(Photos courtesy David R.)
David R. got his bike stolen in the wee hours of Saturday morning. We’re posting this not only to help spread the word in hopes of getting it back, but also to share David’s story. He’s learned an important lesson. See if you can spot it in his email below.
First, here are two more photos he sent in. The first one shows the thief seconds before he grabbed David’s bike. The second is of David riding his beloved steed…
Here’s David’s story and plea for help (emphases mine)…
Hi Jonathan,
I know you can’t be publishing every stolen bike, but I want to at least leave the editorial decisions to you…
My bike was stolen from outside the 7-11 on 20th and Hawthorne at about 2:30 on Saturday morning, as I was at the counter not 10 feet away. I chased it down the hill, but was unable to catch up or find it, despite jumping into a passing cab and staying out till 6am looking for it (including going through the hole in the fence under the burnside- hole is still there, but there are no bikes or camps down there currently).
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The bike was a Jamis Allegro Comp with disc brakes, a selection of stickers including local bike clubs and HUB on the top tube, a Pedalpalooza 2014 and a chrome sticker on the seat tube, and (ironically) a ‘death to bike thieves’ sticker mounted over the logo on the driveside of the downtube. I had finally purchased my first Brooks, a Cambium C17, in February, which is now also gone. The pedals installed were bright green platforms. The rear rack had a bungee attached. There are 4 spoke cards in the front wheel, the largest being the pink one from last summer’s West Side Invite. The front tire is a continental, and the rear was recently fitted with a Vittoria. The headlight was a blue body with a black head. Picture included, though none of the bags pictured were mounted at the time. there is a loose zip tie on the top tube. There is a reflecty thing on the seatpost which says Ass (as in less gas more).
My biggest reason for writing is obviously that I want to get my bike back, and my hope is that the readership will know upon sight that this isn’t a tweaker bike. But more importantly- it only takes a few seconds for someone to get on your bike and ride, and if you’re not close enough to grab them, then all you get is the heartwrenching image of your taillight receding into the distance as you realize that you can’t catch up. I’d gotten out of the habit of locking if I could see my wheels, and in this case that served me poorly.
I’ve also included a photo from the surveillance video. These two walked up, he handed her the bag of cans, she came into the store, and then he rode off on my bike. It’s been reported on the Bike Index, Project 529, and as Portland Police Case # 15-22260. The bike is serial number U127K17777, and was purchased last May at the River City Cycles outlet.
This bike was my commuter, my tourer, my explorer, my party bike, and my friend. Any help you can muster to help me get her back will be immensely appreciated.
Thanks,
-David R.
If you have any tips or other information about this bike, please drop us a line and we’ll connect you with David. If you see someone riding this bike, please call 911 or the Portland police non-emergency number (503) 823-3333.
— Read more from the Bike Theft Chronicles.
CORRECTION, 1:30pm: This story originally stated that “Brian” got his bike stolen. His correct name is David. We regret the error.
Thanks for reading.
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undo the quick release, and cross chain the gears w/o pedaling = severe accident during chase= quick recovery
Why not just lock the darn thing up?
Yeah, even if he hadn’t locked it to an anchor, at least locking the wheel to the frame would mean it would have been a foot race with the perpetrator lugging the bike.
I lock my bike to itself at the very least outside a 7/11. It won’t stop a bike thief, but it should slow them down.
that’s what I always do when I pop into a 7-11 to use the ATM that’s right in front by the window…
I think many types of clipless pedals are actually a deterrent in this regard. They look weird to the average person (of theif). Might be at least a little deterrent. But yes, locking seems the most obvious.
Yep, any kind of advantage you can give yourself in terms of dissuading your average bike thief is something you should do. I wear SPD mtb shoes all the time when I’m out on my bike, and have tiny dual-sided spd pedals that your average thief who needs a bike to ride off on quickly would see and think twice about.
In reality, they aren’t that hard to pedal in a pinch– especially if it’s just to get out of the area before you figure out what to do– but it helps. And the majority of bike thieves are just looking for any bike that they can then turn around and sell for $15-20 and to afford their next hit of meth/heroin.
So if they have to saw through a beefy ulock in public, AND commit to pedaling around on an awkward pair of pedals, that might just be enough to kill their motivation.
Bring the bike into the store. At 2:30 in the morning, unless you and your bike are really scroungy, chances are good that the staff won’t object. Of course, locking the bike would have been the thing to do. People get too lazy to lock their bikes up. Going with the idea that nobody is going to steal it because you can see your bike outside the 7-11 as you shop, is poor thinking.
Different situation, but this weekend, I was impressed to see a guy secure his bike with a lock on the one of the hangers on the MAX. He had a seriously tricked out commuter bike. Locking it to the vertical pole on the train, allowed him to not have to be right next to the bike with his hands on it so someone wouldn’t steal it.
711 on Sandy in Hollywood will not allow a bike in the store even if it means losing a passing customer who forgot his lock. I think most of them will say the same thing, no bike inn store.
Unfortunate, but that’s not the kind of reception I’ve had at a whole bunch of stores out in Beaverton, though I haven’t tried convenience stores. I’m talking Target, Office Depot, Old Navy, Winco, a fabric store, Fred’s, and more. Not that it’s the policy of those stores to allow bikes in store, but that if you and your bike are reasonably presentable, they may not mind. At any rate, this guy admits he had a lock in his bag. Just didn’t use the lock to secure the bike.
