lock and hauling the extra weight around, to provide some solid dissuasion to the next thieves that scope her bike out.
my vacuum cleaner is named beatrice.
My U-lock is named beatrice. She doubles as a training weight.
Yep, been there (at Lloyd Center actually) and done that (locked with a cable to preserve the paint on my $90 Walmart bike), and got it swiped from under the security camera by somebody who just purchased a bolt cutter from Sears! The fat rent-a-cop security guys were useless.
I now use a beefy U-lock and a chain with padlock!
I put the chain in a piece of tire tube, to preserve the paint on the bike.
The best security is locking up your bike (with a U lock) next to a bike locked with a cable lock.
Points of clarification – Beatrice was stolen out of my garage in DC, along with almost everything else in it. I learned from that lesson to keep your bike locked in your garage. Beatrice was stolen out of my garage in Chicago locked up to other bikes with U Locks — the thieves just took all the bikes in a bundle. Now I know a cable lock isn’t the safest way to go. I have invested in a much better lock but have been advised by Police that they’ve got video of thieves cutting just about every lock made. Please keep track of your serial numbers and take pictures of your bike. Update those photos anytime you change a significant feature.
And I miss Beatrice.
“…Now I know a cable lock isn’t the safest way to go. I have invested in a much better lock but have been advised by Police that they’ve got video of thieves cutting just about every lock made. …” Leah Treat
Thanks for the clarification. Watch the video, see what you think. Nobody’s saying a U-lock is a 100 percent guarantee that a bike so secured will deter a determined thief…but instead that quality versions of that type of lock are harder to bust than cable locks are, and as a result, may change a thief’s mind.
Hauling around an extra 5-6 lbs of good U-lock isn’t fun, but is probably way more fun than the stress of having one’s bike ripped off by some loser.
“Hauling around an extra 5-6 lbs of good U-lock isn’t fun”
Let’s not frighten folks who are new to effective bike locks needlessly.
My trusty Kryptonite U-lock which replaced the 1986 model I traded in in the wake of the 2004 Bic pen incident, weighs 2-1/4 lbs.
Agreed, there are a fair number of excellent U-locks that weigh right around 2 pounds. While it is technically true that all bike locks are ultimately just exercises in deterrence, a good U-lock is far more secure than even the toughest cable. A properly deployed U-lock (plus a cable securing the front wheel) is going to be sufficient for most Portland situations unless you have an expensive bike.
FWIW, I carry a Kryptonite Evo Mini U-lock (which has the fairly rigorous Silver rating from Sold Secure) for Sheldon-locking the rear wheel inside the rear triangle, and a separate combo cable lock for securing the front wheel to the bike and/or rack. Carrying a separate cable lock (as opposed to just a cable) gives me the flexibility to do a quickie twirl-the-dials lockup for quick trips into a store in lower-crime areas, so I NEVER walk away from my bike without locking it just because I didn’t want to futz with U-locking.
I was delighted to see that someone else out there is double-locking with 2 different types of locks. My trusty commuter bike, when parked anywhere outdoors that I’ll be away from it for more than a few minutes (in which case I use just 1 lock), is always locked with both a Kryptonite and a cable with a brass combination lock. No one wants to bother trying to crack 2 different types of lock-ups, and I can secure both wheels.
Bolt on skewers don’t hurt either…..
Just note two downsides of bolt-on skewers:
1 – Can be a pain if you frequently remove your front wheel to put your bike on a car rack (as I do)
2 – Even with bolt-on front skewers, thieves can easily steal your fork and wheel as an assembly if you don’t also have a special top cap bolt.
That said, I’m considering them myself as an extra layer of security.
“…Kryptonite U-lock …. weighs 2-1/4 lbs.” 9watts
No mention of what model, but fair enough. Thanks. I was thinking the heavy duty U-lock models some people will want, weigh a lot more than this, but if they don’t…good for them.
Hell, I haul around an extra five pounds on a rough day without changing anything about my bike…
FWIW, if you drop me a line via stolenbicycleregistry.com, I’d be happy to send you some “death to bike thieves” – and/or their slightly less reactionary “I want my @#%^& bike back” – stickers.
The PBOT Bicycle Program staff have done great things for City of Portland bicyclists.
They’ve installed bike lanes, bike blvds, wider sidewalks on river bridges. They’ve motivated people with Smart Trips, Sunday Parkways. They’ve fed the wonks with Bicycle Brownbags and the PSU Traffic and Transportation Class. They’ve pioneered many infrastructure features that are now replicated across the country, like bike boxes, cycletracks, buffered bike lanes, colored bike lanes, active neon signage to prevent right-hooks, etc. They’ve modified city code to require good bicycle parking at all new and renovated buildings. They’ve produced the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030, one of the best bike plans ever written, and now they’re getting it built. They’ve researched bike infrastructure, bike behavior, & bike safety. PBOT current and former staff like Mia Birk, Roger Geller, Denver Igarta, Ellen Vanderslice, Greg Raisman, Rob Burchfield, Mark Lear, Timo Forsburg, Peter Koonce, Janis McDonald, Tom Miller, and many others are known around the world as leaders in the field of bicycling, presenting at conferences everywhere.
