https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhcuQuT_USA&feature=youtu.be
Consider this video your monthly reminder to stay vigilant when it comes to protecting your bike from thieves.
On March 6th Portlander Dave Jasa rode his bike to the American Red Cross on North Vancouver Avenue and locked his Cannondale road bike up right outside the front door. While he was inside giving blood, a man casually walked up to his bike, took out a pair of bolt-cutters from his backpack, snipped the lock and then walked away with Dave’s bike. If you love to ride, and especially if you’ve ever experienced the heartache of a stolen bike, the video is hard to watch.
It is with great sadness,” Dave posted on Facebook that day, “that I announce my faithful bicycle, George, was stolen. He and I shared over 18 years and nearly 43,000 miles of adventures together.”
It is indeed sad. But hopefully Dave’s loss will inspire others to take measures to protect their bikes and/or increase the chances of recovering them.
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Please remember to use as strong of a lock as you can. And no cable locks! Thieves cannot cut a strong u-lock quickly and easily. You’ll notice from the video how nervous the thief was during the cutting motions. He knew he’d only get a few tries at it before drawing too much attention and being forced to give up. That’s your goal when locking your bike. Make it so hard to defeat your lock(s) that a thief will either give or not even try to take it in the first place. Yes, it’s a sad state of affairs, but I’ve started using two locks (a Kryptonite u-lock and an Abus Bordo) when I park downtown.
Portland has some excellent resources to help educate you about bike theft prevention and recovery. Check out EndBikeTheft.org for starters. And stay tuned! The Portland Bike Theft Task Force just met yesterday and we’re planning our annual Bike Theft Summit for mid-May along with some other fun stuff planned for 2016.
UPDATE: Just got an email from Dave. “For my replacement bike I have purchased a U-lock,” he said. “Wish I would have used one with George.”
— Jonathan Maus, (503) 706-8804 – jonathan@bikeportland.org
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