Err umm… Pssst. His name is David, not Brian. 😉 although Brian would connect with David if Brian found David’s bike.
err ummm thanks Madison. Fixed that error.
Jonathan, still needs just a little bit more correction…
I look forward to all the comments reiterating what I already know- that the lock in my bag was useless in this case.
hope you get it back
OBTW: I lock mine on my patio as soon as it gets parked. Have to make locking part of the dismount routine, or else ….
A bit of a tangent, but I saw a likely stolen adult trike with a nice-looking tan leather saddle down by the east end of the Hawthorne bridge last week. I took a photo – is there anywhere to post pics of “I saw this bike and suspect it’s stolen”?
I think there should be- I found a nice MTB and a fat bike under tarps under the Hawthorne while searching.
Did it look like this one? https://bikeindex.org/bikes/41660
And PS you can send photos like this to @stolenbikereg on twitter, or to me, over email, and I can crosscheck them with the Bike Index stolen bike listings.
Nope, probably not that one. Wrong color, and I saw it last week, before this one was reported stolen. What’s the right e-mail to use for you? Is it “contact@” at your domain?
Noted. Sometimes people register days/weeks after the bike is stolen and don’t bother noting it in their BikeIndex report, so I wanted to check.
(And yes: bryan at bikeindex dot org to get ahold of me.)
Is the lesson that “Death to Bike Thieves” stickers do not work as advertised in protecting bikes from theft?
Since we will all die someday, I think the better sticker should be – “No Sex for Bike Thieves”. That way at least they wouldn’t reproduce. And if a Lysistradan strike were actually implemented, it could be effective in reducing theft.
we know at least that they don’t work if facing the wall….
I think the real question is whether there is any practical way to make good on the (vinyl) threat.
is there a 7-11 that exists with proper bike parking?
Good point, convenience stores rarely have good parking right up front. Usually end up having to lock to poles on the street or to a gas meter, etc. Never ideal.
They should be called INconvenience stores!
Really, I like gas meters better than bike racks. No ones gunna cut a gas line to get to a bike. Gas lines and the tension lines on utility poles are my favorite lock up spots. There is a whole world of hurt waiting for someone that cuts a tension line.
Actually, that particular 7-11 has a $50K covered bike parking facility that holds up to a dozen bikes right out front, which the city installed as part of the Hawthorne Blvd. Transportation Plan back in the early aughts.
Thing is that that door is locked after 9pm or something- on the other side there is a puny little rack (that I admittedly didn’t even use in this case, like an idiot)
oh hey, look at that… I’ve never used it… I always roll into the parking lot when I bike to that 7-11 and didn’t even know there was a rack on the other side… Google street-view shows a wheel-bender rack in front by the parking lot…
so there is decent close-by parking, but it’s not provided by 7-11…
No. Plaid Pantry installed bike parking at some of their stores though!
of course you should lock your bike, but you can’t blame anybody for thinking that a little something called decency might exist for like 90 seconds on any given Saturday night…
So bummed that this keeps happening and some ppl just prey on ripping other ppls bikes off, lets help each other out when we can.
how about “This bike is a bomb” sticker don’t touch it? 😉
sure, if you want the SWAT involved…
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2012/08/3_days_after_conviction_kalama.html
To bad you weren’t able to detain the person who went into the 7-11 with the cans since they were an associate at minimum and a redirecting accomplice at worst.
Agreed- in the heat of the moment I chased the bike, and didn’t piece together the association until later (when I saw the footage)
I wish you luck in retrieving your bike. It sucks, no matter how you lost it.
check out all the homeless camps around 10th and SE Oak. I saw at least 2 stolen bike down there on Friday, one homeless guy on a complete custom single speed, looked like about $2K worth of bike.
Sorry for your bike loss.
Not to rub salt into any wound here…this 7-11 may have the “best” bike parking of any older 7-11 in the City if not in the USofA…it has a covered bike corral (aka “Bike Oasis”…built from money from that film shoot a decade ago).
question has anyone been to the 7-11 in Wilsonville if so its just cement blocks on the ground kinda useless if ya ask me. How can get owner of a place to put in real bike parking in? ** I know don;t do biz there but come on we need to get with the 21st century.
for places like that I just leave a bad online review…
“wanted to stop in, but no place to park my bike so I left”…
Seems like the perfect place to set up a sting… Have someone downhill waiting with a rope to clothesline the son of a B**CH.
If she came into the store, won’t they have better footage of her? Isn’t she an accomplice to a crime? Identifying her might help identify him…?
K’Tesh haha awesome well played!
Death to all bike thieves. Mine got stolen from front of 7-11 after being inside for few minutes. MLK and E. Burnside.
Well, that is actually a much sketchier location than 20th and Hawthorne…
Please explain this anecdote.
I lock my brakes ON with heavy rubber wristbands (similar to those Livestrong ones) , just to stop the bike from rolling when parked.
Have gotten on forgetting to release them. bike is going nowhere. sure, it won’t delay a thief more than 15 seconds , if they get past my lock, but it could make the difference between catching them or not.
Welcome to America’s Bike Theft Capital!
David is a victim of a crime.
It’s disappointing how many people here are chastising him for not locking his bike. It does not belong to the person who stole it, and it is not David’s fault the criminal chose sin.
You’re right…and what’s worse is the same people who criticize him for not locking the bike are probably pretty tolerant of the homeless chop shops we’ve got all over town. Oh they are just people trying to live after all. That gives them the right to make your life miserable.
Look by the hawthorne bridge fire station. Pieces of your bike are likely there.