Well, my fourth bike was stolen this morning, out of our backyard, which has a seven foot stockade fence around it. I have never managed to hold onto a bike more than six months in an urban environment--the previous two times, they left the bike lock, as if to taunt me with its inadequacy. I think I'm done with bike commuting. I'd rather just hand out $100 bills to random people on the street; at least I wouldn't be rewarding theft.
It wasn't an expensive bike, either; it was the cheapest hybrid available in my size. But the fact is, if you own a bike in this city, it will be stolen. I'm willing to brave weather and entitled motorists. But I'm sick of funding donations to the bike theft brigade.
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My solution to biking in DC was to ride a piece of crap. Rust showing, the works. Thing had to have been 30 years old. Worked great, just looked awful. Nobody every messed with it.
the previous two times, they left the bike lock
That wasn't a hint to keep the bike indoors?
You don't live in a city, do you? If we had room to keep the bike indoors, I would have. The last bike was stolen from in front of my 700-foot third-floor walkup. And was a rusted out beater I'd purchased from a friend for $50, which I'd considered junking because the spokes were popping out.
Yes, I do live in a city. A big, scary city. Which is why I know bikes get stolen if they are left outside anywhere.
If you can't be bothered to take them indoors, it's hardly a surprise.
Sheesh, way to be unnecessarily condescending. Store it in your building's basement. Or in your storage locker. Or hang it from the ceiling in your apartment.
What? Suddenly unnecessary condescension is frowned on by a Megan McArdle commenter? When did this start? At 12:20 PM on July 21, 2009?
1) No basement--it was a converted row house. 2) Landlords get pissy when you start sinking major fasteners into their expensive plaster ceiling 3) I was not strong enough to carry a steel-frame bike up three flights of stairs every day.
Maybe you should just shell out for a light road bike with an aluminum frame? Guys and gals in my office seem to have no problem lugging them up and down our 3 flights of stairs.
Anyhow, I'm somewhat sympathetic because I've had a bike stolen outside my apartment before. Not a great experience, but far less of an inconvenience than when my (not comprehensively insured) car was stolen and totaled.
Or maybe people who live in urban areas ought not expect to have to live with constant crime. Our liberal friends are always telling us how awful "sprawl" is, and how everybody ought to live in cities in order to save gasoline. Great. I like cities, and I see the attraction.
But you know, I grew up in a suburb, and guess what? As a child growing up in the suburbs I would frequently leave my bike outdoors in front of my home, unattended and unlocked. It was never stolen.
Megan is somehow at fault because she left her bike locked, in an enclosed area. Maybe the folks who are really at fault are the criminals who make D.C. a very difficult place to live, and a city government which allows criminality to flourish.
"1) No basement--it was a converted row house. 2) Landlords get pissy when you start sinking major fasteners into their expensive plaster ceiling 3) I was not strong enough to carry a steel-frame bike up three flights of stairs every day."
You are so histrionic. The idea that you actually believe that there is no conceivable way for you to keep a bike secure is just so ridiculous it amazes me. It's a little bit thrilling that you somehow still have the capacity to do that to me.
Perhaps the purchase of a lock for the gate on your seven foot tall stockade fence might be in order.
There are three locks. They lifted it over the fence.
I think you need to do an experiment just for the fun of it. Buy another bike, put it behind the fence with no locks on the fence (but with a lock on the bike) and see how long it lasts.
Two words: razor wire.
Two words: claymore mines.
I like your suggestions but I'd like to see an electrified bike experiment.
I wonder if it would be illegal if you electrified the bike in your own backyard? Perhaps with a sign up that says "Caution: Electrified Bike. Steal at your own risk."
You would definitely be liable in tort to the thief's heirs when he electrified himself or got blown to bits, even with a sign. You can't use deadly force to protect mere property. Yes, the bar exam is next week. Yes, Asymmetrical Info. is more fun than studying.
Michael B:
In Texas, you can use deadly force to protect property.
rsbsail, I'm pretty sure DC's legal code is slightly different than Texas'.
Does DC have those handy "renta bike" terminals in heavily populated areas?
Yes.
Huh. Have you been living in the same place the whole time? 'Cause I gotta say, it sounds kind of like the same thieves might have figured out where they could keep coming back to for a new bike.
My wife has a Dahon Espresso, and I have the boy version. They fold in half, so they took up a lot less space inside our apartment in Manhattan, but they're full-size bikes. And they're great quality and not outlandishly pricey. Should you return to the world of cycling, maybe look into one.
"Well, my fourth bike was stolen this morning"
Perhaps uncharitably, this brings to mind the memorable aphorism my father was fond of imparting to me at similar moments in my own life: "a dog would have learned the first time."
That's a line to remember.
A dog would have learned what? That things get stolen from time to time? I'm betting Megan knew that before the first one went.
It appears the theives did.
Hate to pile onto this one, Megan, but he's got a point. A more expensive, lightweight bike that you can carry and store -- whether lightweight frame, or folding -- would have been a better long-term investment.
On a related note, it's a good thing I don't live in a dense city, because at the end of my patiences, I would be putting out (literal) honeypots. Take a couple old, cheap bikes, spraypaint the frame to make them look newer and nicer, then coat the frame and lock with honey and the seat and grips with roofing tar. Put on a light disguise and go tie 'em up with a cheap lock in a couple temping locations sometime after the thieving hour, then wait for the fun to begin.
