Bike stolen

This is the sight that greeted me when I pulled into the parking garage this afternoon.  It's the remnants of my bike lock.  Apparently, someone stole the bike between 4:00 PM and 5:15 PM Monday afternoon.

It's frustrating because, while it is a secure garage, it's not too difficult to slip in and out as cars come and go.

Fortunately, it wasn't a terribly expensive bike.  I paid about $250 for it new on 2006-09-03.  My intent was to start out cheap because I hadn't owned a bike in several years and haven't ridden regularly since the Reagan administration. I thought I wanted to ride, but wasn't sure if I would get off my tail and just do it.

I haven't ridden it since I bought it.  I always planned to, but I haven't really been in the physical condition required to ride up the hills in my neighborhood, and it has been too many year for me to ride comfortably in traffic without a bit more practice.  To ride I would have had to drive it to a bike trail or other suitable area, unload it from the car, put the wheel back on, ride around, load it back in the car, and drive home.

I never quite got around to doing that.  Instead, it took up space in my apartment, and then later chained to the fence in my building's garage.

This summer, there was probably a 25% chance I would actually get out an ride.  I expected I'd feel like I was in a little better shape, thanks to the Wii Fit, but it's just as likely the hassle would have discouraged me.

Now I have to think about this project again.  Do I want to try actually riding in meatspace again, or should I just stick to the digital world?  Should I try another bike, or will it mainly end up as furniture?

In the meantime, maybe the thief will ride out into traffic illegally and get run over.  I just hope that in the process he doesn't damage the car that hits him.  Because that would be sad.