Tea leaf
I lived in Oxford for 13 years, and over that time I owned a succession of bicycles, some of which were quite good quality. Despite the fact that Oxford is one of the great bike theft capitals of Britain, I never had a bike stolen. Mr. Bsag went to Oxford today on the coach, taking his nearly new Brompton folding bike with him. You can probably guess what’s coming next.
I got a phone call from him at lunch time to say that he’d left the bike outside a shop for ten minutes—-locked to an immovable object with a decent cable lock—-and had come out to find it gone. However, there are worse things that can happen. It’s just property after all—-and insured property at that. It’s annoying and inconvenient, but as long as the insurers are reasonable about it, nothing more than that. Still, I’m going to miss the little folding yellow fella sitting in the garage.
1
So sorry to hear that.
Is the term "tea leaf" still commonly used in your part of the world? When I use it, I get strange looks.----- Bloody hell. I get to say "Me too, I ate one sour too" again.
Exactly the same thing happened to my (black) Brompton about 2 months ago, parked right outside Condor cycles. Went for a haircut, came out, no bike. Good lock, too.
I have a stock curse for them.
by Jolyon @ 08/04/2005 7:05 pm • Permalink •
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"tea leaf"? puzzled expat colonist.
by john(jc.) @ 09/04/2005 6:05 am • Permalink •
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John, tea leaf = thief in rhyming slang.
I've had two bikes stolen in the past, and there's nothing quite like that horrible feeling when you come to terms with the fact that it's actually been taken, and you've not just forgotten where you left it. My sympathies.
by David @ 09/04/2005 7:04 am • Permalink •
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I look forward to moving to somewhere where locking a bike up generally means it'll still be around when you come back. I've had two bikes stolen in Oxford, both only left unlocked for a short period... you'd think I'd have learnt after the first time. At least you can claim insurance - I couldn't.
by Matthew @ 09/04/2005 6:04 pm • Permalink •
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Sorry to here about the bike. I think the worst theft was having someone cut my bike off the steel veradah rails while I was inside. That was in Fremantle, W Australia
It was especially sad since I don't even think of giving a theif motivation by getting a nice bike. Used and half-decent, and I seem to have them longer with less stress.
Again, sorry to here about your bike.
Your site is wonderful, congrats.
Danu
by Danu @ 10/04/2005 1:04 am • Permalink •
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Thanks for the commiseration, everyone. As I said, worse things could have happened, so we'll get over it.
geoff: No, not really. I'm an anachronism
Jolyon: Mr. Bsag was very heartened by your curse. I've often fantasised about wiring the bike up to a big battery to give thieves a shock. However, it would be more likely to end in my prosecution when an innocent passer-by got zapped.
john(j.c.): David got in before me with the explanation. Yes, Mr. Bsag was pretty steaming about it.
Matthew: I don't know how I managed to escape losing a bike in all my time there. The closest I came was when I came out (evidently disturbing a thief) to find my cable lock nearly cut through.
Danu: Through steel rails... wow! Were they carrying around a plasma cutter or something? And thanks!
by bsag @ 10/04/2005 12:04 pm • Permalink •
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I had a bike stolen once - in Cambridge. It wasn't too brilliant, so I didn't worry about it. But about a week later I saw it again - the thief had done a bit of maintenance, too. So I stole it back (walked home with it and sawed through the thief's new padlock)! It felt good to steal back my own bike. And I would have loved to have seen their face when they found it had gone...!
by pete @ 10/04/2005 4:05 pm • Permalink •
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You should invest in a good U shaped lock that's solid steel, then you put it through the back wheel and frame, then you get a plain cable to put around the post and through your front wheel and lock that into the U lock. Then all you might lose is a front wheel.
--Lolindrath
by Lolindrath @ 11/04/2005 11:04 am • Permalink •
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pete: Excellent! That's quite a cheering story.
Lolindrath: That's the plan, though it slightly negates the benefit of a very small, light, foldable bike that you can take on to public transport when you have to carry around several kilos of lock.
by bsag @ 13/04/2005 4:04 pm • Permalink •
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