Plenty of people (including me) lock bikes up in high-theft areas without this problem. How did the thieves "unlock" your lock? I'm guessing they snipped it with a cable cutter. You should talk to someone at your local bike shop about tougher locks. This is solvable and should not stop you from bike commuting.
Both were medium-to-high end Kryptonites with chains.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8XxcOj3Seo
That video is old. Those locks were recalled; if Megan bought hers within the past year or two, it shouldn't have that problem.
I've lived my whole life in small apartments, in a high-theft area, on a tight budget, dependent on bike for transport, so I understand your situation.
U-locks (either large or mini, depending on what you're locking to) are a bit more secure than chains. If I were in your place, I'd spend $50 on a set of u-locks and $50 on a bike. The stolen bike market tends to be for newer hybrids and mountain bikes, so get an old road bike (it's pretty rare that an older beater like your previous one would get stolen if it's locked well). Check craigslist or pawn shops in DC, I've seen a few that have bikes.
Speaking of "entitled motorists," it occurred to me over the weekend that I've now conditioned myself to wait at a four-way stop sign for cyclists coming from another direction to run the stop sign.
How about that.
I'm sorry your bike got stolen. I've seen nifty foldable bikes like the one Moff mentions- I'm betting they're pricey, but probably cheaper than replacing a regular bike every couple of months.
O/T: I read a lot of the blogs here, and a few on other sites, and I've noticed that your commenters are consistently the most disrespectful and snide. Only somewhat on this post, but in general, it can be pretty bad. Coincidentally, you are also the only woman whose blog I read regularly. I hope it's not a case of let's-condescend-to-the-lady-blogger. Maybe it's time to pull your hair back, put on some steel toed boots and regulate.
This is one of the most civil commented blogs I read. If you want to be really horrified by comments just go read them after Camille Paglia's next column in Salon.
I dunno, man. I came up in the oft-maligned world of Gawker commenting, and I gotta say, in general, the folks over there have always seemed far more willing to admit that they might be wrong about something, as well as more entertaining. Or look at Coates's commenters -- they seem to have a pretty good, but nonetheless rowdy, time.
That's because Coates is a coward who swings around the ban-hammer at commenters who demonstrate insufficient deference in their disagreements with him. Megan is not a coward and can give it as good as she can take it, which makes for more interesting discussions than those about sports, video games, or being black.
True, Coates gets more than his share of "dude, you're so brilliant" comments. But there are plenty of commenters who disagree with him, he just makes them do it without being trollish. I don't know how often Megan wields the "ban-hammer", but maybe it would be helpful to do it more often. For example, if she hasn't banned them already, I don't see any reason to let the people who made rude comments about her engagement announcement keep coming back. Let everybody play water polo, but once you pee in the pool, you're out.
Yeah, I think Coates can be heavy-handed occasionally and has his share of fanboys, but mostly I just see him enforcing manners, not a way of thinking. Seems like they have plenty of robust discussions over there. And frankly, I think civility and humility make for much more interesting disagreements.
As for your last sentence there, Stan, I'm sorry, but it's, uh, a complete non sequitur.
What I meant in my last sentence is that Megan's hands-off approach makes for a more interesting comments section than Coates's carefully manicured echo chamber. Ta Nehisi's draconian ban policies lead to two types of comments:
* unserious comments about frivolous but inoffensive and uncontroversial topics (e.g. sports and video games).
* dull, predictable comments that don't stray too far from the Coates worldview on controversial topics (e.g. politics and race).
Megan, despite her occasional bouts of discomfort with comments that break the structure of prevailing taboos, does permit free discussion and debate, even when it strays dangerously far from the beaten path. She also has thick enough skin to take hard criticism, warranted or not.
I cannot say the same for Ta Nehisi, and I think his comments section suffers greatly for it.
SERIOUSLY. I mean, I think you feed into it a little bit, McArdle, when you make hyperbolic statements like "But the fact is, if you own a bike in this city, it will be stolen." But goodness, if the commenters here aren't quicker to jump in with a humorless, know-it-all, just plain uncordial response than anywhere else I visit on the Web.
I read a lot of the blogs here, and a few on other sites, and I've noticed that your commenters are consistently the most disrespectful and snide. Only somewhat on this post, but in general, it can be pretty bad. Coincidentally, you are also the only woman whose blog I read regularly. I hope it's not a case of let's-condescend-to-the-lady-blogger.
Unfortunately, your hopes will be in vain. I think that Ms. McArdle's sex has a lot to do with it.
Re: stolen bikes. Many years ago, I worked in a bike shop and I recall that the bike locks' guarantees were not applicable in NYC. I wonder if the list has expanded to include DC?
While I respect the thinking behind bicycle commuting, I also think of it as a phase people of a certain age and stage in life go through. Not coincidentally, it's the same phase that includes living in dodgy urban neighborhoods as a kind of social marker.
"I think that Ms. McArdle's sex has a lot to do with it. "
Tosh. Douthat's comments were so virulent, he closed comments altogether. Ambinder did the same during the election, Clive Crook moderates his comments (hence none), and Ta-Nehisi bans people daily.
