The other day, a friend forwarded this post from Palo Alto Freecycle:
"**WANTED** Rusty / ugly bike to replace my wife's stolen bike.
My wife's bike just got stolen from Stanford campus.
I would like to get an ugly piece of junk bike for her at which the
bleeping thieves won't take a second look.
The bike doesn't need to be working; I can strip/fix/replace anything
so that it rides well. It just needs to look bad."
In fact, bike thefts have been on the increase in this upscale peninsula enclave. According to the Palo Alto Police Department, 31 bicycles worth more than $1,000 each were stolen in the second half of 2008. Nine of those bikes had price tags of between $4,000 and $10,000.
Of course it's not just fancy bikes that are getting poached, as students at Palo Alto High School, which is across the street from Stanford, have learned. Maybe that's why, despite the recession, bike sales are also on the upswing.
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