Yellow Bike Theft?

cowgirl · Post by **cowgirl** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:37 pm

Not sure if this is a yellow bike strapped to someone's car at Exodus but it looks like it to me...

Any opinions on this?

thirt33n · Post by **thirt33n** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 7:54 pm

looks like a yellow to me. fuckwads....

i LOVE yellowbike!!!!!!!!

thanks yellowbike!!!!!!!

no stealy yellowbike.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 8:38 pm

I got so fucking pissed at teh guy who not merely tried to hide "his" yellow bike behind the big boob, but who dragged me into it by asking "do you mind if I put this here?"
"Is that a yellow bike?"
"Bu-bu but my bike was stolen on the first day and my friends are all on bikes and I want to keep up with them."
Too bad I couldn't move that bike down the block, and too bad my camp mate didn't understand how important it was and only moved it to the regular bike parking.

fucking asshole.

nocturnal_steve · Post by **nocturnal_steve** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:56 pm

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I saw quite a few fucktards appropriate Yellow Bikes. One at the Tower of Babylon who put it down, tied his jacket and water bottle to it and disappeared to climb the tower. I was just about ready to unload his stuff and leave it on the ground, take the bike but I caught a Mutant Vehicle instead. Another time me and my girl saw two Yellow Bikes at the Temple, we were ready to hop on them but being overnice she asked a couple of dudes sitting close by & cozily chatting, if "they were their bikes". One guy in a European accent said "oh my girlfriend is just taking a picture". Didn't see her come back for 10 minutes , than we started walking and You KNOW that most everyone visiting the Temple is going to spend some time out there.

A couple others locked up, sometimes to non-yellow bikes. Next year I am gonna clip my hacksaw to my belt to liberate those. And f I see any trying to be "reserved" with personal belongings attached, the stuff winds up in the dust !

Fact is the yellow bikes are supposed to be kept in circulation. The whole idea is for them to be moving, not sitting. More people adhering to this rule means you ride to where you are going, give it up and the another one will be available soon.

Catch and Release .... be proactive and vigilant. As far as I am concerned if your ass ain't on the seat it's up for grabs. I encourage everyone who needs to use a Yellow Bike; if you see one don't ask...JUST TAKE THE THING.
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gyre · Post by **gyre** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 1:43 am

It seems reasonable to me to want to hang on to a bike out in deep playa, but they shouldn't be locked when left in the city.

I found them locked up in center camp in 2007 and some asshole sitting on one they were trying to hide in the cafe.
I did quite a bit of damage to some bikes trying to pry them off a green bike they were locked around.

A set of 14" boltcutters will go through any cables I have tried.

A portable dremel with cutting wheels will cut ANY lock eventually.
WARNING- This is a skilled exercise.
You MUST wear safety glasses and practice.
And don't expose others to the shards.

I recommend the Lithium dremel.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 1:49 am

Did they do something to make them more identifiable when painted?

The green color is very hard to spot at night and there are too many regular green bikes.
They should be white or yellow or something more unusual.

The 3M Diamond reflective strips would really jump out and the stuff won't come off after curing.

RedHeaven · Post by **RedHeaven** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 8:30 am

I know Yellow Bikes are meant to be kept in circulation, but if someones way out on the playa with one, Im not going to take it!! I dunno, that seems reasonable. Maybe they were going to climb the temple just once and then leave. Its not like theyre going to spend the frickin night out there. I would feel wierd taking a yellow bike from somewhere more way out there.

cowgirl · Post by **cowgirl** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 8:47 am

Lets stay on topic.

This is about someone who may have LEFT THE PLAYA and DRIVEN HOME with a yellow bike.

THEFT.

KitsuneCaligari · Post by **KitsuneCaligari** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 9:09 am

I've seen at least three unconfirmed green bikes tucked into racks or stacks on RVs on the road from Reno to SF on Monday - maybe it was and maybe it wasn't, but human nature for opportunistic nicking of things that ain't bolted down colors my judgment.

I like the idea of some kind of reflective identification, but the more "unique" it becomes, the more of a "collectible" it becomes....

Maybe they can add one of those radio locks on the wheels, like those shopping carts that lock their wheels when taken out beyond the parking lot....

EB · Post by EB » Tue Sep 09, 2008 9:22 am

Frankly, I think the yellow bike program, while a nice idea, cuts directly across the grain of radical self-reliance.