To me, closing comments entirely is more honest than the Coates policy of banning, banning, banning, or the hilarious Brad DeLong policy of banning and erasing quite cordial people who express polite disagreement.
I honestly don't know why Megan attracts such vitriol. I mean, she may be mistaken about some stuff, though I agree with her rather more often than not. But her critics often stoop to personal invective rather than saying something like "Megan is wrong and here are three reasons why." Given her own courteous tone, I don't get it.
Well, I imagine there's a close correspondence between the need to cart kids around and the need to drive a car. And between the tendency to bike and the inability to afford a car. Plus, the bike-unfriendly infrastructure in most places makes it a tougher habit to sustain.
But it's not like it has to be that way. Here in Madison, every day I see plenty of people of all ages biking for pleasure and to commute.
While I respect the thinking behind bicycle commuting, I also think of it as a phase people of a certain age and stage in life go through. Not coincidentally, it's the same phase that includes living in dodgy urban neighborhoods as a kind of social marker.
Oh, please. I know people in their 60s who commute by bike, from anywhere from 1 to 10 miles from work, year round. And these are doctors, librarians, lawyers, etc. Granted, I live in Madison, which is pretty bike-friendly, but you can say the same anywhere. Just ask Earl Blumenauer.
Wow! Two posters from Madison in a row!
Do you guys know each other?
I'm not from anywhere near Madison, doesn't it get a bit chilly biking to work in the winter?
Actually replying to blighter (below) but don't seem to be able to reply to you--too many replies?
Anyway, I don't know if I know Moff--it's not *that* small a town--but it's funny that we seem to have replied at the same time.
Granted, it's a small subset that commute during winter, but I have a few friends who do it, and they just layer up extra well. The big problem are the fingers & the face. But ski equipment (neoprene masks, goggles, those crazy-expensive ski gloves) apparently do wonders, and they claim it makes winter more bearable. Oh, and the specially studded bike tires so you don't wipe out every 2 blocks.
Ha! That was funny. I'm pretty sure we don't know each other, especially since my wife and I just moved here in March. As such, I haven't had any personal experience with biking in the winter, but I've heard the stories and may give it a try myself -- I'm North Dakotan; the cold doesn't freak me out.
And even if I can't bike from late October to early March, it's still awfully nice to have the infrastructure in place to make it doable for half the year. That's one of the reasons we moved here, actually.
Moff, where in ND? My husband has extended family in the Oakes/Ellendale area. Well, actually they're all over ND now, but that's where the old farm was...
And no, I don't think I know anyone who just moved in March. Unless you're working at the med school--then I might know you.
Erika: I'm from Fargo. I think a friend from high school was originally from Oakes, but I'm not 100 percent sure. Otherwise, I know no one from that area.
I don't work at the med school, either. It sounds like we haven't met yet. ;-)
Try Rod Dreher's Crunchy Con blog. 90% of his commenters seem to actively despise him. It's a strange phenomenon, for example Ta Nesi Coates gets only cursory disagreements from his commenters.
A white Christian conservative being actively despised on the Internet is a strange phenomenon? What rock have you been living under?
Normally comment sections tend to cultivate people who like reading the blog in question. If it's 90% hate, that says something very odd about the readership.
@Lee, I was thinking the same thing as I read thru the comments here these past few days.
I too am surprised at the lack of civility shown towards Meagan by some of the commenters. It is not a matter of their disagreeing with her, but the manner in which they disagree -- the tone is often disrespectful, harsh and condescending.
I find this surprising. What kind of lock do you use?
Kryptonites with chains.
I suspect continuing to buy cheap bikes that get stolen periodically is still the cheapest form of transportation you'll find.
But if you really want to avoid your bike being stolen, you could invest in a higher quality lock. It would also be fairly trivial to take your seat and front wheel with you.
"But the fact is, if you own a bike in this city, it will be stolen"
Has Matt Yglesias has his bike stolen since he got one over a year ago - in the same city I believe.
Back when I was in college in the '80s in Ann Arbor the do-good liberals decided to fund free bikes for campus and downtown on the honor system. They bought several hundred and scattered them all over town. Within a few weeks they were all gone.
Shocker. DC seems to have a bike theft problem. The Dupont Circle, Adams-Morgan, Kalorama, and Foggy Bottom areas are particularly bad. The neighborhoods around the Verizon Center are also iffy.
Shocker. DC seems to have a bike theft problem.
I think DC has a...umm...theft problem...
I think its unfair to blame DC. It's not their fault congress is in session. Besides, I'm pretty sure my senator still has his first bike that he used for Milk and Newspaper deliveries during the war.
I would recommend a 3 step theft prevention regime:
1. Have a cheap bike (you've done this, but it is not enough by itself)
2. Remove the front wheel and the seat and bring these inside. Theives are stupid, but it is hard to see one spending $50 on parts to complete a bike that is only worth $50 in the first place.
3. Locks, razor wire, etc. Make it a real time-consuming pain to steal.
Good Luck!
dbp - I assumed that Megan had already removed the front wheel at the least. That may have been optimistic on my part.
