Sylvia Paull is a longtime friend in Berkeley who like us rides most everywhere by bike, and does what she can to promote a cycling lifestyle.
So when the opportunity came up to publicize a new business membership for the East Bay Bicycle Coalition to none other than the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce, Sylvia was on the case.
The good news is, she rode to the event by bike.
The bad news is, her bike was stolen while she was doing her presentation.
The good news is, a construction crew working on a nearby roof saw the whole thing happen.
The bad news is, they were too far away to do anything about it at the time.
The good news is, Sylvia got another bike right away from Mike’s Bikes. “I can’t live without a commuter bike,” she explained.
The bad news is, there’s obviously no good way to secure a bike in the big city. Sylvia had a burly steel lock which the thief sliced through with bolt cutters.
Sylvia’s assessment:
“Someone needs to invent a far more sophisticated theft device for the bicycle, maybe using mobile communications. Or maybe it (a chip embedded with an owner’s recognition software program? ) should come built into the frame of each new bicycle. Whatever is clever. Bicycle thieves would all but disappear if their brawny tools no longer sufficed.”
I read somewhere that many stolen bicycles end up in the third world. Especially Mt bikes. Unless there is no market for used bicycles, and that the consequences for stealing a bicycle are higher, there will be stolen bicycles.
I take by the description “Burley Steel Lock” you mean one of the big name “U” locks?
Maybe some sucker theft bikes with “lo-jack” in them would help break up the gangs but like auto theft, bike theft is probably here to stay.