They become a scarce commodity which plays into peoples' dark sides - hoarding, hiding, lying, stealing and cheating. It also activates a similar but opposite function in the "yellow bike liberators." I saw a guy last in line at the Pancake House lose his shit because he discovered a yellow bike had been decorated and thus taken out of circulation.

I ask this in earnest: What is the virtue of the yellow bike program?

thirt33n · Post by **thirt33n** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 10:04 am

interesting point EB.
i still love the yellow bikes and rolled with the availability of them, but i did find myself silently policing my neighbors as they bickered amongst themselves about where the "correct" place to leave them was; leaning against their mailbox post on the street or laying by the tent 10 feet off the street. I leaned a few against my mailbox and they were gone in 60 seconds. PERFECT!

as long as you're not knocking someone off the bike, it's yours. that's how i see it. it's quite easy to understand "one way". i expected one gone by the time i got done taking a piss.

steveboy · Post by **steveboy** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 10:32 am

You know, much as I like the spirit of the yellow bike program, EB's point is very well taken. In a sense the program is enabling those who didn't have the sense (or, to be fair, the means) to bring their own transporation to the Playa, and creating opportunities for those who want to devalue the sense of community allegedly acted out on the Playa.

Last year my friend Scott and I would take personalized yellow bikes from people right in front of them and dare them to object. If they said, well, that's my stuff, we'd take it off and leave it on the ground. Scott walked a locked bike on its rear wheel across the Playa to DPW so they could bolt-cut it. It became a game for us to fuck with people trying to game the system.

I'm sorry to hear it continued this year. My experience was very different -- almost all the yellow bike usage I saw was proper, and I didn't see any locked or personalized. I was hoping the system had improved with the tagging they implemented.

I'm sorry to say that for me the shithead factor outweighed the cool factor this year.

Timezone LaFontaine · Post by **Timezone LaFontaine** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 10:48 am

My experience with the yellow bikes was better this year than last year. Last year I saw a lot of hoarding and only found two or three available all week. This year they were a lot easier to find and seemed to circulate well for one-way rides. I did end up foregoing them to walk instead a lot of times due to playa conditions and wind direction... maybe others had the same experience and so fewer people were riding them at any given time. Anyhow, I just generally like walking as my primary mode of transport out there, but it's nice to pick up a bike every once in a while.

As for the virtue of the program... I think its virtue there is the same as its virtue in any urban area. It's an experiment in shared resources. Just because something potentially evokes the "dark side" of human nature in some people doesn't mean it should be eliminated. Shit, that's a real perilous line of reasoning.

steveboy · Post by **steveboy** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 10:53 am

I'm not saying it should be eliminated because it has the potential to be abused (hell, that'd get rid of pretty much anything). I'm considering the notion that the program itself, however well-intended, goes against the grain of BM's stated aim of "radical self reliance." This would be true even if the program were never abused.

Firmwood · Post by **Firmwood** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 11:26 am

My bike was stolen on the first day, on my first ride in fact, to the local toilet about 1minute away from our camp. All that pimpin' out I did, gone in a but few seconds, I was gutted for about 30 seconds (very gutted, mind, I even threw my hat). They left me their piece of shit broken beat up bike in exchange. I spent a few hours pimpin that out and I as fine for the rest of the week.

Plus the breaks were shot on my bike and this new (if not somewhat ugly) replacement had working breaks. I walked most places this year.

EB · Post by EB » Tue Sep 09, 2008 11:56 am

Timezone LaFontaine wrote: As for the virtue of the program... I think its virtue there is the same as its virtue in any urban area. It's an experiment in shared resources. Just because something potentially evokes the "dark side" of human nature in some people doesn't mean it should be eliminated. Shit, that's a real perilous line of reasoning.

Not calling for its elimination, just curious as to its origins.

My brother and I noticed a LOT of yellow bikes beginning their service out at the airport bike rack (which made sense: people flying in with no bike, jumped on a bike for the long ride into BRC proper.)

I'd be interested in reading the "hard data" for the program (how many bikes to start vs. how many at the end, etc.)

nocturnal_steve · Post by **nocturnal_steve** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 2:48 pm

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Anyone who thinks its O.K. to take a Yellow bike and lay claim to it as your own for ANY amount of time your ass is off it (because you rode it to the deep playa, are lame, tired, your own bike has a flat etc. etc. ) are missing the point, form, vision and function of the entire program.
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Repeat after me : YELLOW BIKES ARE A TEMPORARY GIFT, NOT A RIGHT.
PERIOD.

nocturnal_steve · Post by **nocturnal_steve** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:32 pm

scarce commodity which plays into peoples' dark sides - hoarding, hiding, lying, stealing and cheating. It also activates a similar but opposite function in the "yellow bike liberators

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Very good point. I personally prefer to keep the program alive so I can become antagonistic and explain to the morons why it's essential to "catch and release" .