I used to do all that crap.... but then I decided that if I have to dismantle my bike every time I leave it somewhere it ain't worth the trouble. Luckily I can keep it inside in the evening. And Chicago has a lovely free, guarded, indoor bike parking garage downtown for bike commuters. I bike almost every day, including during the winter for the past 2 years and have only had 1 theft incident, where they strangely only stole the front wheel.
http://www.chicagobikestation.com/
That doesn't sounds so strange. After all, they probably had obtained a perfectly good bike from someone else who had, say, taken the front wheel inside.
Razor wire? Seriously, this is your solution?
The WaPo recently wrote about the prevalence of bike theft in DC and the extraordinary lengths to which bike thieves will go. One resident has had his bike stolen eight times, including one time when they stole it from his garage by ripping the garage door entirely off.
What's funny is it's the same city and an economist. I know Megan isn't a proper economist, but the parallels are amusing nonetheless.
Connect it to the mains?
I like that idea! Legally speaking, "spring guns" are prohibited (so no claymore mines), but electrocution in this case would be entirely incidental.
Sadly, the person most likely to get electrocuted by that would be one of the owners.
I agree with the above.
1.Get a bigger better lock and install it properly. Your local bike store should be able to give you some good pointers. When possible, nail your security bar directly into the concrete.
2. Take the front wheel and seat post inside.
3. screw the hybrid and get a folding bike. Its better exercise anyways.
I had two bikes stolen in a three month period earlier. Once, my fault. It was unlocked in a place I thought was safe because it was behind a fence and not visible from the street. The second time was stolen in the middle of the day despite being locked up in a high pedestrian and security area.
My current bike cost less than the lock and I keep it locked in front of a security camera outside my city's municipal building. Six months later I still have it.
My wife swears the key is to use two locks. That's enough to make them steal somebody else's bike. Given the price of good locks, I'm reluctant to go that route (spend almost three times the price of the bike on locks?!?), but she hasn't had a bike stolen in years and I have, so there's a lesson in there somewhere.
I always used two locks in New York (a U-lock fastening the front wheel to the frame, and a chain that weighed about 25 lbs looped through the frame, rear wheel, and whatever I was locking to), and never had an issue. Granted, this was mostly in Murray Hill and Midtown, and on the Upper West Side, so there was a lot of foot traffic at any time of day.
And I think all told I spent $150 on the two locks -- $100 for the chain and $50 for the U-lock. Maybe it was a little more, but not much. I figured I'd be able to use the same locks for at least five years, and they'd mean I could use the same bike, too. Spread out over that much time (if not longer), the money seems worth it to me.
Tim, check out the Post article linked above, and think of two locks as cheaper than the cost of eight bikes.
It's your fault that you got stolen from?
One major case of blame the victim there.
(And yes, I lock my apartment door and take steps to limit the damage that pickpockets can do. But if someone steals from me I figure it's their fault.)
A seven-foot stockade fence? Around a home?
I haven't been around to lots of places in the US, but the only place I've seen that is in Tijuana.
Very common in the suburbs and the city. They're all over. At least in the east.
Sorry to hear that Megan. I'm in the same boat as you in that I'm also a bike commuter who lives in Bloomingdale, DC. Fortunately, I've got a convenient indoor storage spot, so I haven't suffered the same type of repeated theft.
Not that it will get your bike back or totally prevent additional theft, but another idea to try is to toss a tarp over your bike after you lock it up. You can get one of those cheap plastic blue ones for little $$$ up at the Home Depot.
I'm guessing the thieves are peeking over the fence first to see if there's anything to take, then climbing over to help themselves. If they can't see it, they're less likely to go through the effort to climb over.
Hopefully I'll see you on the bike paths soon.
I'm guessing the thieves are peeking over the fence first to see if there's anything to take, then climbing over to help themselves. If they can't see it, they're less likely to go through the effort to climb over.
Maybe, maybe not. In the city it is pretty easy to quietly canvass a neighborhood without being obviously up to something, especially if you're a full-time, professional bike thief with nothing else to do and lots of practice at doing it. Density means you can scout lots of potential targets in single passes. Once a bicycle is observed to be coming and going from a particular address, it will have maybe 36 hours to live if stored outdoors.
mouse -- the tarp is no guarantee that it'll be safe, just a cheap, quick way to reduce the chances of it being boosted that also has the benefit of keeping the rain off. From what Megan's said there's really no practical way to keep a bike inside, so it's a matter of risk reduction.
I live in the same neighborhood, and from what I've observed a lot of the theft seems to be of the "crime of opportunity" variety. Of course you're right that if she's been targeted by a "pro" then chances are good he/she will strike again.
See, I thought the biggest threat was injury or death by traffic. Fully half the people I worked with in Boston who commuted by bike had at least one traffic incident that required a trip to the hospital. Maybe that's because Boston has good bike paths, but not where commuters need them. I even tried to watch out for bicyclists and found it difficult. I don't want to think what people who didn't care were doing with their cars.
.
But yeah, the bike theft is a huge problem. A bf in college got his new bike stolen within a week. A friend even followed some bike thieves and reported where they went and who they talked to and when and the police never followed up on it.
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Sorry your bike got stolen - especially since a big fence and a lock should be reasonable deterents.
