The Bicycle Thief
This summer, I decided to try my first triathlon, and entered, and completed, the Chicago Triathlon, international distance. It was a fun though sometimes frightening experience — which I’ll write about for Runner’s World in the coming year — but one of the best parts was buying a new bike, a 2007 Felt F75, my first real high quality racing bike.
It’s a great bike, nimble and light, and I did well in the race with it, and since then I’ve been getting out on the road with it whenever I can. Today, Monday, I rode it to work, thinking I’d stop by the bike shop on the way home and have it adjusted after its first month or so of use. I used a cable lock — because its lighter and easier to carry in my pack — and locked it to the bike racks outside the offices of WBEZ Chicago Public Radio, in a covered area patrolled by Navy Pier security that everyone at the office uses. I’ve locked my various bikes there for more than a decade, and have never had any problems, nor, to my knowledge, had anyone else.
Of course — I came out today, my bike shoes clattering, and spent a strange thirty seconds staring at the space where it was, denying to myself that I couldn’t see it. Then I found the cable lock, sliced through, on the ground with my helmet.
The bike was brand new, black and yellow, as you see, with Time road pedals and an underseat bag with tubes and inflater. Anybody see anybody riding it on the streets of Chicago, hit them with a rock, but try not to scratch the paint.
October 5th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Peter,
Sorry to read about your loss but you trusted a *cable lock* on a bike like that?
Please, please, please invest in a better lock for your next bike.
-A
October 5th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
That’s a genuinely sad story. I had my Trek 7500 stolen out of my garage, but it wasn’t nearly the bike that is!
If I see it going by, I’ll toss a water bottle at the rider. It’s more aerodynamic, more missile-like, and less likely to scratch the paint.
October 5th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
That’s truly a shame, Peter, and I hope it turns up. I had a similar situation and was unfortunate enough to see the…person…riding off as I walked out the door. I found this website a couple of years ago that has some great advice on stolen bikes. Hopefully you’ll find some use from it too.
http://mystolenbianchi.blogspot.com/
October 5th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
This is very sad. I would be despondent if my bike was stolen.
October 5th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
I’m honestly feeling your pain right now…that would both break my heart and cause me to unleash my inner ninja. Hope that asshat is caught and your bike arrives back safely @home. No cameras in the area?
Good luck.
October 5th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
what a bummer!! that is a nice looking bike.
October 5th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Such a sad story! You must just be sick about this.
You’ve probably already done this, but providing the police with the serial number may help if the bike ends up in a pawn shop, or if the person is caught riding the bike.
I hope it is recovered!
*fingers crossed*
October 5th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
[…] · Reply · View DogMomster: RT @petersagal: Story of woe, plus pic of bike. http://petersagal.com/wordpress/?p=246 2009-10-06 02:36:45 · Reply · View tiaradiamond: ‘Things to Shake and […]
October 5th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Dude! Dude! I don’t mean to make you feel worse but you don’t lock that bike up outside in the big city — especially not with a meager little cable lock. Sorry.
October 5th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
A year ago my bike was locked at a Minneapolis light rail station; 5 hours later I came back and had that same 30-second stare at an empty bike rack. When I filed a report at the 3rd precinct, the sergeant at the desk asked if I’d checked the “r and c.” (or so I heard) Turns out he meant the R.N.C. in St. Paul. To this day, I believe it was either a republican or one of the visiting anarchists who made off with my lovely, newly tuned up Trek.
October 5th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
You’ve had a pee wee moment.
SOME people suck. Just tell yourself, it is at the farm…At least you have a picture.
You are a madman sir and the addiction of the races will carry you on. BUT…on the bright side…there is surely a plethora of sympathy from the wife from this tragedy so you can now upgrade and not have to explain why it must be better, faster, stronger.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:30 am
I’m sorry about your bike. And I’m sorry about all the cable lock lectures you are probably getting. I am sure you are already upset about that. Good luck in recovering it!
October 6th, 2009 at 3:55 am
So sorry to hear about that, as I know I would be devastated if my bike was stolen. At least the triathlon is done and you have some time to figure out how to replace it before next year’s racing season.
October 6th, 2009 at 7:12 am
One fine summer my brother and I were grounded from our bikes for two weeks for some typical childish misdeed. It was agony though, as we’d just gotten those bikes the week prior to our grounding. We wanted them back so badly we were perfect angels the 1st week of our grounding and so our Dad told us at dinnertime we could have our bikes back the next day. Early the next morning we raced outside to where they were stored behind the shed. But they were gone. Thinking our clever Dad had hidden them in anticipation of us cheating while we were grounded we searched high and low but no bikes. We even called our Dad at the factory demanding he tell us where he’d hidden the bikes, how it was so unfair of him to unground us only to play such a cruel joke to hide them. Sadly, no. They were not hidden, but stolen. In the end I think our Dad was even more devestated about it than we were. And not just because he had to shell out the money to replace a pair of brand new bikes.
October 6th, 2009 at 7:14 am
It is just a thing, you know. It can be replaced.
October 6th, 2009 at 7:53 am
To help put it in perspective: You’ve got your health, and that you have the resources available to have owned such a nice bike makes you a fortunate person.
To commiserate: And, that has to be one of the worst feelings ever. I would gladly hurl a rock on yor behalf.
October 6th, 2009 at 8:02 am
When my first bike was stolen here in Boston last year, I had that same moment of staring at the bicycle rack thinking somehow my bicycle was invisible, but still had to be there. I went in to work, and came back out later to see if it had somehow returned. It hadn’t.
So I got a new bicycle, a better bicycle, a consolation bicycle. And I got a vicious, heavier-than-the-bike-itself lock. I did not, however, lock the bicycle up when it was in my apartment. A year later, my apartment was broken into, and the new bike was stolen.
