There are dozens of clearly abandoned bikes on the racks at metro stations around DC -- some, as mentioned before, probably suffered catastrophic failure, and others clearly suffer from component theft. I wonder if, in some cases, the 'owner' lost the key to the lock, or forgot the combination... I also wonder how many of these abandoned bikes were stolen or bought under questionable circumstances. Of course, I have to admit, I have a bike locked up here at work that only moves once a week or so, when I decide to do a lunch time errand but didn't ride. It is waiting for me to take it home for repairs.