Theft is pretty bad in Boston too. The parking at City Hall, right next to the public entrance where there are always at least 3 cops, is about the only safe place.
I'm always surprised by the callous and cavalier response many people have to bike and auto theft in D.C. My former roommate had a very similar experience to Megan's, including having her bike stolen out of a padlocked shed, which the thieves got into by cutting a hole in the side of a shed. The reaction of many was either (1) you weren't careful enough, or (2) why do you live in the city, anyway?
I had similar problems after being the victim of multiple car break-ins, both in the alley behind my house and on the streets nearby. In each case, nothing was stolen because I don't keep anything valuable in my car (in fact, at this point I never leave anything in my car, not even a pad of paper or an umbrella, for fear that it will tempt thieves).
I find it strange that the general attitude is that this is my (or my roommates', or Megan's) fault, for "choosing" to live in the neighborhoods we do or for not failing to take extraordinary precautions. I'd live in a swankier neighborhood, or at least a more secure building, if I could afford it. I'd invest in top of the line car alarms, or park in a garage, if those things were feasible. But as it is, I take as many precautions against theft and vandalism as I reasonably can without going bankrupt or completely designing my life around potential threats.
Assuming that we agree that we need cities, and that we want our cities to be as safe as possible (and that "safety" includes the protection of personal property), I'm just surprised at how few people can look at situations like this and say, "Well maybe you should just move to Bethesda" or "You were asking for it because you failed to hoist your bike up three flights of stairs." Maybe instead we should be looking into why these kinds of crimes happen and what can be done to prevent them, and have a little sympathy for people who wind up spending hundreds of dollars to keep bike thieves and car window replacement service people in new shoes.
Lebowski: Do you have any leads? I mean, are you gonna catch these guys?
Cop: Leads, yeah, sure. I'll just check with the boys down at the crime lab, they've got four more detectives working on the case. They got us working in shifts!
Assuming that we agree that we need cities, and that we want our cities to be as safe as possible (and that "safety" includes the protection of personal property),
I'm not sure it's about needing cities as accepting the fact that they have always existed, will continue to exist, and will always present a unique challenge in law enforcement because there are lots of people in a small area and therefore many more opportunities for encounters, and many more cracks in the woodwork for the criminal element to vanish back into after an incident.
I'm just surprised at how few people can look at situations like this and say, "Well maybe you should just move to Bethesda" or "You were asking for it because you failed to hoist your bike up three flights of stairs." Maybe instead we should be looking into why these kinds of crimes happen and what can be done to prevent them, and have a little sympathy for people who wind up spending hundreds of dollars to keep bike thieves and car window replacement service people in new shoes.
Very idealistic of you. I propose something else: When you know a city has a 50+ year history of being a mismanaged maze of crime and bureaucratic entanglement, either do not live there, or else accept the fact that additional security measures may be required to protect one's person and property from incidents.
Comparatively, nobody deserves to be mugged or raped, and those who are victims of such crimes deserve a basic amount of human compassion, but the wheels of sympathy do not turn so quickly if a person makes a habit of repeatedly strolling through dark alleys at midnight while wearing expensive or revealing personal effects, and especially if they keep doing it after multiple warnings or a previous attack.
Not saying the host is in a position reflecting that level of unwillingness to learn from experience and modify behavior, but four bikes?
I would argue that as centers of economic, social, and cultural mechanisms, we do in fact need cities. It is difficult to imagine how a a world composed entirely of small towns and suburbs would function with anything approximating the efficiency of our current society.
Given that I simply see no way around cities, I don't understand the attitude that when people in cities are the victims of crimes, we should either suck it up or move. If everyone who encountered crime in a city moved, no one would live in cities. And yet I don't understand how it makes sense to simple accept a certain level of crime unless it is truly negligible. When it comes to bike theft in D.C., it is not negligible. In fact, it is so pervasive that it is virtually impossible to keep a bike in the city unless you have a place indoors to store it. Which, for the many reasons discussed in this post and its comments, is not feasible for a large portion of the population.
And finally, it appears to me that after each bike theft, Megan made efforts to prevent her next bike from being stolen. And still they were stolen. Which indicates (1) bike theft in D.C. is not merely perpetrated on people who refuse to learn from their "mistakes", and (2) bike thieves in D.C. are a massive problem/pain in the ass that could probably stand to be addressed by the community.
Which indicates (1) bike theft in D.C. is not merely perpetrated on people who refuse to learn from their "mistakes", and (2) bike thieves in D.C. are a massive problem/pain in the ass that could probably stand to be addressed by the community.
Again, this isn't a problem that suddenly arose among an otherwise pleasant community. The condition of DC and its law enforcement (or lack thereof) is the fruit of decades of corrupt governance, made worse by the fact that there is no state government to provide intermediate levels of accountability. Can't get the mayor's ear? That's too bad, go talk to Congress. In fact a friend of mine lived there and attended DC public schools for a few years in the very early 90s, and the stories he carried away from that experience are...interesting to say the least.
It's well and good to talk about "community organizing" when you're x-hundred miles away from the problem and don't have to put your own time (and possibly your money or your personal safety) on the line, but what exactly are YOU going to do about it?
