Hijacking the thread, but it was with your planned ride this month I thought I'd let you know.
It seems a lot of people are not locking up their bikes, they assume that because there are lots of cyclists around they are safe.
Either that or they are weight weenies who dont want to haul locks around with them.
I have already been worrying about the bikes at Glasson Dock!
If we have 40+ riders then we won't really have a clue which bike bike belongs to which new face, so a stranger in cycling kit bending over a bike isn't going to draw much attention unless he happens to be openly wielding a set of bolt cutters or other tools!
I think we should lock our bikes together in a set of parallel 'chains' so each bike is locked at least twice, maybe 3 or 4 times. I would imagine that would put off most thieves!
I noticed that many bikes at Cock Pit Farm tended not to locked up but the safety in numbers thing only works if people can identify bikes and riders. Plenty of you lot know that I ride a rare blue steel Basso with a triple chainset and Crud mudguards, so you would quickly spot a stranger with it. I wouldn't know who (e.g.) a CF Trek or Al Focus bike belongs to, so I would be hesitant to challenge somebody moving it.