But, though PBOT staff have done the impossible, and transformed a car-oriented American city into a Bicycle City of The Future, they appear to be unable to get decent indoor parking for their own steeds.
Maybe we can reciprocate and gracefully ask that the city come up with better bike parking for employees.
Looks like this might be who we talk to —
Facilities Division Manager
Bob Kieta, (503) 823-2039, robert.kieta@portlandoregon.gov
http://www.portlandoregon.gov/bibs/article/12499
Ted Buehler
I sent Bob this note —
Bob —
I read a BikePortland story that reported that a PBOT employee’s bike
was stolen from the outdoor parking area at The Portland Building.
http://bikeportland.org/2013/09/09/city-transportation-directors-bike-stolen-from-outside-office-93694
How about adding some indoor, climate-controlled bike parking for city
staff? Lots of other downtown buildings now have indoor bike parking,
and it provides incentives for people to leave their cars at home and
bike to work.
For instance:
* Bikes are more secure when parked indoors, they’re not subject to
theft, vandalism, or theft of lights and accessories. This allows
people to confidently invest in faster, more comfortable bikes, making
their travel times more competitive with driving or transit.
* Bikes stored indoors dry off during the day, so the chains, cables,
tires, seats and handlebar grips last longer before they need
maintenance or replacement.
* Indoor bike rooms allow folks to hang their wet jackets and gloves
by their bikes to dry off during the day, rather than bring them up to
their office.
* Dry bikes make for happier bike commuters. This is an extra
incentive not to drive.
Portland city staff have done great things for the other bicyclists in
this city — can you folks help them out by giving them a great place
to park their bikes?
Thanks,
Ted Buehler,
Portland resident (& fan of the PBOT Bicycle Program)
Ted, as I said earlier, there is already large amount of indoor, secure bike parking for city employees. There are also multiple locker rooms and shower options. It’s a great place to ride a bike to if you work there.
Sigma — yes, but note that Paul Cone also replied to me with
“If you’re coming and going a lot it’s a hassle to use the garage because it takes extra time.”
& parking garages aren’t great places to store bikes. They’re cold, dark and damp. Steep grades in and out, with cars & trucks. Not a fun place to be alone. Not a place your bike, let alone your jacket, is going to dry out during the day.
Got Platinum, Portland?
Well, I respectfully suggest you see it before you declare it inadequate. It is well lit, not damp, and climate controlled. It is accessible only to city employees. Not scary at all. Very little traffic. Bikes outnumber cars 5 to 1. Yes, there is a grade leading down to it, but how many commuters are gong in and out all day? Very few. I can honestly say that I don’t know how this facility could be improved.
Sigma, thanks for the reply.
I read your statement of it being in the “parking garage” I’ve used a lot of parking garage bike parking, and have never seen it climate controlled, well lit, or dry enough to dry my jacket on a damp winter day. And I’ve seen the cavernous gated entrance to the Portland Building’s garage looking for all the world like a spelunker’s paradise. So I assumed PBOT employees had typical garage parking.
Question, you say the parking is “climate controlled” will your seat, jacket and gloves dry off if you leave them with your bike for 8 hours in January?
And what do you make of BURR’s comment as to the parking being inaccessible to people with heavy bikes, long bikes, bikes with trailers, or the inability to hoist a bike up to shoulder level?
Ted Buehler
Actually, the biggest problem with the indoor parking at the Portland Building isn’t the inconvenience of using the garage or the lack of climate control; it’s that, because the city is unwilling to remove even one of the motor vehicle parking spaces in the garage to provide roll-up bike parking, almost all of the bike parking in the garage is in the form of wall hooks, which require you to physically lift your bike and can’t be used with bikes that have non-standard frames (e.g. cargo bike or other long-tails, folding bikes, bike with step-through frames, etc.).
BURR, interesting comment, thanks for your reply.
Do you know if many employees park outside because they don’t have the upper body strength to hoist their ride up onto a hook?
I have a bike room in my basement with hooks, and I’ve tried to demonstrate to some roommates with limited upper body strength how to brace the seat on their hip to lift it up, but most of them end up just parking it on the level. Or, being reluctant to ride because of the difficulty in getting the bike up and down.
& do you know what the barriers are to getting a few car parking spaces turned into bike parking? Does the city charge $ for parking, so they’d lose revenue?
