STATE OF THE INDIGNATION

CRIME SEEN

B ikes are ripped out of garages by crowbarpacking thieves, off bike racks by opportunists; and riders are bike-jacked in broad daylight. They’re not even safe during a race – just ask Bonita Meiring, whose bike was stolen while she was riding in the Die Burger MTB race some years back.

If it feels like bike owners are under siege, it’s because we are. A cyclist recently took the law into his own hands when his bike was stolen: after he managed to trace the thief, he stole his own bike back ( Bicycling, March 2017). We don’t condone vigilantism; but who can blame the aggrieved bike owner for being that indignant?

What’s frightening is a recent spate of violent bike-jackings. After riding on Table Mountain, a doctor was held up at gunpoint in the parking lot at Rhodes Memorial; and – unbelievably – a group of 13 cyclists was ambushed by men with pangas.

But every dark cloud has a silver lining. Or three.

Firstly, crime has encouraged cyclists to band together, and cycling WhatsApp groups have mushroomed. I belong to six, and my phone pings non-stop. In between the cycling-themed meme images are invitations to all sorts of rides, at all sorts of times, with all sorts of people.

Groups like these are social, and they encourage riders to do rides they wouldn’t normally do. There are many commuter groups, with people riding together along dodgy parts of their route to work. I’m convinced this has put more people in the saddle, more often.

The second silver lining is that riders are becoming proactive: we understand that the best way to get our bikes back is not to let them be stolen in the first place. We invest in quality locks and tracking devices, record our bikes’ serial numbers, and photograph them so we can identify them if they are recovered.

Perhaps the silverest lining is that new networks of relatively safe trails have opened up around the country. In Cape Town, for example, the Constantia Greenbelt has become a mountain-biking sanctuary (see bicycling.co. za/greenbelter).

We understand that the best way to get our bikes back is not to let them be stolen in the first place.