...and I had to figure out how to defeat my u lock.

Its a Planet Bike Mountie that I purchased at MEC.

Never having had to break a u lock myself, I wasn't sure how to go about it. I called a couple locksmiths, who suggested using an angle grinder. I ended up renting one from Home Depot and running about 100' of extension cords to get to the bike rack. (Home Depot didn't have any cordless grinders available for rent). The one I rented wasn't anything special - just an older version of this one. I purchased two $3 cutoff blades, thinking that I might wear one out before I got through the lock...

To my amazement, I was able to cut through the u lock in about a minute, just letting the blade do the work.

I'm thankful that my bike is now safely home, but I also have a new respect for how completely trivial it is to cut through a u lock with the right tools. Based on my experience tonight, I'm convinced that the same grinder would be able to get through even a top of the line Kryptonite lock, like the Fahgettaboudit in less than 5 or 10 minutes.

Lessons learned - I'll buy a better quality lock for sure. The Planet Bike Mountie looks like its solid, but cuts like a hot knife through butter. The key and lock mechanism is the real problem though - the key is round like the old Kryptonite locks, but has a little protruding tab which sticks in the lock first. It was this tab breaking off that was the reason I couldn't unlock the bike in the first place. I'll also be much more aware of making sure my bike is locked in a conspicuous location, where a thief would have to be really brazen to steal it.

The experience cost me $27 for the lock (although MEC will refund that as per their policy), and about $25 for tool rentals. Hopefully folks on the forum can learn from my misfortune.

Hope this helps!
Brawny