Had a couple stolen, and caught one in the attempt.
The first theft was entirely my own fault. As a teen, rushing for a bus, unthinkingly locked it to a wooden fence.
Returned to find the fence broken and bike gone. Idiot.
For the unsuccessful attempt, the bike was properly locked up to a metal fence at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow, came out of an establishment to see a couple of people kicking the lock, the fence and the frame. Chased them before realising that if they turned on me I was screwed. Luckily the bike was intact.
The last is the most painful. I'd just dropped a stupid amount of money on it, and was fulfilling a lifetime dream of touring Europe.
Since most places I'd visited were extremely sleepy towns I clearly got complacent.
I left it unlocked outside a shop in Italy while I went in for 2 minutes to get water, in plain view right in front of a pair of charity workers.
When I came back out, no bike. The charity workers saw nothing. Someone just walked up casually and lifted my bike.
Everything I owned in the entire world was on it except my phone and wallet (the phone got smashed when I dropped it two days later while trying to sort out an emergency passport.)
I subsequently found that the town in question had a large bike theft ring. The carabinieri were completely useless, took my report, never gave me a crime number, and sent me to a consulate that had been shut down years prior.
Still not even remotely over it.
The first theft was entirely my own fault. As a teen, rushing for a bus, unthinkingly locked it to a wooden fence.
Returned to find the fence broken and bike gone. Idiot.
For the unsuccessful attempt, the bike was properly locked up to a metal fence at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow, came out of an establishment to see a couple of people kicking the lock, the fence and the frame. Chased them before realising that if they turned on me I was screwed. Luckily the bike was intact.
The last is the most painful. I'd just dropped a stupid amount of money on it, and was fulfilling a lifetime dream of touring Europe.
Since most places I'd visited were extremely sleepy towns I clearly got complacent.
I left it unlocked outside a shop in Italy while I went in for 2 minutes to get water, in plain view right in front of a pair of charity workers.
When I came back out, no bike. The charity workers saw nothing. Someone just walked up casually and lifted my bike.
Everything I owned in the entire world was on it except my phone and wallet (the phone got smashed when I dropped it two days later while trying to sort out an emergency passport.)
I subsequently found that the town in question had a large bike theft ring. The carabinieri were completely useless, took my report, never gave me a crime number, and sent me to a consulate that had been shut down years prior.
Still not even remotely over it.
