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Bicycle Fashion Police — Ugly Bike Confiscated!

Aug 19th 2008

By: Jack "Ghost Rider" Sweeney

15 comments

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Faithful reader Mike of The Bicycle Spokesman sent me a troubling article today.

He says, “The story involves a commuter’s bike that was confiscated while it was locked up in front of a train station because it was considered unsightly. Many commuters ride ugly bikes to discourage theft. The complete story is at http://bicyclespokesman.com/an-ugly-bicycle/.”

This happened in Washington D.C., which is not known for its bike-friendly atmosphere (despite a lot of bikes on the roads there). This story was so weird that the local NBC affiliate picked it up. Their coverage (including video) can be found by clicking here.

This story made me wonder: how many OTHER bikes have been confiscated by the Union Station police? How many folks just walked away thinking that their bike had been stolen, when a quick check with the station police might have revealed that their ride was “just too ugly for public display” and now resided in the storage basement?!?

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- ron
  
  August 19th, 2008 at 19:34
  
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  “Washington D.C., which is not known for its bike-friendly atmosphere”
  uh, what? dc constantly ranks highly among US cities for bike friendliness. both in person and on paper.
- Paul
  
  August 19th, 2008 at 22:43
  
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  Here in Austin, Tx it seems that the ugliest bikes are really always stolen FIRST and not by some bolt cutting cop! “Homeless” people (career beggers) steal the worst looking bikes to sell very quickly to any one of the 50-60K broke UT students for $30. My nice, always new looking, bikes never get touched but I do carry 10-15 pounds of locks everywhere I go and lock up with at least two locks.
- Ghost Rider
  
  August 20th, 2008 at 03:35
  
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  Well, D.C. hasn’t made it onto any of the “best” lists or LAB community award pages that I’ve seen. Sure, they’ve got the new Smartbike program and they’re developing infrastructure…but I still hear a lot of grumbling from residents there.
  
  If you’ve seen them on a “bike friendly list”, please let me know and I’ll adjust my attitude.
- 2whls3spds
  
  August 20th, 2008 at 07:47
  
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  Sounds like the same crowd is in control there as at the MSP airport. There needs to be a standard protocol before a bike is removed….but I doubt it will happen anytime soon.
  
  Aaron
- Iron Man
  
  August 20th, 2008 at 07:48
  
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  Doesn’t something need to be left for a greater period than a single workday in order to be considered abandoned? My folks had a car stolen in Detroit (at the ’84 World Series) and it sat abandoned for four days before a cop finally had it towed. Surely a bike can hang out for a couple of days before the rent-a-cops get itchy.
- Catspit
  
  August 20th, 2008 at 12:20
  
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  DC is a great area for cycling – if you stick to the many trails that permeate the area which are car-free. I invite anyone who thinks road riding in the immediate surrounding area is great to try my commute from Fairfax to Tyson’s Corner on the roads.
- bikingbristol
  
  August 20th, 2008 at 12:54
  
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  This is nothing short of theft. Perhaps she’d get an apology if she presses charges.
- 2whls3spds
  
  August 20th, 2008 at 13:20
  
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  bikingbristol…it isn’t theft if the “authorities” do it. Also too many municipalities have immunity against charges like that, if it was done on an official basis.
  
  Aaron
- Phil M.
  
  August 20th, 2008 at 18:54
  
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  I live in DC, and commute very day, I past that biek rack all the time because it’s near the entrance to the union station metro and because there are always so so may pan handlers that I would never leave my bike there.
  
  So to see the bikes being taken from security it just insane.
  
  And by the way, I really think DC is a pretty good bike city, cars are always letting me go first at stop signs, there are somewhat a lot bike lanes, a lot of bikers, and on top of that there aren’t many place where cars can get up to a speed faster than 30/35 (but I also tend to ride pretty fast in the city).
  
  The only thing you have to worry about are cabbies (and busses), which drive like bats from hell.
  
  So I like DC’s biking scene, and the security needs to pay attention to more important things like the pan-handlers and pick-pockets thiefs that hand around Union Station.
- Tom
  
  August 21st, 2008 at 10:59
  
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  You may be correct ghost, DC may not have officially entered into the “bike freindly” catagory, but it is not by any means hostile to bikers. I think that comment was a cheap shot. As you defend yourself you are starting to sound a little lawyerly, something we really know about in DC.
  
  I ride on the mean streets and paths of DC and its suburbs every day. I don’t feel cherished by the community for riding my bike but, I annonomously get along with the other modes of travel just fine. Unlike some “friendly” cities in the northwest that have bikers smashing bikes on the hoods of cars and U-locks into the back of drivers heads.
- Ghost Rider
  
  August 21st, 2008 at 11:46
  
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  Where do you see that I’m defending myself?
  
  I’m basing my judgement on the lack of CONCRETE statistics/awards/recognition. I know that WABA is doing a great job making D.C. a more bike-friendly place, and my hat goes off t0 them. But, as a former resident of Metro D.C. who has experienced first-hand the truly miserable traffic and disregard for non-motorized movers and as someone who reads quite a few D.C. area bicycling blogs, I have yet to hear much more than grumbling. So, again, I’ll state it: when D.C. starts posting some real progress and gets recognized for it, I’ll happily change my attitude.
- Ron
  
  August 21st, 2008 at 17:32
  
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  GR, I don’t share any animosity that might be shown to you for not giving props to DC. But if a person wants proof that DC IS bike friendly, it only follows that there should be proof that it is NOT bike friendly if someone would call it unbike friendly. But that’s a stretch and, frankly, not what you said. You did NOT say that DC was a bad cycling city.
  
  I didn’t mean to start crap and imply that you were dissing DC. I just hear it listed as a nice city to ride in, is all. Most of those top ten lists aren’t fair, as they list what should rightly be called “towns” more so than “cities.”
  
  Anyway, I apologize for what got started.
- Ghost Rider
  
  August 21st, 2008 at 19:18
  
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  Ron, no hard feelings, and I completely agree with your statement, “Most of those top ten lists aren’t fair, as they list what should rightly be called ‘towns’ more so than ‘cities’.” Amen to that!
  
  When the LAB puts out a “best list”, I tend to agree with their assessments, because they have applied a detailed scoring system to those cities. The other “polls” that appear from time to time in the media aren’t nearly so believable. It must be the scientist in me — numbers over “perceptions”.
  
  Happy riding, everyone!
- Johnny
  
  September 1st, 2008 at 17:50
  
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  Geez, I hope this doesn’t move up to Baltimore. My Fredded-up bike near Penn Station might be next! :^)
- Bicycle Fashion Police — Ugly Bike Confiscated! | autocarsinsurance
  
  August 19th, 2008 at 20:56
  
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  [...] Original post by Jack "Ghost Rider" Sweeney [...]
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