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A sad security story
with no happy ending
I had a bike stolen.
The bike in question was my re-introduction to cycling at the age of 30 something plus VAT. As I walked into the kitchen one morning, I saw the door of the shed, which was in the garden not the kitchen, wide open and that horrible gap where my bike should have been.
Anyone who has experienced this will no doubt remember that horrible sinking feeling in your stomach. Also the rage you feel and how you swear to remove every tender part of their anatomy with a blunt knife if you ever get your hands on the perpetrators of the crime. If you are the person that stole my bike, I sincerely hope you suffered a major dose of boils and scabs that still refuse to heal. The fact is that when bikes were black and un-interesting, nobody stole them. Now bikes are sexy, impressive and desirable and unfortunately more than just their owners desire them.
It is worth remembering that most bikes are stolen from sheds or garages, as I know to my cost. Therefore you need be equally security conscious over where your bike is stored, indeed probably more so. When a thief is involved, out of sight doesn’t mean out of mind.
The unfortunate thing about cycle theft is that as long as bikes are available, they will be stolen. 158,000 bikes were REPORTED stolen in the UK last year and, according to Home Office figures, less than 8 per cent were returned to their owners. It’s also fair to assume many didn’t bother to report the theft because of this appalling rate of recovery and their bike was not insured.
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