So Here's This Guy Riding My Bike

[srdavo]

When I was young, I got caught fishing in someone's private pond. My excuse was that I was practicing catch and release, and that wasn't really fishing. No harm was really done...a minor trespass. Embarrassed, I felt stupid afterwords, because I was doing something I shouldn't have been doing but I justified it with a lame argument.
Well, my point is that people do things for lots of different reasons, and you can't always expect them to react how you would after being caught is such a stupid situation. These guys may have pushed the limit, but in this case, I'd advise forgive and forget. Good karhma is the gift that keeps on giving.
-M

Well said!

 

[5-7HEAVEN]

When I was young, I got caught fishing in someone's private pond. My excuse was that I was practicing catch and release, and that wasn't really fishing. No harm was really done...a minor trespass. Embarrassed, I felt stupid afterwords, because I was doing something I shouldn't have been doing but I justified it with a lame argument.
Well, my point is that people do things for lots of different reasons, and you can't always expect them to react how you would after being caught is such a stupid situation. These guys may have pushed the limit, but in this case, I'd advise forgive and forget. Good karhma is the gift that keeps on giving.
-M

In my life I've made a ton of mistakes, been in stupid situations too.

mlcorson, I'll take your advice. Not looking for apology. That guy makes his own bed, I make mine.

 

[Member 5549]

Man it's a good thing people are so laid back there !!!
In Texas you might get shot for taking someones bike !!!!
Hang Loose !!!!

 

[247Jude]

That would surely make anyone think twice about steeling a bike. One summer I went fire fighting for 19 days strait, I had just finished tuning up three bike for the summer. First thing I went for was the shed to go for a ride when I got home, some broke in and took them all! One was my brothers, he was ****ed.

 

[247Jude]

I find it is always someone who uses there bike a lot who is victimized and is unfortunenate enough to have their bike stolen!

 

[bluegoatwoods]

Thinking about the point made by mlcorson; I'm a pretty straight-and-narrow, trustworthy type. To both friends and strangers. And yet I have done some pretty selfish and stupid things in my life. (For whatever it's worth, I do feel bad about it.) So maybe we should "judge not, lest we be judged".

And, yep 247Jude, it does seem to be the ones who actually use (and properly care for) their bikes that get them stolen. Maybe that's not actually true. I suppose those bikes are out there where they could get stolen more than the bikes that are never used. But it's still a pity.

 

[247Jude]

I have purchased more bikes to replace stolen ones than any thing else, I have totaled one frame and it was repaced under warrenty after 13 years! That I had purchased second hand, from some one who had it sitting in a garage for 5 years, It sat beside a shed for 7 years, while I worked in the states untill comming back from firefighting, so I retived it and rebuilt it. I road it for a year or two untill the frame cracked and the back bone split from the neck. I got a credit for the bike for more than what I paid for it, and purchased a new bike. Only to have that one stolen a year later.

 

[Born2BWild]

We got 'Bait cars' - how about BAIT Bikes..?
Suggest it to the local PD, makes law enforcement E-Z, which is all it seems they want to do these days, silver-platter stuff. Bring back some good ol' time law enforcement, not just MILITARY-style policing which is also becoming very popular. Shoot or Taser or Baton first; ask questions later.

In my jurisdiction, there is a Farmer currently on trial for 7 charges for chasing down a guy that stole his ATV at 3 am. Problem is - he shotgunned the guy. But the guy was OK enough to keep running and stole another truck.

Will justice be served in rural Alberta (Canada)? Stay tuned. 100 local people showed up for the farmer's first court appearance. They started a trust fund for his legal fees - donations are pouring in. It seems the locals are a little PO'd with the PO PO (the RCMP who charged him)...

 

[247Jude]

I like the bait idea, I don't buy new any more. Because I know it will be stolen in a year or two, I live a block from the dump and they sell them there for $5 or less. I now have a bike that is made out of maybe 10 diferent bikes, it is priceless to me. It was stolen one summer night. I spead the word to eveyone I knew,
With in a week I got it back! Some one stole it because they were lazy to walk home, it was found ditched in a vacant lot about 5 miles from where I live (where it was stolen from).

 

[bluegoatwoods]

Actually, the "bait bike" does exist. I remember seeing it on "Cops". They used one that was expensive enough to warrant a felony charge. And it seemed to take only a couple of minutes for it to get taken. It was fun watching these jerks case the bike for a minute or so, looking around for the owner or the police. Then they'd hop on and get chased down.

And they'd come up with lame stuff like, "that guy over on the other block asked me to pick up his bike for him" and **** like that.

Fun to watch!