Mission Mission

Reader Kevin spotted this scene on 17th between York and Hampshire:

Is this yours or someone you know’s bike? I find it hard to believe it really belongs to this guy.

As Allan puts it, “the guy has a beard and a hoodie, why wouldn’t he also have a flashy track bike?”

We’ve got more bummer news to report in 2013, although not quite on the same tragic level as the earlier fire and fatal car crash, but at least this one comes with a delicious reward:

I figure it’s a longshot, but someone stole my beloved bright-yellow green glow-in-the-dark bike while I was out at dinner tonight! The bike was kind of my baby/I had it locked to my older crappier one and a railing in my apartment building.

If you/your awesome readership and friends could keep on the look-out for it, I’m offering a cash reward/eternal gratitude/a lifetime supply of homemade ginger beer for it’s safe return!

That’s a lot of Moscow Mules!  Let’s hope it turns up!

Not sure if you’ve seen this already, but let this stand as testament to how much cyclists care about their bicycles and just how far they’ll go to recover their rides.  Check out the whole thing either here or below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-GVpIaPEGM

Two things about this:

1) When our protagonist attempts to make a citizen arrest, he doesn’t tackle the guy as an overzealous I may have done in that situation.  He keeps his cool and keeps documenting.

2) I’m totally wearing my lucky hat tomorrow.  And I’m never ever wearing a black shirt with green stripes.

Also, don’t forget to write down your bike’s serial number, which is the only way you can really prove that you’re its rightful owner.  And not on your wrist!  Save that for show stamps and slap bracelets!

(Thanks Jin!)

Previously:

• BART bike parking is not secure
• Shitty bike thieves caught on camera, identification help needed
• Where was your bike stolen?
• Bike stolen along with rack it was locked to INSIDE a building

As everyone who has had a bike stolen knows, there’s really no way to make a bicycle 100% secure – you’re basically balancing an equation where the amount that you spend weighing down your bike with locks only increases the difficulty of the heist. (And according to bicycle law, all bikes should weigh 50 pounds.)

Gizmodo put 4 standard locks through the paces to see just how hard it is to steal a bike secured with a u-lock. Although a few of them fended off a beating from bolt cutters and a hacksaw, not a single one could stand up to a 5-second assault with a $40 angle grinder. Check out the video here – how does your lock fare?

Photo by dpwk

Hey, looks like BART Police actually do stuff other than stand around holding their belts!

Today BART posted that that they caught 47-year old Brett Major of San Francisco in the act, and want your help in identifying some recovered stolen frames:

BART Police Officers booked Major at San Francisco County Jail for burglary, theft, possession of  burglary tools, and an outstanding warrant originating from Alameda County. A subsequent search of Majors’ home turned up seven bicycle frames and parts, which BART Police believe to be stolen. BART Police Investigators are looking for the owners to identify and claim their property.

My bike (stolen in January from the same location) wasn’t in there, but maybe you can identify yours so they can throw the book at this dude… multiple times. Hopefully they are heavy books with sharp edges like hardcover, large print editions of Infinite Jest. I don’t think I’ll be retiring the busted-ass Murray that I lock down there yet, but this is a good development indeed.

If you’ve had a bike stolen out of 24th St. recently, head over to BART’s site and see if a picture of your frame is listed.

Update: Also, don’t forget that Ingelside station posted a ton of pictures of recovered bikes in May. Worth a look if you haven’t checked it out already.

Our pal Erik just bought a bike off the street that he thinks is probably stolen, and is wondering if it may belong to you:

I just bought a bike off the street that is probably stolen, so that hopefully the real owner sees this and can claim it.

Green frame, though it may have been painted. Ritchey stem. Carbon bar ends. Plus plenty more that I won’t list here.

If this may be your bike, write to me and describe some other things about it- parts you put on, component brands, mis-matches, whatever. If you convince me that it’s yours, I’ll let you come take it back.

You may remember Erik and his fiance from the bizarre incident back when some crazy motorist hit them on Shotwell and proceeded to yell at them before speeding away.  I wonder whatever happened to that wacko?  Anyway, please spread the word and if you think this may be your bike, let Erik know on Craigslist here.

So posits WBTC, whose dad saw this scene in Turkey. [link]

On the other hand, SFPD just found a similar cache just across the bay in Oakland (and posted pics of all their finds), so maybe there’s hope after all.

Reader Joshua wrote in to report the following home invasion bike theft and accompanying photos of the thief (recognize him?):

On March 31 at 5:22 AM Saturday Morning, a man entered our locked front door on the 800 Block of Guerrero Street, went down into the locked garage and relieved it of four bikes, ripping one off the wall.

