When I invested in a bike my freshman year, I never seriously considered getting it registered.
What could possibly go wrong? I always made sure to string my combination lock through my wheel and my bike. I was careful and never left it in the same place for more than a few days.
Every fall semester, LSU’s Parking and Transportation Services and Student Government host a bike auction on Tower Drive next to the Student Union. For only $5 and a few minutes of your time, it’s a great opportunity to get your bike registered with the LSU Police Department.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t aware about all this until after my bike got stolen.
Normally, I would keep my bike in my car over the weekends, but on one fine Friday afternoon, I decided I didn’t feel like taking it with me. I locked it up next to Patrick F. Taylor and walked away.
There’s no worse feeling than coming back from a disappointing weekend, parking my car and walking over to the bike rack only to find that my bike just wasn’t there anymore.
I was livid. But more than anything, I felt defeated.
I didn’t have the time or energy to deal with reporting it stolen. At that point, I thought it was a lost cause. My bike was gone, and that was that. I didn’t expect to ever see it again.
About two weeks after my bike got stolen, I was walking on campus when suddenly my eyes locked on a guy riding a bike. As the figure continued moving past me, it took me a few moments to realize the bike was mine.
By the time I realized this, it was too late. I stood there paralyzed as I watched my stolen bike fade into the distance in the hands of a complete stranger. I decided this was a job for Detective Shirin.
The best course of action, Detective Shirin decided, would be to go back to the same spot the next week, at the same time of day. So I did. But deep down, I knew it was pretty unlikely that I’d ever see it again.
Still, my knees were shaking as I stood there waiting. I saw the same guy riding my bike down the same exact path as the week prior. I knew I had to act quickly, so I did something I never do ­— I ran.
My heart racing, I chased down my bike. I can’t even imagine how embarrassing that looked, but Detective Shirin wasn’t about to lose sight of her bike again.
I confronted the mystery guy with my stolen bike, only to find out that whoever stole my bike had sold it to him on Craigslist. He was definitely telling the truth, but then I had to find a way to prove the bike was mine.
Luckily, I had a picture recently taken of my dad fixing up my bike. Without that picture, I would’ve had zero proof that the bike was mine.
Call it fate or call it good karma, but the bike I thought I’d never see again is now back in my hands. However, not every victim of bike theft is lucky enough to reclaim what was stolen. And like me before my bike got stolen, many people are riding around unregistered.
I encourage all of you bike-riders to get out there and register your bikes because what happened to me was extremely unlikely. If your bike happens to get stolen, the odds of you getting it back the way I did are incredibly slim.
I’m really thankful about the way things turned out for me. Had I registered my bike and reported it to the police, the wild chase I had to embark on could have easily been avoided.
Shirin Chowdhury is a 20-year-old English junior from Manhattan, Kansas. You can reach her on Twitter @TDR_schowd.