at races throughout Oregon.
(Photo © J. Maus)
A truck full of equipment belonging to the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association (OBRA) was broken into earlier this week in Eugene. OBRA director Kenji Sugahara says as estimated $5,000 worth of equipment was stolen out of the truck while it was parked outside of Co-Motion Cycles in southwest Eugene.
An OBRA official and race promoter stationed in Eugene says the theft occurred sometime between Sunday night and Tuesday morning. According to Sugahara, the loss of equipment will have a significant impact. “Many items critical to racing were taken. This makes it difficult for our officials to score races and for us to provide equipment to our promoters.”
Sugahara says the over 20 cartop radios that were stolen are a particularly big loss because they are no longer made. Here’s a photo of them:
Also stolen from the truck were a computer monitor, power generator, laptop, video camera, 12 handheld radios, and much more. For a full list of stolen items see this post on the OBRA email list. The $5,000 worth of equipment was not insured so OBRA officials are urging the public to keep an eye out on Craigslist and in pawn shops. Most of the equipment will have an OBRA logo sticker on it.
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They will probably get their stuff back if they check out the Springfield garage sales this weekend.
RE: Duncan
Because only people from Springfield steal stuff? Maybe you were trying to be funny but your comment is distasteful–what’s the point in taking a jab at an entire community? Is it because it is a lower income area? Is it cool to assume that someone with less resources will automatically turn to a life of crime?
Hopefully OBRA will get their stuff back.
Maybe it’s just because Springfield is further away from the scene of the crime. The fact is that Oregon is becoming infested with thieves, Eugene is particularly bad, last year touring cyclists were hit hard with two thefts that left travelers stranded with nothing. Help your brothers and Sisters, talk to riders and caution them if they seem to be from out of town, offer to stand watch for them. We all need to fight back, this is getting out of control.
Kahuna-
It is based on the first joke I learned in Oregon (Why do people in Eugene go to yard sales in Springfield? To get their stuff back!)
Secondly lighten the hell up- making fun of people who live in poor neighborhoods? I live in FoPo, ie “Felony Flats” (although truth be told it is more “Misdomeaner Mezzinine” these days. Its a joke. People from Sunnyside say the same thing about my ‘hood- I just laugh.
Sorry your to offend your overly delicate sensibilities.
The best way to lower the chance of these crimes happening is don’t buy stolen stuff. This is no doubt hi-end bike equipment, it shouldn’t be that hard to track when people start to unload it.
Springfield is to Eugene as Gresham is to Portland.
why not insured??? especially if the equipment is irreplaceable.
Ugh, that sucks! Though I am somewhat surprised that the stuff inside wasn’t insured.
If you’re going to leave a truck like that for several days, I good solution (though not always practical depending on the location) is to back it up against a wall, so people can’t physically access the sliding rear door of the truck/van.
It won’t guarantee against theft, but it makes it a lot harder.
I agree with cdb – why wouldn’t they insure the stuff when some of it’s irreplaceable? Still sucks though. I hope they track it down.
Perhaps because the cost of insurance is so high, especially when you tell them you have to store your things in a truck and park on the street. Insurance would not have prevented this theft, and the industry is set up to deny coverage, not provide it (remember the insurance companies are out to turn a profit like everyone else).
Best insurance in cases like this is to take every precaution to prevent theft, and to encourage each other to avoid buying stolen stuff. In a bad economy with growing economic desperation, that is probably the best we can do.
Several commenter have asked why the stolen OBRA equipment was not insured. The simple answer is that when we have looked into insuring the truck contents in the past we have not been able to find an insurer that will issue a policy to cover this at any premium. After this recent loss we will be investigating this again as well as looking into how the truck is stored, alarming the truck, etc. Unfortunately with regards to the FRS car radios insurance or not these would be irreplaceable as they are no longer made. We have looked at several alternative radio systems but none are as practical as the FRS system. Unfortunately handheld FRS radios, which are easily available, do not transmit well from cars in race caravans. Once all the car radios we have are lost, broken, etc. we will likely have to go to an inferior and/or more expensive system.