2012 54″ White Specialized Allez with SRAM Apex
2009 51″ Turquoise Jamis Quest Femme (105 Double, maybe with a BullDog lock still attached to the rack that had been bolted to the wall)
2008 Medium Black Masi Soulville 8 with Front and Rear racks a Velo Orange saddle
1999 56″ Yellow LeMonde Tourmalet

That’s right, one of those bikes was ripped off the wall with the lock still attached. The thing is, this is the fourth garage break-in/bike theft I know of from the past month and vicinity:

• Our pal Jenny reports that her garage (around 29th/Dolores) was broken into with one bike stolen on March 10th,
• This theft from the Glen Park area, via WBTC,
• And my own bike was stolen out of a garage around 30th/San Jose on March 18th, also entering through a locked front door.

When the police showed up at the scene of my bike’s theft, they mentioned that they are aware of a string of similar incidents and this may be a repeat offender.

I suppose I should list some safety tips and advice, or something. Here’s what I’ve learned, anyway:

• Make sure you have a deadbolt on any doors leading to a garage, and make sure to use it.
• If your garage opens with a code, change it frequently.
• Lock your bike to something in your garage. Apparently, this doesn’t necessarily change anything, but it’s another deterrent.
• If you must hold onto your bike, store it in your apartment, instead of a separate storage area.
• If someone really wants your bike, they can have it. Everything we own is essentially on loan from the universe.
• Be okay with losing irreplaceable things, or own replaceable things. The bike that was taken from me was a cheap single speed from an online wholesaler, and though it bruised my bank account, I was back on practically the same wheels within a week.
• If your bike is truly sacred to you, write down its serial number somewhere safe. This is pretty much the only way the police can help you if your bike turns up on Craigslist or elsewhere.
• As Vic would say, sleep with your bikes under your pillows, kids.

Update: Here’s time lapse footage from Joshua’s garage burglary.

As though stealing your bike weren’t enough, this thief leaves behind a five-fingered shoe as an extra little fuck-you to his victims. Truly evil. This Craigslist post explains:

STOLEN: Giant OCR1 (black) (mission district)

some @!#$ stole my bike from INSIDE our house in the common area between 6:45pm and 7:00pm. Whoever stole the bike propped the back door open with five fingered shoes. I HATE FIVE FINGERED SHOES.

It is a Giant OCR1 in black. The front tire has radial spokes and it looks very similar to the attached photo (right down to the saddlebag). I think the only visible difference between this photo and my bike is the spokes on the wheels.

Ugh, that photo makes me sad. I miss my bike already.

Bike was stolen near the corner of Valencia and Liberty.

If you see this bike please please please please please say something. I will love you long-time.
:*(

Keep your eyes peeled. Here’s hoping this heinous criminal gets pinched.

[Shoe pic via REI]

I had my bike stolen out of 24th and Mission Street BART last Wednesday. Seen it? Hey, I know it happens. It’s my second stolen bike.

The thing is, I thought I had done everything right: I brought it in the gate, ran a cable through the wheels, and secured a newer mini Kryptonite U-lock through the frame. But when I got back everything was gone. I had to double check that I didn’t get off at the wrong station.

I think the lesson is that BART isn’t a safe place to park your bike. You may think you’re protecting your bike from outsiders, but you’re also protecting thieves. The bike parking area is in a secluded corner out of view of the operator booth, the station is noisy, and people are too hurried and desensitized to weirdos to take notice of strange activity. In retrospect, someone could take a generator and angle grinder down there while wearing a bear suit and no one would pay any attention.

There is also plenty of time for a thief to monitor the bike parking patterns. For me, I was parking it there for 8 hours every weekday as part of my commute. Someone could have easily figured out the best time to strike over the course of a few days.

I give props to the BART police for showing up quickly to take my report and offer their condolences, but unfortunately they said getting any security footage for such a large window of time and secluded corner probably wont happen. So much for vigilante justice.

I took away the following advice from them:

1. Write down the serial number of your bike. You’ll need it if your bike is ever recovered. Seriously, do it now. Put it in your phone or something.
2. Powell street BART is most secure. Due to people traffic and location of the bike area, they have had the least amount of theft there.
3. Don’t park a bike in public for more than a couple of hours if you expect to keep the bike. Get a beater.
4. Write BART about improving bike security. They don’t listen to the BART cops, they do listen to you. You can do so online here.

That being said, it could not have been easy for the thief to break my U-lock. It would have been time consuming and noisy. I offer these suggestions to BART:

1. If you haven’t already, put a security camera on the bike area.
2. Relocate bike racks to somewhere within line of sight to the operator booth.
3. Station agents should do regular scans of the station areas. Grandma can wait 5 minutes for help with which end to stick the ticket.
4. Improve hospitality towards bike commuters. Station, car, and time restrictions make it really hard to justify traveling with your bike. Caltrain figured this out to an extent. We can do better.

Best of luck out there against these savages.

[photo by Improv Everywhere via Fixed Gear Blog]