Gifting my favorite bike to the thief that stole it

[natethenatural]

So this was my first burn - I admit it. I had a great time. I went in with very little expectations and the experience was awesome. The only really negative thing that happened was that during the white-out on Sunday my bike was stolen. I know it was because I parked it next to my girlfriend's and her's was still there. I heard rumors that there was a camp that was busted stealing bike and they found over 100 of them there. Now, mind you - I have/had a sweet bike. Moreover, it was/is quite unique. A 7-speed beach cruiser, dark blue, with blue el wire, a GB Packer headcover on the end of the kickstand sitting on a frisbee, googley eyes glued on the two fenders, two saddle bags (w/ my canteen and all my bike tools in them), ugh!
So, back to the story - I went back and thought about the time before it was missing. I was exhausted after very little sleep all week and I remember pulling up to center camp. Stayed in there for a while, then I saw some jugglers in the middle, so I went back to my bike to get me devilstix and all was ok. I felt guilty about actually LOCKING up my bike, bc the community at BM had been so great. All week I hadn't locked it up. Well, upon my return (after the long white out) -- my bike was gone.
Well -- I am posting this so that if anyone else reads this - they know to lock their bike - seriously. When I looked afterwards for the next 36 hours there were a sea of abandon bikes all over the playa.
So, I've been forced to GIFT my friggin' bike to the thief. Enjoy it - I know I did quite a bit. All things considered I guess I say 'bike - schmike' and I'll replace it, yet after 3 weeks vacation and lots of $$ spent it sure is hard to come up with the $400+ dollars for that.
Comments?

http://www.FUNKenterprises.com/inDtribe

[Lassen Forge]

Bike "unauthorized reappropriation" at BRC is rampant and legend. It's almost a given that if you don't lock your bike, someone will re-purpose it out from under you...

It even happens that someone, having just had *their* bike boosted, will steal someone elses. It's a bad karma gig, but people do it.

Look at it this way - whoever has your bike now has to think about that bike and how they got it untilt hey get so guilt wracked they sell it on craigslist for $20. Sucks, but there it is.

NEVER bring something you're not willing to part with to BRC. That's always rule #1 (and yes, I have had stuff taken that had huge sentimental value to me, never to be seen again). My bike - the Yellow Bomber (which predates the Yellow Bike Project by 2 years, BTW!) ALWAYS gets locked up. Partly because some nimrod will go ""Oooh, yellow bike, I can take it" when it's my playa transport (that has a few franklins in it easy) and partly because (being kinda limited mobility-wise) I can't afford to have it go gone if I'm all the way across town.

ALWAYS remember you're not at some hippie love fest, you're in the middle of a city of 50,000 strangers comprised of a true cross section of society. If you lock your shit up at home, well, you're home, so LOCK YOUR SHIT UP! Otherwise, it's as good as gifted.

Speaking of... it's just stuff. If you truly gift it off to whoever ended up with it, be grateful you could do something so awesome for someone. Never hold a grudge on stuff - life is WAY too short.

[C.f.M.]

I rarely lock my bike. When I'm with other people, we usally wrap our locks around each other's bikes. Make a nice little bundle. Usually, though, I'm either on it or can see it from where I'm standing.

And it's a plain bike, not too interesting of a theft. I pack by the "do I want to maybe never see this again?" rule...

[Elderberry]

We had a newbie in our camp that had his bike stolen this year too. Sad, really. We also saw a green bike on exodus 'hidden' behind a second bike in someone's car bike rack. Even sadder.

JK

[Ugly Dougly]

[quote]One day Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhe wa sallam, noticed a Bedouin leaving his camel without tying it and he asked the Bedouin,“Why don't you tie down your camel?â€

[misfit]

[email protected]... SF Craigs list... possibly your bike.?...

[Fire_Moose]

i locked my bike up just about every time i got off it and walked away.

Not because it's a fancy bike or i put a lot of work into it, but because it had a basket on it, and it had a staff holder custom built onto it. and both those things were SOOO nice to have out there i didnt wanna risk losing the convenience.

[Miles]

[quote="jkisha"] We also saw a green bike on exodus 'hidden' behind a second bike in someone's car bike rack. Even sadder.
[/quote]

yeesh, i hope you confronted them about that

[natethenatural]

[email protected]... SF Craigs list... possibly your bike.?...

Ok - I checked --- and no - it's not my bike --- Moreover, I'm not sure that I wanna find it. I mean - what would I do if I do find it?

What would you do if you found the thief listing the bike on craigslist?

I really appreciate you though - A LOT -- The effort shows me the community working for me and I do appreciate it and am quite grateful.

[natethenatural]

That's before the El Wire, -- mine was a 7 speed - Dark Blue, two saddle bags --- and a basket on the back --- it has one old school headlight and two new Bell lights along with a Schwinn bell and an odometer.

[geospyder]

BTW - when you lock your bike, don't just change one number on the combo. My brother-in-law and I both noticed that our locks had been "moved" a couple times. Luckily we move more than one number when locking the bike.