At least I still have “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me…”.
October 6th, 2009 at 8:56 am
Perspective: At the pediatric eye doctor with my boy, we met a 4.5 year old with brain cancer. Gave me my perspective for the near future.
Commiseration: Being robbed sucks. Been there.
October 6th, 2009 at 9:01 am
Maybe Obama will buy you one to help stimulate the economy.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
[…] stole Peter Sagal’s bike. Seriously. Right from under our […]
October 6th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Recommendation: If you don’t want to lug a U lock around with you each day, just leave one locked to the rack outside all the time. That way it will always be there waiting for you.
October 6th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Sorry about the bike.
One more reason not to exercise…
October 7th, 2009 at 6:13 am
It’s unfortunate but you just can’t leave a nice bike unwatched. A cable lock is easily cut, but you’re dreaming if you think a U-lock is significantly better. The massive chain locks are pretty good … but stupid heavy and bulky.
In any case putting a shiny shiny out there where people can see it is quite an invitation to mischief. If you’re going to commute and you can’t bring the bike in you want a trashy-looking bike. Flat paint, scratches, stickers. Make it unsalable. It doesn’t have to be a sucky bike (thankfully it’s unusual to have them stolen for parts), just look like one. The messenger guys do this … it’s not because they don’t like beautiful bikes (all the ones I’ve known had other bikes too, sometimes whole fleets) but because they want to keep their ride.
I don’t commute by bicycle regularly anymore, but when I did it wasn’t the Independent Fab I rode!
Here’s to hoping you get an even nicer one to replace it,
jim frost
jimf@frostbytes.com
October 7th, 2009 at 8:48 am
Sorry to hear your loss. While on vacation a few years back, someone stole 3 bikes from my garage including my coveted bianchi road bike. I took it really hard, replacing 3 bikes with one less expensive touring bike. Not the same! I say replace yours like kind immediately and let the healing begin. And to ‘you’ out there “Don’t Steal Bikes Bro!”
October 7th, 2009 at 10:43 am
So sorry to hear of your bike getting stolen. I know I am going to sound cynical here, but unfortunately this is the hard truth I have learned from biking in Chicago for a decade and commuting to the Loop year-round: There is not a single square foot of space that is “safe” for you to park your bike. Please do not have faith in humankind when it comes to your possessions in a big city. No neighborhood, no building, no bike-parking area is theft-proof. A lot of the big fancy corporate buildings downtown have private, secured bike parking that is under lock and key, with security cameras and guards, and bikes get stolen and everyone claims they didn’t see a thing and they are not responsible. I have heard people talk about having deals with the guards at CTA stations, the guards call them when there is a nice bike on the rack, the thief takes it and splits the profits. The thieves even store their tools in the rafters of CTA stations. There are a handful of crooked bike messengers in the Loop who have the same game, and they are despised by everyone else who respects bikes and property!
Your #1 defense is to ride a bike that does not catch anyone’s eye. Thieves can get thru ANY lock, even the most guaranteed U-Lock, and if they like your bike, they will find a way. You can own a quality bike, but dress it down. Take off all decals and labels. I personally got my Bianchi frame sandblasted and powder coated a solid, plain color. There is nothing cool or attractive about it anymore, and no indication it’s a Bianchi. Sad but true, you cannot have nice things in Chicago, or it’s only a matter of WHEN it will get stolen, not IF. If you don’t want to repaint, at least wrap electrical tape all around the frame to cover the name. Bolt down your axles and components. Sometimes using bolts that are hexagonal or that need a special wrench will slow a thief down. You can write your name and phone # on a piece of paper, roll it up and put in down your seat tube, so if the cops find it, you can say, “Hey, my name is on paper in there.” I would recommend never leaving a bike outdoors overnight, ANYWHERE. Park it in your living room, hang it from the ceiling. Ask your friends if you can bring it inside when visiting their home. 1 warning IRT Gnaomi Velopunk above: some businesses do not allow bike locks to be left on racks without a bike in it (because it looks tacky, abandoned, whatever). Downtown, they cut off the locks if you leave it on the rack
My friends and I have had so many bikes stolen over the years, it makes me want to bloody the faces of these despicable weasels who make a living stealing bikes. They act like the Loop is an apple orchard and they just cruise around in a van and pluck off the ripest specimens. And us poor suckers who want to bike to work, come out at 5pm after working a real job, and find our ride home is gone. If I ever see anyone riding around on my husband’s commuter, I already have a mental plan of how I will dismantle that person from said bike, and it will not be pretty.
Good luck to everyone with keeping your bikes safe!
October 8th, 2009 at 6:55 am
Peter–So sorry to hear about your loss. I’m certain that there is a special level of hell reserved for bike thiveves.
Love the show,
Sunny
October 9th, 2009 at 5:55 am
I hear that it was spotted at Swap-o-rama yesterday but had been sold by the time they realised it was probably your bike - I understand details of the seller, etc., have been eMail’d to you anyway?
October 20th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Peter, so sad to hear about your bike. But I can offer you a “karma-tic” distraction. My first real bike was stolen in 2004 from a back porch in La Jolla, CA (yes, there is crime in La Jolla). The guy who stole it ended up being hit by a car on a blind corner, as he had stolen it in the dead of night during a foggy spell, and the bike had no headlamp on it. So I did get my bike back, and that the perp probably steals cars these days instead.
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:40 am
Hi Peter,
I am terribly sorry to hear about your bike. I remember hearing that a car thief (actually i think it was on your show) that a car thief stole Fred Rogers’ car but when he realized whose car it was it was returned with a note.
Maybe if the thief finds out it is your bike s/he will return it…
I’m in Philly so my throwing arm wouldn’t do much good. My eye sight isn’t that great either… but if i see a bike like that around here i will let you know.