I obliged to my rather rare dessert craving and decided to stop at Mission Pie after work to stuff my face with a slice of I'msogonnaeatthiswholethingrightnow.
Anyways, as I was leaving I spotted out of the corner of my eye a bikeshare bike. AH! have yet to see one up close I thought. Immediately noticing something was not right.
It wasn't the bike that completely gave it away –half covered with a mix of toilet paper and bubblewrap– but the two people walking it, they could hardly finish getting themselves across the sidewalk.
Luckily I had an almost full-charged bat phone.
I gave it a second thought about taking a picture, but then I went for it.
This took me .25 seconds to decide.
These two could HARDLY stand-up straight, nevermind walk. The person in orange with long blond hair almost fell twice sideways but kept his/her hands on the bike grips.
I recall learning that Mission Police Station had a team dedicated to the huge bike-theft problem that the city faces, and that they were on Twitter. I was aware of this thanks to our very own local bike-theft ninja Jenny Oh.
So, I tweeted this photo minutes after spotting the bike on 25th that evening, a couple of days after and few twitter threads later, the bike was back with Bay Area Bike Share.
mi first spotting of stolen 'coverup' @SFBayBikeShare bike? @sfbike @plattyjo @SFPDBikeTheft seen 5mts ago 25th&Capp pic.twitter.com/AHqTxaUi90
— meligrosa (@meligrosa) September 5, 2013
You can see the thread here → twitter.com/meligrosa/statuses/375445738546675712
“IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING”
+ Follow SDPD on twitter → @SFPDBikeTheft
+ A great interview & tips by Jenny of “SFbiketheft (Officer Freidman!) Who's SFPDbiketheft? Meet the man behind…
RESOURCEFUL: Learn tips, find links and important info at this large Google+ Bay Area group: [Stolen Bicycles Bay Area, public group]
+ The second recovered BABS bike! via the timbuk2 blog: Recovering a stolen bike 2
+ SAFE & SFPD's bike program was approved on September 19th –bike registration coming in the near future(!)
+ Learn more about Bay Area Bike Share → bayareabikeshare.com
They have continued to provide what seems like active tips on their various social media channels:Tip #6: Never leave a bike unattended. Ride safely, & always wait for the green light when you end the trip. pic.twitter.com/QkYtJX1TWs
— Bay Area Bike Share (@SFBayBikeShare) September 6, 2013
+ Additional info → stolenbicycleregistry.com | @stolenbikessfo on Twitter
Alright, so I was very glad to have contributed my 2 pesos glad to help out & that it worked out.
It has numerous times being proven that great things happen when you mix the Bay Area bike community with social media + word of mouth: pulling positive forces is awesome.
Hope our community continues to communicate & work together to fight bike theft.
And speaking of hormones, here is a pretty picture of flowers from the delicious Mission Pie.
Not taken that same day:
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This stolen-bikesighting foto was tweeted on the 4th of September.
OK, that is all for now.
xxom
Pie brings good things! Any awareness to bike theft is a beautiful thing, and you did it with style and grace. ¡G!
ReplyDeleteProps to reporting the public bike abuse! Now imagine what you could do after hunting down some Kouign Amanns....
ReplyDeleteMeligrosa--I'm so glad you reported the theft. Too many people would look the other way.
ReplyDeleteNot long ago, a stolen Citibike (NYC Bikeshare) bike was found in Brownsville, Brooklyn, far from any bike ports. The thieves painted the outer surfaces flat black. But, on the underside of the frame and fork, the Citiblue color was plainly visible.
Even if they'd painted the bike more carefully, though, I don't think they could have disguised the bike.
Anyone who turns in a stolen bike should be rewarded with a free pie with a scoop of ice cream (if desired). And coffee.
ReplyDelete