[Lassen Forge]

I've always been a fan of the stupid-looking-key-on-a-string-around-your-neck method... Actually, it's on my schwag laminate hanger... call it the Launch Key. Makes it possible to unlock the bike and ride back to camp when I'm too sloshed to remember (or work) the combination, or are too crosseyed to see the numbers...

[robrob]

What would you do if you found the thief listing the bike on craigslist

man, that's worthy of a whole thread of fun ideas.

i hope my bike that got left behind gets reincarnated as a yellow community bike next year.

[natethenatural]

Looked thru the SFBay area as well as Reno - no luck --- As far as what would you do if you found the thief listing the bike on craigslist - I put that up for debate

[natethenatural]

i hope my bike that got left behind gets reincarnated as a yellow community bike next year.

Nice way to look at it.

[K-mom]

And it's a plain bike, not too interesting of a theft. I pack by the "do I want to maybe never see this again?" rule...

Glad to see I'm not the only one using this logic, which I've also been doing in the default world for years now. Had a bike when I lived in Berlin that I intentionally fucked up,stripped paint off of just to make it unattractive to thieves.

I had to suppress my laughter when one of my campmates, who had lectured me earlier in the week about not 'playa-fying' (decorating in bright obnoxious frilly coloured shit) my bike had hers stolen while mine was sitting next to it unlocked.

Also if you're too cross-eyed to punch in your combo, uh, I don't recommend you ride your bike. Just my .02

[Fire_Moose]

I've always been a fan of the stupid-looking-key-on-a-string-around-your-neck method... Actually, it's on my schwag laminate hanger... call it the Launch Key. Makes it possible to unlock the bike and ride back to camp when I'm too sloshed to remember (or work) the combination, or are too crosseyed to see the numbers...

I'll reiterate...word combo lock FTW.

BTW my combo was ART

/giggle

[drucake]

last year we were at a big sound camp that my boyfriend hates....and his bike got stollen from there. mine was right next to his and wasnt touched. kinda funny. ive heard a lot of bikes are stolen from that area. i dont really know why i wanted to go to that camp in the first place. bad ju ju.....hes still pissed about his bke being stollen. next year, we are for sure locking them up. lesson learned.

[natethenatural]

Ok - after all this toil and torment - along with a bunch of incredible insight from you all - I have come to terms with setting my bike free. If it comes back, I'll be surprised and elated. Moreover, I wish that anyone that comes in visual sight of my old bike has a smile come out as they fantasize on what it would be like to ride it themselves as they ring the bell incessantly. I know I enjoyed it.
So - farewell, Googley-Guy Bike -- You will be replaced. The memories of the sensational time however, could NEVER be replaced. What a kick ass time.

I'm starting a thread that is going to be more positive - I have just had an unusual amount of dreams about (or having to do with) Burning Man. I would say just about every night (that I slept) ---

So I am going to be more positive with my e-commerce -- as I ask the question on dreams dealing with Burning Man.

[help]

If it can't be replaced, don't take it to the playa.
If you love it, lock it. (Or risk losing it.) (Radical Self-Reliance)
If it gets "free", try to enjoy the walk, or the artcar ride even more than the lonely ride home. (Later in the week seems to be more problematic than the first three days).
We routinuely have bikes "borrowed, without permission," from a camp of 60+. (Oddly, the locked bikes tend to stay where they are put. Not always, but usually.)
I always enjoy talking to new burners from other countries, and asking where they got their obviously well-playafied bikes. You'd be surprised at some of the answers. "You 8 came all the way from 'X' with backpacks, rented an RV in Reno, and found a bike rack that would carry ALL your bikes?! WOW!"

I'm just saying...(locked, even when I'm loaded)

[Lowz]

If you love it, lock it. (Or risk losing it.) (Radical Self-Reliance)

?

but you can't always locked every thing ..eg MY GIFTED (to me ) FLASLIGHT ( still touchy about that) ... It's Burning man , deal with it ...

[LovePaint]

I got my *locked* bike stolen as well. It was definitely the low point of my burn.

Not to mention that I had my contact info/camp written on my handlebars, it was (mildly) decorated, and did I mention, it was LOCKED??

I'm a broke grad student and I was quite attached to my bike. It wasn't even a nice bike--it's old and beat-up and rebuilt--but it was quite a good bike for me, with a fast vintage frame that let me keep up with my bf's actually really good bike. I don't know why somebody would go out of their way to crack my lock and steal it, when there are tons of unlocked bikes out there.

[brushfire on the playa]

it's really sad that so many bikes get stolen. in a community where giving, sharing, etc are so important it doesn't seem right that someone would steal someone else's bike. it's probably just the people all fucked up on drugs and such thinking "i NEED this bike more than the other person does. i HAVE to get to the man right now, and quick!" when, really the person they're stealing the bike from might have the urge to get to the man and is coming back to their bike at that very moment to do just that. people need to realize that YOU needing a bike right then doesn't justify you taking a bike from someone else you might NEED it just as badly as you do. i haven't locked my bike in past years, but after 2 of my friends bikes were stolen last year i think i'm going to bring one. it just depresses me to think i have to lock my bike at burning man. it dissappoints me in some ways about the community. but it is what it is and i need my bike.

[Fire_Moose]

If you don't lock up yer bike, you can't need it TOO badly.