BikeBrampton member George Shepperdly tells his Stolen Bike story. Think of this the next time you think about leaving your bike without locking it. You do not want to write your own story about a Stolen Bike.
“I own an expensive carbon fibre bicycle. I have cycled over 17,000 Km in the past four years on this bike. I have taken it to the UK twice and the USA once. This year I have ridden over 3,000 Km. On Friday, I had it leaning up along side the garage wall. I left to go for lunch with my friends. My wife said to me “Are you not going to put your bike away?” I replied “No it should be OK, I am going to work on it this afternoon.”
Needless to say, when I returned my wife was standing at the end of the driveway to tell me that the bike had been stolen. A neighbour had come and told her that they had seen the bike being taken. The good thing is that the neighbour gave a good description of the youth and the time that he had taken the bike.
I took my wife’s bike and cycled around the neighbourhood and later went out in the car. I phoned my friend Boyd who also went touring the subdivision for a couple of hours. I called the Police who said they would be at my house within the hour.
Two hours later no sign of the bike or the police, so I went to the police station and filled in a missing bike form.
As you can imagine I was in shock and was very depressed the whole weekend. However from the time the bike was taken we determined that the youth who took the bike must be going to Summer school at the local High school and they all leave the school at 1:30 pm.
Armed with my DSLR camera with a 250mm lens, I waited by the school and took a couple of photos and lo and behold here is the youth with the description that I was given, complete with a red binder in his hand. I took half a dozen photos and then followed him all the way home hiding behind bushes and then running to walkways to make sure he did not disappear into a house without me seeing which one. Finally he came to his house and I took pictures of him checking the mail and going in the front door.
I then walked home downloaded the pictures on to my computer and called my neighbour who identified him as the one who took my bike. I called the police who came to my home and asked me questions and I showed them my evidence. They then proceeded to the home. Only the Father was home and they looked in the garage and back garden but no sign of the bike.
An hour later my front door bell rang and there is the father with the lad who took the bike and the bike in the driveway. They both apologized for the theft and I pointed out that a couple of parts were missing. The son returned with his mother and brought me the parts. I was still missing a small pump, but was so glad to get the bike back I was not worried and purchased one from the local bike store the next day. The next day I was out with my friends from the Brampton Cycling Club and did 128 Km.
There are a few good things that came out of this incident.
- I could not go cycling with the Club on Saturday, so my wife had me working in the garden.
- I hope the young man who stole my bike has learned a lesson from this. I know he is in real trouble with his parents.
- I will always lock up my bike even in the garage.
- Thinking I would need new pedals for my next bike, I managed to locate a pair at a good price. (I had just replaced my speedplay cleats a few days before the bike was stolen)
- Thank goodness I have a good camera.
- Thank goodness I was not arrested for suspected perverted behaviour!
Protect yourself so you don’t have a stolen bike!
Peel Regional Police has an online Crime prevention bike serial number registration program. You will want your serial number registered as well as using a good lock!