Bike Theft Blues

 “Why would you leave your bike alone in the city, with a bunch of freaks at night?” I have been asking myself the same question ever since it happened. I made the big mistake of trusting the laid-back city of Santa Cruz. Even though Santa Cruz is a quirky city with beaches and little crannies to explore – it is still a city. Bikes get stolen all the time. Most college students know this to be almost a guarantee: if you bring a bike to college, be sure not to get too attached, it will disappear. I knew this coming into college, having been warned by older friends and recent graduates. With my two feet and student ID card, traveling during the first quarter was simply a couple hills or a Metro bus away! Then laziness set in. Suddenly walking to the dining hall became a strenuous chore.

One night when I was waiting at the bus stop, a flier appeared from the mess of papers: rent a bike for free! UC Santa Cruz has its own bike library and bike co-op. A bike library you say? Like you can check out bikes? Yes, to all of the above. All I had to do was write a short essay explaining as to why my aching joints couldn’t handle the hills and a week later, I had wheels. Santa Cruz opened up to me.

The first trip I made was to Wilder Ranch State park. I sailed down the hill and found a bike trail lining the highway. I could see the coast line from there, the waves crashing along the bluff and farmland guarding the sea. It would be dark soon but I needed to see the ocean. I needed it. I felt almost tempted to barge through the crop rows to reach the bluff but I took the long way. I stopped a man clad in skin tight, aerodynamic professional gear for directions. His black Lance Armstrong sunglasses reflected my naïve curiosity. I must have seemed like an amateur with my lack of water and loose pony tail but he saw a fellow biker in me nonetheless.

After spending the day in awe of the coast, wind, sun and sea, I returned late downtown. While sitting on a bench near the wharf, several buses came by but all the bike racks were full, so I kept waiting for the next bus to arrive and was faced with the same dilemma. After an hour of sitting and keeping my toes warm, I decided to do the desperate thing. I locked my bike to the post and hoped it would still be waiting for me tomorrow. It wasn’t. The wheels were gone and now I’m two hundred dollars broke. Instead of compiling a list of tips to prevent bike theft, here are my gems of bike wisdom learned from personal experience:

1. Do not leave your bike downtown overnight – even in a well-lit, restaurant, tourist paradise. Do not trust the friendly family-owned taqueria across the street to keep watch. They don’t care about any illegal activity happening across the street if it doesn’t affect them.
2. Lock it up (the right way) – Use the cord to wrap around the wheels and the U-lock to cinch it all together. It’s amazing how such simple advice is easily ignored. Here’s a video to show you how. Trust your local bike shop – Or for UC Santa Cruz students, the awesome alternative student-run on-campus bike co-op. They will have your back and try to make the process of ordering parts as simple as possible. Because they’ve been there. 
3. Eat something before your adventure – Again, simple advice but when you think only a banana will suffice a long day of exploring and you think “oh, I’ll only be gone a couple hours,” that’s when mistakes happen. And you’ll come home more ravenous than a feral dog, having cold buttersquatch soup and Top Ramen for dinner because that was the closest food you could find left in the fridge.
4. Don’t go solo – Yes, it’s invigorating to get some alone time but if you really don’t know when you’ll be back, it’s best to grab a friend. Grab the guy who is always taking random jogs, tell them you are going out for “a good work out,” they won’t be able to resist a chance to burn extra calories.

Do you have any tips to prevent a bike fiasco? Leave comments below.