Don’t give up on that beloved bike
Only around 2.4 percent of stolen bicycles are ever recovered. I learned this after my bicycle and its cargo trailer were stolen. It happened one night at the end of March while my bike was parked outside my office near Zafarano Drive. Someone had cut the small lock.
It was a crushing blow. I had owned that bike for 25 years. For several of those years, it had been my only transportation. Last summer, my parked pickup was totaled by a drunken driver. Once again, I was relying on my bike for transportation.
That bike had been my “iron horse” during the six years I had lived in a tent in Flagstaff, Ariz. I had equipped it with steel saddlebags fashioned from mailboxes, so that I could transport gear to my campsite. Later, the bike served as the basis for two short-lived businesses: a courier service and later, a service selling snacks and toys. When it was stolen, the bike was still decorated with dozens of sparkly stickers from my “Candy Dan” days.
The trailer has its own storied history. Originally, it was a Burley child trailer/ stroller made of nylon. It had been used extensively in Flagstaff to deliver a community newspaper that I helped to publish. I also had used it to transport home improvement materials, including lumber. When the fabric wore out, I rebuilt the trailer with wood pickets and recycled plastic campaign signs. I decorated the trailer with bumper stickers. A YouTube video detailing the rebuilding of the trailer has thousands of views. In recent years, I have routinely used the trailer to carry large boxes to UPS.
When the bike and trailer were stolen, I wanted to get them back. But friends were discouraging. My ex-wife said they were both gone for good. A neighbor said they were probably in Juárez. Another friend said I should just buy a new bike.
But I was undaunted. After filing a police report, I began scouring Craigslist, eBay and other sites for the bike and trailer. I put up fliers all over town offering a generous reward. I walked some of the neighborhoods near my office. When one tipster who had seen my flier suggested the trailer was in Albuquerque, I took the Rail Runner to Albuquerque. In fact, I made three trips to Albuquerque.
After three weeks, my perseverance paid off with a tip that led to me finding my bike in Santa Fe. Apparently, whoever stole it had abandoned it just two blocks from my office. It was missing the taillight, mirror and toolbox, but mostly it was intact. About a week later, a different person called to say they had found the trailer abandoned next to a dumpster in Santa Fe. My tipsters did not seem to want my generous reward, though one accepted $60 as a small token of my gratitude.
There are many lessons to be learned from my experience: Bikes should be locked securely. U-locks are recommended. If possible, store your bike indoors. If your bike is stolen, don’t assume it can’t be found. While some stolen bikes could end up in distant cities, many stolen bikes likely never leave the neighborhood.
I felt the police treated the theft of my bike and trailer indifferently. I was told by a police administrator that the police have more important things to do than investigate bike theft. If we really want to be a bicycle-friendly town, we must persuade the police that bike thefts are serious and give police officers the resources they need to investigate them.