Bike Thieves: The Sequel

Last year, I shared that someone tried stealing my e-bike and that they later managed to damage the battery. Yet, they did not steal anything. Well, I’ve now got a much juicier story: my normal bike has been stolen while parked at the central station’s new bike parking.

It almost feels like a rite of passage: getting a bike stolen in the Netherlands. There are memes about it, stories about it, statistics about it, but you never expect it to happen to yourself.

On the 28th of August, a regular Monday, I woke up. That day I was going to the office in Utrecht, so I had to go get the train. I stepped outside, called the lift, went to the bike garage, unlocked my bike, and biked mindlessly to the station.

When arriving, I contemplated trying to decide on whether to park the bike. You see, they are now building a temporary bike parking on the north side of the station, because the south side is under construction. Around half of this new, temporary, bike parking is already available.

Somehow it is already full at 8 hours in the morning, so I just put my bike in one that was of a bit more hard access, or so I thought. Went to Utrecht. Fast forward a working day, I was back in Eindhoven. I went back to the bike rack where I had left my bike. It was nowhere to be seen.

In addition, I noticed that there were only a few bikes. Not only was my bike missing, but probably dozens others. The lower bike rack was almost empty, while the other ones were still buzzing with bikes. I thought I might’ve forgotten where I actual put the bike, so I went around and checked the rest.

I couldn’t find it. Went back home with the bus, and decided to check again the day after, in the case that I actual had misplaced it. No, I didn’t. It was indeed gone. I very quickly made an aangifte online at the police. The day after I got the police report, which I could now deliver to my insurance.

Yes, I do have bike insurance, for both the normal and the e-bike. Considering the price of the bike and the price of the insurance and for how long I’ve had it, it just spared me a bit more than 500€. Nice!

I went to the bike shop, through which I did my insurance, showed the police report, they did the formalities and ordered a new bike. I decided to just get the same bike, but the gray version, which I think is a bit uglier.

But the color won’t be a good enough deterrent for bike thieves. And the stickers I had on the old one neither. I am thinking about spray painting it with spots of pink. A very ugly gray cow with pink spots. Is that unique enough to make sure no one wants to steal the bike?