& how has the occupancy rate of the indoor bike parking changed over the years — is it full now? Was it less than full in the past? Have some bicyclists just ignored the hooks and parked their bikes on the level even if it takes up a couple spaces?
Just curious, its a part of the Portland Building I’ve never seen.
Ted Buehler
Generally, all the wall hooks are full by 9 AM or so and there is always an assortment of bikes locked to the chain link fence surrounding the storage areas and wherever else cyclists can find space in the garage. I’m guessing there are enough wall hooks hold about 75 bikes +/- at present, with another 20 to 30 bikes parked elsewhere in the garage on an average day. To use the bike parking in the garage you have to be an employee and have your ID programmed for the garage doors, which can be easily done.
The parking meter enforcement group has about half a dozen roll-up bike racks mounted on the garage wall which they guard very jealously. The garage has been closed to public parking for about 10 years now, so it’s only city vehicles, but the city charges the Bureaus who use the garage for parking and it would probably cost extra to park those vehicles somewhere else (like the city-owned Jefferson Street garage).
The outside loggia bike parking still consists mostly of outdated Rack 3 racks, which have been there for over 20 years and are showing their age. A few staple racks were added in recent years, mostly to offset bike parking that was lost when the daycare center went in, but they are not really installed in a way that optimizes the space available.
BTW, I got this reply from Bob at 7:53 this morning — he’s a fast responder.
‘Thank you for your interest. I certainly agree with your points. We already have over 150 indoor bike spaces available for City Staff.
Thanks,
Bob Kieta”
I’m curious now, it’s been a few years since I’ve done a count, but give me a day or two and I will try and confirm…
OK, so here’s my current inventory of the indoor bike parking in the Portland Building garage:
In low security area (inside first gate, outside second gate; secured 6PM to 6AM): (8) Wheel Mount Wall Racks + (10) Rack 3 spaces = (18) Total
In medium-high security area (inside both first and second gates, one gate secured 24/7, both gates secured 6PM to 6AM): (90) Frame Mount Wall Racks + (7) Wheel Mount Wall Racks + (1) Wall Mount Roll Up rack = (98) Total
Grand Total = (116) employee spaces + additional (7) Wall Mount Roll Up racks reserved for Parking Enforcement bikes
(1) of the Wheel Mount Wall Racks has been taken over for use by the city for abandoned bikes and is permanently unavailable. Today, all spaces except for about (6) in the medium-high security area were in use, and an additional (7) bikes were parked elsewhere in the garage. The majority of the spaces in the low security area were not in use.
Obviously a bit short of the 150 spaces claimed by Bob Kieta.
I could sure see some merit in ongoing bait-bike stings. Ever notice how in NYC with all their hoopla about “broken windows” and “stop and frisk”, that they never thought that bicycle theft was the sort of gateway crime that they needed to take seriously?
…That’s because cyclists are a menace; serves ’em right if they get their bikes stolen. Would we expect more rigorous investigation of stolen bikes than of “accidents” that kill cyclists?
My bikes are not genderfied, nor are they named; however, every blue bike I’ve owned has been stolen.
a Fuhgettaboutit lock and chain left on the hitching post you usually tie off to isn’t getting schlepped around and its premium protection. You can still carry a U-lock for other stops, but leaving a chain/ulock combo where you tie up 90% of the time improves your odds considerably.
It’s interesting that I think every stolen bike of note (or the most, don’t call me on it!) article I’ve read on bike portland has been locked with cable.
Do you know what takes up the same amount of space in your bag (or can even be attached externally), weighs apprx the same, uses the same size key and and is easier to latch to the bike/stand? A u-lock.
The only person I would be afraid of stealing that is Ted Buehler in the middle of the afternoon in front of city hall with a noisy cordless cutter.
Even a heavy U-lock is not good enough if you leave your bike outside overnight. I had a Specialized Allez stolen from SE 6th an Alder when I made the mistake of leaving the bike overnight. The next day I went back to find the U-lock obliterated. Maybe they used a sledgehammer.
I hate to be overly-sensitive about this, but I think calling PSU “ground central for bike theft” is a little off the mark, Michael. The theft reports for downtown and PSU would seem to indicate that the university district actually has a slightly lower rate of theft than downtown. It should also be noted that the number of bicycles parked outside in the university district is considerably higher than the quantity in downtown, old town, etc. So looking at a ratio of bikes stolen to number of bikes parked would be a more accurate measurement.
That’s fair, Ian. Could you link to a report that compares theft frequency downtown and frequency at PSU? It’s definitely true that PSU has high bike volume so I should find someway to differentiate here between frequency and probability.
Of course, using a bike that doesn’t look like much as one’s commuter and using a basic u-lock might be the best solution.
It’s been found!