I have to point out that loss and theft of OBRA equipment is not uncommon. The loss of an entire trucks contents is unusual but nearly every race losses some equipment. We have had 3 generators stolen in the past month. Road signs are taken frequently. Handheld radios disappear.
OBRA equipment is passed to different race organizers for each race. Some care for it well and some act as though it is disposable. Since most race organizers only use the equipment once each year it is difficult for them to see the need to care for it and easy for them to complain about lack of maintenance.
The real solution is for everyone to realize that OBRA equipment does not belong to a faceless corporation. It is community held equipment that is available for all to use at low cost. Everyone needs to treat it like it is their own because it actually is. Keep your eyes out for OBRA labeled items that are where they don’t belong. One of the items stolen out of the truck was an OBRA logoed EZUp tent. That should stand out pretty much wherever it is.
I don’t want to pile on whoever parked the OBRA truck there over two nights, but that was not a real bright move. Eugene (one of the worst places in the country for property crime), that part of town (fine during the day, but a ghost-town at night and near lots of sketchy folks), you are inviting theft. I lived in Eugene for 25 years, had four bikes stolen and my house burglarized three times. I wouldn’t leave a 30-year old Wal-Mart bike out at night, and expect it to be there inthe morning.
Ah Eugene. What a paradise.
There are several OBRA trucks. One is resident in Eugene. It has to be stored somewhere. I guess Co-motion offered space and people thought it would be an approprite spot. It wasn’t just there for a few days. It has been there all summer, as far as I know. Obviously OBRA will be needed to reconsider the location and, for that matter, whether it makes sense to have a truck in Eugene at all. It will take a LONG time for the revenue generated by races using a Eugene based truck to offset the cost of the truck alone, not to mention stolen contents of that truck.
Now this is something to actually be pissed about!! OBRA is arguably the best state cycling organization in the entire country. Y’all want to be upset about cyclists being the “victim”? Here you go. This truly sucks.
Mike
This stuff is of little use to anybody but OBRA and its resale value is small. Why not put out the word in Eugene that you are willing to purchase it from the thief for, like $500? That’s what I did when my $600 GT mountain bike was stolen and I got it back for $50. I know..I know..it sucks to do business with a thief, but it would save OBRA a bunch of money.
Steve
I am not sure your analysis of the value to someone else is correct. Actually I am not so sure Kenji’s evaluation of the value of the stolen property is accurate either. Generators are in high demand and can be used by anyone. They retail for $900 and used ones sell for high prices. The car radios are also useful, particularly for theft operation. Fenced value is low but we have been paying $100/unit average for these used. Video cameras, computers, monitors, etc. can be used by anyone. Really the only thing that would not be useful is the display clock which is pretty useless unless you are running sports events but it cost $2,000.
I sure wouldn’t have any problem with a reward for return of the equipment. I agree that rewarding thieves is not such a feel good thing but the radios we can’t buy and the other stuff will be expensive.
Mike
Unless the thieves were Pros(unlikely in this situation; it was probably just random meth-heads), they do not have a clue what the stuff is worth or how to sell it. Their only interest is getting cash fast, to feed their habit. Putting out the word on the street (Craigslist probably best way). The tricky part is the exchange of cash; when I recovered my stolen bike, I met up with thief, slapped my lock on the bike, told him he had two options, me calling the cops or taking the $50). Cash talks.
The fact that they needed a large vehicle to haul away the large items they took, that they emptied the gas tank and that they completely cleaned out the interior contents makes me think that it is more likely that this theft was a planned process done with forethought rather than the convenience theft done by meth heads. I am leaning more towards the idea of pros.
Maybe the truck would be safer in Springfield? 🙂 Good luck putting it all back together. Sorry this happened.