Personally, I would just buy the folding bike, or at least an alloy frame bike. My first bike in college was an alloy-framed Trek that cost about $250 new (inflation adjusted), and my medium-height, fine-boned figure certainly gives me no gender advantage over Megan. I could carry that bike up a flight of stairs when required, which was fortunate, since my apartment in the final two years of my schooling was on a second floor.
Interesting that you don't spend a word criticising the people who comit the crimes - apparently the criminals are just like the weather in any particular city, something to be put up with and outside any human control.
And doesn't your sort of attitude about crime as some sort of natural force maybe at least partially explain why a city might have a 50+ year history of mismanagement?
I also note that while you claim that the victims of raping and muggings deserve a basic amount of human compassion, but don't yourself bother to offer a word of sympathy to Megan McArdle.
Anyway - I'm sympathetic to her losing her bike. I grew up in a suburb with a lot of buglary, not fun. And I managed to get through university without having my bike stolen, although it sounds nothing like Washington D.C. levels.
Fully half the people I worked with in Boston who commuted by bike had at least one traffic incident that required a trip to the hospital.
Driving through Cambridge the other day I saw a guy rear-end a car with his bike. Oh I laughed.
Also, you will often find the Cambridge PD pulling over and ticketing riders for blowing through red lights and stop signs. Seeing someone get a ticket while on a bike is a classic.
They mostly do that at Hampshire & Broadway. I got a warning for jumping the green off Hampshire, even though I waited for the red on Broadway & all traffic to clear from the south.
Somerville cop doored me.
I'll take the citation.
To avoid the Hampshire & Broadway disaster (the lights there make no sense), I usually cut across on Windsor or Portland. That's part of my daily bike commute.
And I hate aggressive bikers who hate to brake, for red-lights or people. Seriously, chill out. Thankfully, those spandex-clad yuppies start to thin out once the weather gets cold.
It's an old habit - I was going that way for years before they even had a light. The reason to jump the green is safety - better to get through before the mass start of traffic. So now I get off and push it a few steps. It's not even ($1) jaywalking.
I kinda like the company on Hampshire these days. A real mix, from fierce kids to people even older than me wobbling along.
A friend of mine was driving his car in the city and got pulled over by a bicycle cop. Does that count?
Sorry about the bike. A few suggestions from my 6 yrs in DC
1. Locking technique: a lot of people just lock their bike, but there are ways to lock it that make it harder to break or pick
2. Folding bikes. There are some pretty sweet ones out there, and you can take them on the metro to get you part way on the days you can't be bothered riding all the way home.
3. Removing saddle and/or front wheel. Takes 1 min, makes it very hard to ride away on, attracts attention if they do take it. It also means that thieves have to buy the missing part before they sell, which is not only a hassle but cuts into the $25-50 they sell the bike for.
4. Additional security. The concern is not only your bike, but the fact that people were digging around in your back yard despite the fence, the dog, etc. Whether you get a new bike or not, it sounds like time for some supplemental security outside.
Get an used lightweight road bike that you can carry inside. Road bikes are actually pretty great for city riding because the light wheels spin up so easily from a stop. Then get one of the indoor bike racks that either clamps floor-to-ceiling or that leans against the wall (no holes needed in either case).
Just curious: Do people generally report these crimes to the police? I've had car vandalism and stolen property - but I never reported it b/c I didn't think it was worth the effort.
I think a key is to not leave it out overnight. I lived in Pittsburgh while I was in grad school, and I slept on a cot so I would have room in my bedroom for the bike. If I was going to leave it at school overnight, I'd put it in my office.
I have more space now, but I keep the bike where I would normally put a dinner table (convenience really). No, I'm not a big hit with the ladies :). I work at the north campus here in Buffalo, so it's safe while I'm at work. Again when I leave it here overnight, I put it in the office.
But I'm sick of funding donations to the bike theft brigade.
It is your patriotic duty to support this infomal tax;
Got to spread the wealth around. :(
Seriously, though, the theft gives you some insight
into the mind of the thief; What would he do after
three days without a meal ?
Why are you living within rioting distance of him,
in times like these ?
Fearful ? Fear is a good thing; Makes you think,
makes you take precautions.
Cripes. Calm down, Rorschach.
Dan Dreiberg asked me to tell you to calm down, Rorschach.
NUTS.
I'm surprised you put up with the loss as many times as you did. After my first bike was stolen, I couldn't put up with the loss. It was a piece of junk that I got for free, but still, I felt like my innocence was taken away. I've never thought about biking again.
try roller blading with cross-country ski poles (that reach your chin) - you'll want to wear athletic/football leather gloves, a helmet and carry your shoes on your back - all that will fit in your apartment
Don't get me wrong: I love Megan and her blog, and I feel sympathy for the loss of her bike, certainly an infuriating experience. But perhaps she could pause a moment, review this post, and reflect on what her own painful experiences might tell her about why some of us prefer our quarter-acre in the northern Virginia suburbs. Particularly before she puts up another of those annoying posts about the inexplicability of the revealed preferences of the American Suburb-Dweller. Deal? :-)
I don't think they're inexplicable. They're just not for me, that's all. I don't think I've ever said there was anything wrong with living in the suburbs. There's nothing wrong with liking rhubarb, but I don't understand that, either.
