Bike theft, what they're doing about it, and what YOU can do about it.

There's no denying it, bike theft has been seeing a HUGE upswing as of late. Simply reading all the "stolen bike" ads in the local Craigslist bike section on top of all the thefts reported in the UT Campus Watch is enough to break even the most jaded cyclists' heart.

Last night a bike theft hit especially close to home for me, as it occured directly outside of the main ATXBS Compound/World Headquarters. Read on...

My girlfriends bike was stolen Sunday night off the bike rack on my car. It was pretty much at the intersection of Hwy 183 and Fairfield Rd. between the hours of 10:30PM and Midnight. Heres the details.

Purple Specialized Crossroads with 700c wheels.
Filpped riser bars with pink Oury grips
Single front chain ring with Sakae crank arm
One loose black bottle cage

I realize recovering a stolen bike is pretty rare! So I have to ask that one of you kind hearted followers of the ATXBS.COM trade me my LTD VIPER 254 BASS GUITAR (mint cond.) for a decent medium sized bike something single speed is her preference, but any bike worth about $300 would be totally great. The bass is white, has active emg pickups and a set neck. comes with a case. I paid about $600 a couple years back. Keep an eye out and thanks for reading!

XOXO JOHN THE SOCK fortunefive@gmail.com

This Specialized was her ONLY form of transportation, on which she rode her 30+ mile commute on a daily basis. If I see anyone riding this bike in my neighborhood that isn't her, prepare to have your teeth broke.

On the subject of bike theft, the Yellow Bike Project collective folks contacted me regarding two instances and wanted me to repost the following information. First up is a bike stolen from the YBP Treasure City shop itself:

http://austin.craigslist.org/bik/1167115694.html

Stolen from Yellow Bike: Orange Schwinn Paramount (Austin)
Reply to: sale-2yehe-1167115694@craigslist.org
Date: 2009-05-12, 11:35AM CDT

Yellow Bike Project recently had a safety orange, 1970's Schwinn Paramount stolen from it's shop. The bike is very distinctive and has the original campagnolo nuovo record components. I would doubt there is more than one of these bikes in Austin. It looks similar to this bike here - http://velospace.org/node/16244 - but without the pink cable housing and bar tape!

Yellow Bike continues to exist solely from donations of bikes, bike parts and money from shop users, so we take theft of our income source very seriously. If you see this bike, know where it is or are offered/see it for sale, please let us know via the email in this posting or through the email on our website at http://www.austinyellowbike.org

Thanks, YBP Collective

If you see this bike please let the either me or the YBP people know about it. Next up is a recovered ("re-stolen") bike that was taken from a known bike thief named Louis Mathis:

http://austin.craigslist.org/bik/1167053695.html

Univega Road Bike found! Is it your? (austin)
Reply to: sale-vbsvk-1167053695@craigslist.org
Date: 2009-05-12, 11:14AM CDT

I found a univega road bike.

Does it belong to you?

If so, send me a more detailed description and we can reunite you.

This bike was also seen in Louis' possession a couple weeks back, so if it's yours you need to contact YBP.

Louis sounds like quite the thief. From the sound of things he's been at this for some time, wonder why the cops don't do anything:

Louis has been stealing bikes for as long as i've lived in east austin. He hits up back yards, porches, campus for unlocked bicycles. I have seen him on as many a 8 different bicycles in one day on 12th street. Right now Louis is doing yard work and odd jobs in the cherrywood/lafayette/manor rd neighborhood, where folks might not know him, stealing bikes when the opportunities arise. He stole a black scott road bike from my frend Liza's house. The word on the street is that he is mainly stealing from impound yards these days, most likely the UT parking services and Orange Bike Project lots on campus, which are adjacent. This means that the univega may originally have been impounded.

On the topic of prolific bike thieves, our favorite (alleged) bike thief James Clayton is actually going to be getting his day in court TOMORROW! You can check the docket schedule here, but it looks like May 13th is Mr. Clayton's date with justice. Lets all hope that justice prevails. If you can show up to be a visible cyclist presence in the crowd, please do so. This goes double for anyone who's been (allegedly) victimized by the bicycle super villain himself.

If nothing else, at least this is proof that not ALL bike theft goes unnoticed.

So there's all this bicycle theft going on, bike thieves on the loose, (alleged) bike thieves in jail, but what's the City going to do about it?

Turns out they're actually trying to do SOMETHING! The Bicycle Advisory Council is currently considering supporting a resolution coming up before City Council that addresses the growing problem of bicycle theft. It's still very much a work in progress, but here's a short list of things that would be included in the resolution:

That the City Manager is directed to create a City of Austin bicycle theft response program. This program should include, at a minimum:

• A free, voluntary bicycle registry program in a web-based format;

• An evaluation of RFID bicycle tagging programs to assess the costs and
benefits such a program would have in complimenting the registry
program; and

• An educational campaign to encourage safe storage of bicycles, to include
at a minimum, information on bicycle racks that will direct riders how to
correctly lock their bicycles to bicycle racks and education to business and
property owners on how to provide in-building bicycle storage.

The resolution also states that "throughout all of these programs, the City Manager should work with community stakeholders, including, but not limited to bicycle and pawn shop owners, the Austin Bicycle Advisory Council, and other cyclist group representatives to ensure community involvement and leadership in the programs." Doesn't sound too shabby! I'll keep y'all up-to-date as this resolution develops.

Finally, what can YOU do about it? LOCK YOUR BIKE! Seriously folks, it kills me to see the number of nice looking bicycles that are "secured" with a cheezy cable lock, easily picked U-Lock, or worse, nothing at all! Don't take a chance, get yourself a DECENT U-Lock with a FLAT key, and make sure when you lock your bike you include the frame. If you only lock a wheel the thieves will rip you off. If you leave your bike outside for "just a second", you're presenting a target. Play it safe, bring your bike in whenever you can, and if you have to leave it outside make sure it's secured properly. Here's an example of the correct way to lock a bike. Please follow their instructions, I'd hate to write one of these posts about your bike.