It has been a horrible week for me and my bicycles. Let me tell you about
it...
I live two miles from Aldershot station and work in West Smithfield,
central London. I used to ride my Dawes Galaxy to Aldershot, lock it up
for the day, take the train, and walk a mile or so from Waterloo to
Smithfield. Then about three months ago I got my hands on my partner's
Brompton T3 and started bringing it to London and cycling that mile
instead, locking it up in the company garage (an open area in the side of
the building) since there's not much space indoors. I decided it was a
great bike, and clearly the best way of making that journey across London.
On Wednesday (the day of the tube strike) I came out of work to find the
bicycle gone and the lock (an Abus Steel-o-Flex) cut open and lying on the
floor. The company called in the police, who interviewed me and took the
CCTV tapes covering the garage. They also examined the lock and told me it
had been sliced through with some kind of power tool - it was a very clean
cut. They don't think I'll get the bike back, but they might be able to
get something out of the CCTV. It has to be said though, the police were
really, really great. They showed up quickly, were really friendly, and
appeared to be doing everything they could.
So this put me back where I was before - locking up the Dawes at
Aldershot. Last night (Friday) I went out to dinner in Guildford, and
traveled straight there from London, leaving the bike at the station
overnight. Came to collect it this morning, and found the tyres slashed.
Same thing had happened to the three other bikes also locked up there
(there are very rarely any bikes parked there late at night, which is why
I think it happened this morning). I reported it to the platform staff,
who said that there was CCTV on the bicycle lockup area, and that if I
called the British Transport Police, they could take a look at it. The BTP
took down all the details but said they wouldn't be coming down - they'd
just get in touch with the station manager at some point to investigate
the CCTV. So I left a note on each of the other bicycles with a few
details, my very kind partner showed up with his car, and we took the
injured bike home.
Fortunately both bikes are insured (CTC cyclecover) but I can't believe
I've had such rotten luck with my bikes this week. I have one more bike, a
Fausto Coppi Torino racer but I now have strong suspicions that the world
is out to get me and my bikes so I'm planning on staying in for a few
days. 🙂
So I'm looking at new tyres, tubes... and a new folder, since I was really
getting to like the Brompton. Hopefully I'll be able to find somewhere to
keep the new bike in the office where I can keep an eye on it.
By the way this is my first time posting here, although I'm a regular
reader. I just thought I'd tell you all about this so you can appreciate
your own bikes being still intact / still with you (I hope 🙂
Helen
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