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Vanity leads to Defeat


Me and Moe, the last time I rode my Niner Jet9. Photo credit to Joe Solancho

Every time I think about it, it makes me sick. This past Friday at 12:30 in the afternoon while in Stockton, California visiting family, I took the kids to Victory Park to relieve the wife of her parental duties for a couple of hours. My teenage daughter stayed in the car with a headache and nasty cough while I watched my 5 and 3 year old boys on the playground 20 yards away. My one-month old black Niner Jet 9 was on the back of the vanā€™s rack when two goons decided to take it from me.

My daughter, in the front passenger seat, looked up and saw one guy standing just outside her window. He smirked at her. Feeling uncomfortable, she proceeded to pull out her phone and call me. As she was doing this she notices another guy at the back of the van taking my bike off the rack. By the time I picked up the phone and got the bluetooth in my ear, they were off with my bike and I couldnā€™t find them. My daughter later told me that she felt I was moving in slow-Moe.

Lessons I learned:
– always lock your bike. Before the park, I stopped off at REI to return a couple of things and peruse their gear. I, of course, locked my bike while shopping at REI. But as soon as I got back to the car, I took off the lock because it tends to rub the paint when the car is in motion. Yes, I know itā€™s a mountain bike and theyā€™re meant to get dirty, scratched, usedā€¦ My vanity led to my defeat.

-check your insurance policy with regards to bike coverage. If you are unfortunate enough to not be covered, check out Consumers Advocate for reviews on insurance plans available in your area. By Friday afternoon, I was pretty much over having my bike stolen. I was confident that my insurance company would ā€œmake me wholeā€ with regards to the bike. However, when talking with the Claims Adjuster on Monday, I discovered that the insurance will only pay out up to $1,000 on a stolen bike. Ummā€¦ that does not even cover the cost of the FRAME, let alone the whole bike.

Bike thieves suck.