Bikes get stolen in suburbia too. Grills too, in some places.
My solution has been the folding bike. It doesn't take up much space indoors. And, although I don't have a garage, I have off-street parking in a place where cars are seldom targeted. When I don't want to take my folding bike indoors, I fold it up and store it in the trunk of my car.
richao,
How long to you spend in traffic every day. It's one thing to face a stolen bike every once and a while, it's quite another to face 2 hours of the beltway every day.
Wow, I am amazed at the level of ire Megan's bike post has caused. Also, I live in surburia - well, a rural area just outside of suburbia - in Northeast Indiana, and we still have property crimes, especially stolen bikes. Unfortunately, if a bike is outside or in an open garage, it is a pretty easy target even with a decent bike lock for any low life who is wondering by. And a fence doesn't really act as that much deterence if it is night and there are not a lot of light sources around.
I would love Megan to do an economic analysis of your commute costs over time. I was thinking recently that I could have a $400 bike stolen every year and I would still come out financially ahead compared with transit and waaaay ahead of driving. Losing a bike stings, but so does giving my mechanic $500 for a brake job or $3/gallon gasoline. Not to mention the health club membership I don't need because of my 45 minutes of "exercise" every day just rolling to and from my job.
Obviously I'm an advocate, but even just looking at it with the cold, hard eye of an economist, I bet the rational decision is to let go of your anger, buy another bike, and keep riding.
Slate did a story on the best bike locks a couple of years ago and ranked them worst to first:
http://www.slate.com/id/2140083/
jmo3,
Thirty minutes, most days.
My point, of course, was not that suburbia is clearly better or that property crime is unknown in our neck of the woods. I myself understand the appeals of urban living. Rather, my point is that there are tradeoffs: One being a longer commute vs. the prevalence and inconvenience of property theft (not the mention the psychological stress and anxiety that one incurs from being the victim of any crime). Moreover, though I could have been clearer in my comment, it's not merely that I can leave my bike outdoors without having it stolen; by living in suburbia, I can afford a 1700 sq ft house that permits me to keep my bicycle and most other property indoors.
Again, these are clearly trade-offs that different people value differently. What amuses me is Megan's repeatedly demonstrated inability or unwillingness to perceive these trade-offs and value differences when she comments on that mysterious creature, the American Suburb-Dweller. Again, I love this blog and agree with Megan much of the time, and I mean this in good fun.
Megan,
Unless you are sure you want to stop riding, I would definitely suggest you give the suggestion of a light-weight foldable bike a chance, and store it indoors. Having wrote that, if you can't bring it inside at the ends of your non-home destinations, then maybe not having one is a wiser choice.
That really sucks - and let's remember, it is the thieves who are to blame. That said, check out these bikes - not cheap, but very cool and foldable.
http://www.militarybikes.com/products.html
Moff: Calm down, Rorschach
Love it ! Double-Double Entendre:
Reading too much into the post
Acting as a Watchman for MM
M.C. : Bikes get stolen in suburbia too.
Plano, Texas, was developed as a safe
bedroom community for the people who
staffed the nearby Telecomm Corridor.
We recently had our first daylight,
home break-in, armed robbery; It will
not be the last. The Neighborhood Watch
signs say: "If I don't call the Police,
my neighbor will."
Richardson, just to the south, had a
jump in their crime stats which has
the LEOs worried; They have reason to be.
Irving, to the southwest, is offering the
highest salary in the state to the person
who is willing to take the job of Mayor,
and try to cope with the explosive
demographic mix there.
All of which is as nothing to the D.C.
situation; Someone did an article on the
flight of families of CongressCritters,
and the precautions the CC themselves
take when staying in the District;
Do they know something that MM needs
to know ?
Lived in DC for three years, had two bikes stolen. Once was because I was relatively new to the area and had no idea that you really needed a good lock. The second time, it was taken out of a sheltered area with a good lock around the wheel and frame and the front wheel taken off. After that, I kept it inside. Granted, I was in a first floor apartment, so it wasn't as hard as if I'd been on the 3rd floor, but I still have the bike. :)
If you have a quick-release front wheel so you can remove it in the evening, doesn't that make it easier for other folk to remove it during the day?
The idea is to remove the wheel during the day when you are e.g. in the office and cannot take the bike indoors with you, but can reasonbly carry and stow the wheel somewhere. That means the thief cannot ride off inconspicuously on the stolen unit, and has to at least buy or steal an equal wheel before the bike will have resale value. If you're lucky, maybe he'll just move down the rack to an easier mark.
Hey Megan -- Feel free to register your bike over @ www.stolenbicycleregistry.com. It's a free resource for listing and searching for stolen bikes.
I am surprised that there isn't a prevalent GPS/Lo-Jack like device for bicycles (I suppose you'd embed the hardware in the frame.) The technology has been getting pretty cheap, after all. The economics for paying for the effort in recovering the things might not be all that sound, but I can see municipalities chipping in on that from a "broken windows" viewpoint, from a general urban livability one, and for that matter from the environmental side as well...
