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08-21-04, 04:11 PM
WTF IS THIS
Stories about my bikes and theives....
Toronto is arguably the bike theft capitol of the world, at one point, 14,000 bicycles/yr were stolen on U of T campus alone. I've had six bikes stolen. Police are useless. Need someone to eat a donut, call a cop, otherwise...
I tried expensive bike locks- no good, and guess what? that Kryptonite warranty is all BS. It's even excluded from Toronto, as is all insurance.
I tried daily riding on a crap $40 bike, it was stolen overnight while locked to a wood fence, they actually cut down the fence to steal it.
My last two bikes were stolen in front of a security station on campus, one was stolen on video, the cop's response: "oh that guy again".
In 2000, the Toronto police ran a sting operation by leaving a bike against a wall in Cabbagetown -they got 23 people in two hours. they had to stop the sting operation due to the paperwork.
To ride in T.O., you need to put silicone glue in all the allen bolt heads of your bike, weld parts to the frame or the parts will be stolen. Front wheels have to be removed and locked to the frame, at least two locks are required, cable locks. U-locks have been broken with liquid nitrogen and a hammer, or pryed with a car jack. Often, frames can be seen tied to poles, bike stands, stripped completely. There are shops that sell these bikes and parts, no one cares.
Now I ride to work and put the bike in my office. My boss did this in 1994, someone came into his office and stole his bike. He bought another, except he now locked the bike to his desk leg. One week later, at 11 am, someone came into his office, sawed off the leg and took the new bike. A week after that, a truck stopped in front of the medical school at U of T and three men dislodged the entire bike stand and stole ~80 bikes at once into the truck, still locked to the stand. U of T's crack security police was foiled again by this devious plan of geniuses.
In 1993, there was a police report in the Toronto Star of a man found in High park at 5am tied to a tree , with bike tools, his pants down and frame pump up his rectum. He said he was jumped and mugged, but he still had his wallet. The police concluded he was a bike thief caught by the wrong victim. I say this is just about the right punishment, except I would have used a cassette wrench.
This is in contrast to North Carolina, where I could leave a bike unlocked anywhere. No one cared, few people even rode bikes, too much effort.
In a Willliam Gibson novel, he wrote of a bike anti-theft device that was a large capacitor charged by riding, set as a booby trap to zap a thief-he said he got this idea while in Toronto.
You could easily steal bikes all day and never get caught. Steal one car and the T.O. police will chase you down on a crowded street, endanger public, and likely shoot you dead.
NOW IM FRIKING PISSED. FOR ONCE MY PARENTS ARE GONNA LET ME GET A GOOD BIKE AND NOW IM AT A FRIKING DEAD END. IF THIS IS TRUE....DAMMIT! RASHEED...HAVE YOU GOTTEN THESE PROBLEMS? DOES ANYONE BELIEVE THIS? ANY T.O. PPL HERE LOSE THEIR BIKES??
Sorry mods...I just had to have an output w/out my parents yellin at me or getting looks from people outside.
Stories about my bikes and theives....
Toronto is arguably the bike theft capitol of the world, at one point, 14,000 bicycles/yr were stolen on U of T campus alone. I've had six bikes stolen. Police are useless. Need someone to eat a donut, call a cop, otherwise...
I tried expensive bike locks- no good, and guess what? that Kryptonite warranty is all BS. It's even excluded from Toronto, as is all insurance.
I tried daily riding on a crap $40 bike, it was stolen overnight while locked to a wood fence, they actually cut down the fence to steal it.
My last two bikes were stolen in front of a security station on campus, one was stolen on video, the cop's response: "oh that guy again".
In 2000, the Toronto police ran a sting operation by leaving a bike against a wall in Cabbagetown -they got 23 people in two hours. they had to stop the sting operation due to the paperwork.
To ride in T.O., you need to put silicone glue in all the allen bolt heads of your bike, weld parts to the frame or the parts will be stolen. Front wheels have to be removed and locked to the frame, at least two locks are required, cable locks. U-locks have been broken with liquid nitrogen and a hammer, or pryed with a car jack. Often, frames can be seen tied to poles, bike stands, stripped completely. There are shops that sell these bikes and parts, no one cares.
Now I ride to work and put the bike in my office. My boss did this in 1994, someone came into his office and stole his bike. He bought another, except he now locked the bike to his desk leg. One week later, at 11 am, someone came into his office, sawed off the leg and took the new bike. A week after that, a truck stopped in front of the medical school at U of T and three men dislodged the entire bike stand and stole ~80 bikes at once into the truck, still locked to the stand. U of T's crack security police was foiled again by this devious plan of geniuses.
In 1993, there was a police report in the Toronto Star of a man found in High park at 5am tied to a tree , with bike tools, his pants down and frame pump up his rectum. He said he was jumped and mugged, but he still had his wallet. The police concluded he was a bike thief caught by the wrong victim. I say this is just about the right punishment, except I would have used a cassette wrench.
This is in contrast to North Carolina, where I could leave a bike unlocked anywhere. No one cared, few people even rode bikes, too much effort.
In a Willliam Gibson novel, he wrote of a bike anti-theft device that was a large capacitor charged by riding, set as a booby trap to zap a thief-he said he got this idea while in Toronto.
You could easily steal bikes all day and never get caught. Steal one car and the T.O. police will chase you down on a crowded street, endanger public, and likely shoot you dead.
NOW IM FRIKING PISSED. FOR ONCE MY PARENTS ARE GONNA LET ME GET A GOOD BIKE AND NOW IM AT A FRIKING DEAD END. IF THIS IS TRUE....DAMMIT! RASHEED...HAVE YOU GOTTEN THESE PROBLEMS? DOES ANYONE BELIEVE THIS? ANY T.O. PPL HERE LOSE THEIR BIKES??
Sorry mods...I just had to have an output w/out my parents yellin at me or getting looks from people outside.