I can also pretend to be the good guy next year and go around liberating Yellow bikes.

Otherwise my life will be worthless.
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cuts directly across the grain of radical self-reliance.

What is the virtue of the yellow bike program?

Seriously, good point and question !

cowgirl · Post by **cowgirl** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:34 pm

OK OK, but still... the topic is this:

TAKING YELLOW BIKES HOME.

steveboy · Post by **steveboy** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:40 pm

I think we agree it's bad. Next?

cowgirl · Post by **cowgirl** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:41 pm

Does anyone know the driver of the car?

thirt33n · Post by **thirt33n** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:52 pm

wonder what the odds of that would be miss cowgirl....
maybe instead of just taking a picture you should'a gotten a plate # or caught up and talked to them and gotten a name.....in a sneaky not concerned about the bike mannnnnnnnner.

what state was the plate?
looks like a honda-ish maroon-ish?

cowgirl · Post by **cowgirl** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:53 pm

i know i know... i should've gotten the plate and sent the deets to the org... but i was unable to get out of the car as exodus was crawling along in that big ass storm on sunday.

burned out i guess.

yup the car was maroon. i think the plates were ca or oregon.

thirt33n · Post by **thirt33n** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:55 pm

yeah, i think you had your chance...who knows though, may get lucky.

i live on a ranch with cows. i'm a cowboy! it has nothing to do with yellow bikes but just IMAGINE!

fciron · Post by **fciron** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:57 pm

I'm sorry but I could barely make out that the bike in the picture was green. It was not clear to me if it was a yellow bike or just an unfortunate color choice.

It also looks like it has giant handle bars. I remember the yellow bikes having a standard cruiser set up.

hsdavis · Post by **hsdavis** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 4:11 pm

I may be wrong on my assumption, but aren't Yellow Bikes ones that were abandonded the year before and refurbished and painted. Instead of sending then to a scrap yard, many are put into service for the community. Last year, an amazing arch was made out of abandoned bikes and this arch made a great photo with the double rainbow.
It's shame when people abuse and steal these bike, but I think there will be a new crop next year and we can only hope that everyone will be more respectful of them. I also believe in the tooth fairy!

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 4:35 pm

I think some are but many were donated new.

Has anything been done to make them easy to spot once repainted or decorated?

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 4:39 pm

cowgirl
Thread drift is an inevitable part fo the eplaya. IF anyone knew the car or had somesort of super resolution CSI-Fantasy Software that could get us the plates, they'd have said. Think of every off-topic reply as keeping the subject going, rather than having the thread buried on page 3 of this forum.

ZaphodBurner · Post by **ZaphodBurner** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 4:42 pm

EB wrote:My brother and I noticed a LOT of yellow bikes beginning their service out at the airport bike rack (which made sense: people flying in with no bike, jumped on a bike for the long ride into BRC proper.)

I'd be interested in reading the "hard data" for the program (how many bikes to start vs. how many at the end, etc.)

Yeah, they showed up on a truck on Wednesday. Some volunteers installed a bike rack (center camp type) specifically for the green "yellow" bikes, and I put about ten of them on the rack while my wife helped put up the lounge structure. Immediate hit. It's a hot, dusty walk from the airport to the city if you've just arrived and not playafied yourself yet.

-zb

Joshatdot · Post by **Joshatdot** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 5:03 pm

fciron wrote:I'm sorry but I could barely make out that the bike in the picture was green. It was not clear to me if it was a yellow bike or just an unfortunate color choice.

It also looks like it has giant handle bars. I remember the yellow bikes having a standard cruiser set up.

I can see its Green, has a front fender, W-I-D-E handlebars, big seat, only one break line from the Right Hand side (rear breaks). Also the front forks looks to be big and fat, I do not remember if the "yellow" green BRC bikes had big fat front forks or a single rear break line.

Yellow Bike Theft?

Yellow Bike Theft?

Yellow Bikes ... Catch and and Release

One Way !!!

Point Of YB Program