Stolen Bikes

[onimity]

My sister and I have been training for a century, which is next weekend. So yesterday we left early and rode 85 miles to visit my parents. I was surprised and thrilled to realize that we could cycle there because it always seemed so impossibly far away. We climbed some hard hills that we've been scared of, we were on cloud nine at the end of the ride. We took the bus back home only to find that our mountain bikes, which we commute on, get groceries with and ride more than anything else had been stolen from our garage.

Someone broke in and took them, and walked through our back yard, right along our windows, out our front gate and off with them. They had to move our mower to get out the front gate, and they moved it (loud) clear across a big patio right under open windows. It seems like someone planned it and knew that we were gone, and also that there were probably two people since the 2 MTBs were taken but not the third bike. We have some dodgy neighbors across the street, I'm wondering if they were involved.
But mostly I'm just sad. I learned to really love riding and accomplished so much on that bike. And my sister did the same with hers. :mad: :mad: :mad:

Anne

[KnottedYet]

I'm so sorry your bikes got stolen! That is really sucky.

Can you get ahold of the National Bike Registry and have them tag your bikes as stolen? If any legitimate shops or folks look them up before buying them from the theives, the alert will come up. https://merchant.calweb.com/nbr/cgi-bin/display-reg.cgi?Register=99cent%20Stolen%20Bike%20Registry

If your bikes were already registered, I don't think you have to pay the 99 cents to change their status to "stolen."

[Starfish]

Oh Anne, this is so awful. It feels so crummy on so many levels when someone breaks right into your house, let alone steals something with such meaning and value. We care!

[Trek420]

Anne, This is so awful :(

Check Craigs, local flea markets, and post an alert in your LBS.

I sometimes wonder how many of the bikes I see are stolen. :mad: There's a bike market in them.

[Running Mommy]

Take a flyer to ALL the local- and even not so local pawn shops.
A girl over on tri newbies had her VERY expensive tri bike stolen awhile back. It was recovered from a pawn shop...Seems the pawn shop only thought a cervelo p2c was worth 350.00!!! :eek:
BUT....She got it back! That is most important.
And yes, it sounds like they were watching the house. I could almost guarantee that they will be sold.- Prolly for drug money... sigh...
BIKE THIEVES WILL ROT IN HELL!!! :mad:

[GLC1968]

Oh that sucks!!! I'm so sorry and I'm hoping you get them back (or that the thieves get their due... or both...:mad: )!

[Triskeliongirl]

I am so sorry this happened to you and your sister. I had my bike friday stolen locked to a bike rack at work, so I understand how you feel. Again, clearly planned, someone brought something to cut the lock with while I was inside at work, and it happened right behind a security booth......... I did not recover my bike, but was advised to check pawn shops, newspaper ads, criaigs list, ebay. And yes, if you recorded the serial numbers file a police report. Also, I know they weren't expensive bikes, but you might be able to recover something on your homeowners/apartment insurance. Ask your LBS to give you a quote for REPLACEMENT bikes if you have replacement coverage. I also sent pix to all the LBS in case someone brought it in for service, and our bike club ran a pic in our newsletter. The more people looking, the better the chance of recovery. I do know several people that found their stolen bikes in pawn shops.

[onimity]

Hey Ladies,

Thanks so much for the great advice and support. I'm so shocked that I've kind of been at a loss for things to do and I really appreciate the great suggestions. It's amazing how attached you can get to a bike. We had the police come out and because they broke into our garage (actually pried the door open with a screwdriver) it is considered burglary; they said that there have been some similar cases in the area, lots of high-end bikes stolen, and other people feeling that they were watched beforehand. So they may have been targeting our road bikes that we had with us, who knows... the police took fingerprints and lifted footprints from the garage floor. We have been building bookshelves out there and have a lot of sawdust on the floor that captured them. Hopefully they'll find and lock these guys up.

And I agree that there is a special circle of hell for bike thieves.

Thanks everyone. I knew I could count on you all to understand.

Anne

[Kathi]

Sorry to hear about your bikes. My partner had his mtn bike stolen last year, we called the police but they would not take any information because he did not have the serial no. We did not have pictures of the bike. We were advised not to claim it on our homeowners because we already had 2 claims, one on the house and 1 on a car. Neither claim was our fault but it was still on our records.

Now we keep bikes we are not using locked to the racks in the garage or store them in our basement. All bikes go in the basement in the winter and are locked. I have the serial nos. stored on the computer and carry them on my person when I ride. I have pictures of my bikes and my insurance co. has the invoice of my Serotta which details all components and cost.

Interestingly enough, a Specialized Rock Hopper mtn bike turned up in our yard a couple of weeks ago. No one claimed it so we turned it into the Lakewood Police. If it doesn't get claimed within 90 days we have claimer's rights. I called local bike shops but no one had reported their bike missing.

Good luck on finding your bikes. I heard that the thieves scrape the serial nos. off and sell the bikes in Denver.

[wiseowl]

I am so sorry to hear that. At least you have your century bikes, though I know what you mean about how treasured the "utility" bikes can be. You must feel very creeped out, as well. Good luck finding them, and try to retain your good spirits from the awesome training ride as best you can (easier said than done!)

[Triskeliongirl]

Another tip, start keep your road bikes in your home, not garage. For a good two years after having my bike stolen I kept mine locked to my weight bench, but I no longer lock it indoors. But, we have converted our living room into a gym/bike room (still have a family room though). Yes, bike thieves are the worst of the worst.

[sundial]

I'm so sorry you lost your bikes. :mad: :( I hope the police can recover them soon and send the low lifes to prison.

[crazycanuck]

URGH!!!!

What a bunch of doorknobs! I hope you get your bikes back !!!

Grrrrrrr...bike thieves...We now lock ours up inside...

C

[cosc]

Can't believe there is so many crudy-desperate people to resort to bike theft. I hope you get your bikes back and the thiefs are dully punished.