it begins

2008-10-27T23:33:00.000-07:00

When someone stole my friend's and my bike earlier this year we both flipped. We stayed up two straight nights watching out the window in case the thief came back for more. We scoured the neighborhoods in the predawn chill, peeking into garages and over fences trying to find our bikes. We also contacted all of our friends, talked to local bike shops, and called every pawn shop in town with descriptions of our bikes. We had a large network of people watching out all over town and with the help of our friends were able to get our bikes back. That is where the idea for this project came from. We want everyone to be able to get their bikes back.

Here's how we hope this program will work:

Take a picture of your bike and keep it on hand. Go do this now.
If your bike gets stolen send us the bike's picture along with a short description. Include any distinguishing features and the serial number if you have it along with your contact info. Also let us know if you've filed a police report, if you'd like people to call the police if they see your bike, and if you'd like us to alert the local pawn and bike shops. As a side note: as much as I wanted to stomp the guy who took my bike, it's probably not a good idea to encourage violence in this space.
We'll post your bike and your info here and with a little effort from the community someone out there will hopefully see your bike and contact either us or you with its whereabouts.
You'll be so overcome with joy at having your bike returned that you'll check back here regularly and help other people get their bikes back as well.
Our network will become so strong that all the bike thieves in town will give up completely and move somewhere else to do their low down dirty rotten deeds...

OK, I'm getting carried away but you get the idea. So send info about your stolen bikes to keepyerbikeMO@gmail.com and we'll do the best we can to try and get it back to you.

in the mean time

Some quick tips to help keep your bike safe:

Get a bike lock and use it! They aren't that expensive and they're worth every penny. Most thefts in this town happen because people don't bother to lock their bikes.
Lock to something solid that the lock can't just be lifted over the top of. If you lock up to a chain link fence or a sign post you might as well kiss your bike goodbye.
Mark your bike in some way. Maybe some fun paint, maybe a sticker somewhere that no one would think to look, maybe a different colored brake cable, maybe you've got a friend with a welder... Get creative. Someone once suggested to me a post-it note with my name and info inside the handlebars.
Some people like to remove their wheels or seat to take inside with them. I've never really found this necessary in this town, but if you've got quick release it wouldn't hurt either.
It's probably not a good idea to leave your bike downtown overnight, even with a lock. I've never had a problem but I have been out there all night long many times before and it's like a ghost town after 2:30. I'm sure there's a lot that a determined person with a hacksaw could get away with at that hour.
I absolutely hate to deal with the cops but if your bike does get stolen it really helps to file a police report. They won't look for it, but they will help you get it back from whoever has it. If my friends hadn't called the cops I probably wouldn't have been able to get my bike back from the bastard who stole it.

Ozarks Anti-Bike Theft Program

it begins