Week 8: Top 5 things I learned from having my bike stolen
Having gone through the unfortunate experience of having my bike stolen, I wanted to share the top five things I learned from the experience.
5) Register your bike's serial number with the police. Seriously. Go on, do it right now by visiting (https://webapp1.torontopolice.on.ca/BicycleRegistry/Submit) and then come right back. It's the best way for the police to reconnect a bike with its owner, as Cycle Toronto describes. I hadn't registered my bike, because I never thought it would happen to me. That leads me to....
4) It can happen to you. I thought it wouldn't happen to me. I never, ever used my bike to commute, nor did I lock it up outdoors. I kept it in my condo, except for outdoor training rides and races. Oh, and except for the night that I locked it in an SUV in my parking garage, the night that someone broke the window and carried it up two flights of stairs and into the snowy streets of Toronto. Here's an article on BlogTO about bike theft by the numbers in this city.
3) Before you buy a used bike, get the serial number. Once you've got a bike's serial number, you can search the Canadian Police Information Centre to see if it's been reported stolen.
2) Get insurance. Happily, my condo insurance will cover part of the cost of replacing my bike. Though I still need to pay for the rental SUV's window. Moral of the story? Get insurance and read the fine print, to make sure you're covered.
1) We are blessed to be part of the multi-sport and running communities. They are made up of such positive, tight-knit, supportive groups of people. Within hours of posting my story online, I received messages from around the Greater Toronto Area. Within a day or two, word had spread from Niagara Falls to Ottawa, with people watching for my bike. My thanks to all the runners (#HSROT, #TYS10K, #STWM), triathletes, duathletes and cyclists that helped sound the alarm.
5) Register your bike's serial number with the police. Seriously. Go on, do it right now by visiting (https://webapp1.torontopolice.on.ca/BicycleRegistry/Submit) and then come right back. It's the best way for the police to reconnect a bike with its owner, as Cycle Toronto describes. I hadn't registered my bike, because I never thought it would happen to me. That leads me to....
4) It can happen to you. I thought it wouldn't happen to me. I never, ever used my bike to commute, nor did I lock it up outdoors. I kept it in my condo, except for outdoor training rides and races. Oh, and except for the night that I locked it in an SUV in my parking garage, the night that someone broke the window and carried it up two flights of stairs and into the snowy streets of Toronto. Here's an article on BlogTO about bike theft by the numbers in this city.
3) Before you buy a used bike, get the serial number. Once you've got a bike's serial number, you can search the Canadian Police Information Centre to see if it's been reported stolen.
2) Get insurance. Happily, my condo insurance will cover part of the cost of replacing my bike. Though I still need to pay for the rental SUV's window. Moral of the story? Get insurance and read the fine print, to make sure you're covered.
1) We are blessed to be part of the multi-sport and running communities. They are made up of such positive, tight-knit, supportive groups of people. Within hours of posting my story online, I received messages from around the Greater Toronto Area. Within a day or two, word had spread from Niagara Falls to Ottawa, with people watching for my bike. My thanks to all the runners (#HSROT, #TYS10K, #STWM), triathletes, duathletes and cyclists that helped sound the alarm.
This is the model of bike I had stolen
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