Just another victim

The remarkable thing is not that my bike was stolen, it’s that it’s taken this long. Not my bike in specific, though I did spend 2 years leaving it unsupervised in some of the shadier areas of Idaho. But shady Idaho isn’t overly shady. But the fact is that I can’t really recollect anyone having stolen anything from me until now. I’m sure people have taken a dollar, a soda, a spot in line. But nothing that has really registered in my mind as stolen rather than misplaced or forgotten.

I decided to go cycling yesterday. I keep my bicycle on my balcony, but when I went to retrieve it, it was not there. It’s easy to misplace a book or shirt, but when a bicycle is missing there are relatively few places you could have left it in an apartment before you realize it is indeed not there. My roommates had not moved it and I hadn’t lent it or thrown it away, so I can only assume it was taken.

A remarkable thing is that my balcony is on the second floor of the building. Though I suspect it is not possible to have a balcony on the ground floor. So whoever stole my bike had to scale my building in some way. Not only that, but they had to know it wasn’t locked. It turns out an acquaintance had borrowed and lost my bike lock recently, so indeed it wasn’t. Equally remarkable is that they felt my 11 year old mid-level bike, with completely tore up seat and handlebars and partially rusted gears was worth stealing. From a second story balcony.

I can only conclude that the thieves wanted this bike more than I do. And while it certainly bothers me that I no longer have a bicycle, and that someone got to just take my bicycle, what bothers me the most is that this may have happened a month ago, or even two. Clearly I need to bike more regularly. And I’d commit to doing so if I had a bike.