Sorry Megan that you had people being annoying, I have a friend who lives in Baltimore and her bike was her most prized possession, and it was stolen out of her back yard as well. She's moving so hopefully she'll be able to get a new one and keep it safe. but here's a song that may amuse you (or annoy you... you never know) www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntkPYpBV-Vg
and them live at PAX in 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRP8s3F9Qo8&feature=related
MM said There's nothing wrong with liking rhubarb, but I don't understand that, either.
Actually, what's wrong is not liking rhubard. I never had it until I moved to the country, where my father in law grows it and my wife makes it into wonderful pie, just fantastic hot with vanilla ice cream or vanilla yogurt. Anyone who doesn't like that should be restricted to a diet of gruel. And I just recently discovered on a menu in France, some incomprehensible dessert that had something the French called "rhubarb" in it. I wondered what that was, and sure enough, it was rhubard (duh!) and as wonderful as ever.
As to the stolen bike, maybe you should figure out where all the stolent bikes go to be sold and just buy a new stolen one every few months. Morally reprehensible but maybe you can justify it to yourself as a form of recycling? And that way when it gets stolen again, this time from you, you can console yourself that it was a form of rough justice.
Ever consider the possibility that someone is messing with you, by which I mean you, personally? That last theft would certainly make me wonder.
Now see, if you lived in Chicago, you could join the last private railcar in the nation (on public transit) for $900 and still save money.
Ok. So I was in Boston a while back. The city was removing bikes in public places that had been left where they would interfere with the upcoming Marathon. Having a little spare time on my hands, I took an interest in watching the work and chatting with the workers. So the long and short of it is:
1. Any kind of chain or cable can be cut silently in seconds with a big pair of bolt cutters. Thicker chains just require bigger bolt cutters
2. A good U-lock (e.g. Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit U-Lock) takes 3 to 5 minutes with a noisy heavy duty DeWalt Power Angle Grinder (hack saws won't do).
So now you know how to keep your bike from being stolen. Lock it to something solid with a U-Lock and make sure there is no power outlet nearby.
I've had 2 nice bikes stolen in the US and one crappy one stolen in Amsterdam. In Amsterdam bike theft used to be ubiquitous and nearly unavoidable; hence, everyone rode crappy steel beaters. The rate of theft was directly correlated to the size and treatment of the city's heroin junkie population. From the '70s through the early '90s, an equilibrium held: all bikes were crap, and would be frequently stolen by junkies; but you could buy a cheap, crappy, stolen bike from a junkie for $20. This kept the problem tolerable, though highly annoying. Starting in the late '90s, however, a more conservative political culture; a greater desire for conspicuous display of consumer goods (like nicer bikes); urban gentrification; and new policies towards heroin use (free government heroin for certified addicts at controlled, supervised, boring injection sites) kicked things to a different level of equilibrium. Now, bikes cost more; more bikes are nice bikes; and there is far less bicycle theft -- probably less than in the US. There may also be much less tolerance for buying stolen bikes, both by police and by the general public, which would reduce the market for such bikes. I would bet dollars to donuts that a major change occurred with the advent early this decade of the "Bakfiets", a highly maneuverable long-platform bike with a wheelbarrow-like trough in front that can seat two toddlers -- a favorite among yuppie parents that can cost $1200 or more. The high price and convenience of such bikes for voting families means that combatting bike theft becomes a much higher priority.
I would bet, finally, that the fact that bicycle use is universal makes the stolen bicycle trade a more serious concern for police, whereas in the US police probably feel they have more important things to concentrate on -- certainly in a city with a murder rate like Washington's.
I don't have any solutions on offer or any suggestions for Megan, though. I think it just sucks.
Oh, wait, I do have one other Amsterdam solution that might be relevant: take a crappy old bike and paint it like it was 1969. Rainbow colors, swirls and polka dots, "Crunchy Con!" in pink on the handlebars, etc. This makes it 1. more recognizable, causing thieves to hesitate perhaps at least a little bit, and 2. less desirable to most other people. And it means you can ride a piece of junk around and have people think "How artsy!" rather than "I knew journalists were underpaid, but this is ridiculous..."
Years ago I lived in South Arlington and biked to work at the Forrestal Building down the mall. I kept my bike inside at home and brought it into my office at work. The bike was more valuable to me than my car. This was before the days of hybrids or even mountain bikes.
Dupont Circle had bike lockers back then. Do they still?
The only solution is to take it inside. Those clamp-able floor-to-ceiling jobs look pretty good.
If men were angels, we would have no need for bike locks.
It took a bit of poking around, but I believe I have located a solution to your problem.
I would suggest simply not leaving your bike outdoors for storage. Both my girlfriend and I keep our bikes in our apartment. In order to keep the space requirement reasonable, we bought a gravity stand that stores two bikes, one on top of the other, and leans against the wall. We keep it against a wall in the a hall leading to the bedrooms. It doesn't take up all that much room, and everything is secure.
Live on the third floor and don't have any space for a bike? Setup a cheap pulley system, leave your bike hanging outside the window and lower it when you need to leave... May be unpopular with landlords.
Two words: folding bike. I picked up a full size montague last year after being in your situtation. It's a hybrid that rides great, but fits under my futon in a bag. It never gets left outside; not at work, nor at home.