Sorry to hear about your stolen bike! I had a bike stolen and I was slow to replace it; it cost me a lot of good years of riding. I still wonder where that bike is and what happened to it.

I have seen a lot of locks that guarantee your bike up to a certain amount depending on the quality of the lock. I don't know how good they are about honoring that guarantee, but maybe others here know? Regardless I agree with the others that a good lock and a bike that is a bit older are ways to protect yourself. Also, securing your bike with two locks of different types (u-lock + chain lock) is a good idea, thieves have to be able to break both. If you don't want to carry a U-lock around you can just leave your U-lock attached to the place where the bike gets locked up overnight. Another idea is to vary the places where you lock your bike up so that thieves don't recognize a pattern.

I hope that the thief gets caught but am glad to see that you are so willing to hop right back in the saddle. Good luck!

Anne