November 30, 2024

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Automotive to Us

Protecting bikes this summer and steps to take if your bike is stolen

If anything is a sign of summer in Burlington, it’s the return of bikes weaving through the city, as bike lanes and the trusted bike path fill up with riders again.

The opportunities to do more bike riding is often accompanied by an increase in bike thefts.

In early June, Burlington resident Ben Rickman went to check on his black Sur Ron X dirt bike and was met with a surprise.

“I went back to the back door where I usually had it,” he said, “and a new bike was there that wasn’t my bike, a mountain bike, and my bike was gone.”

Ricman’s brother-in-law’s bike was stolen a month ago, from his home in Downtown Burlington.

Going like the wind: A cyclist speeds north on the Island Causeway in Lake Champlain on Aug. 20, 2010. Her trajectory leads her to a small bike ferry and on to South Hero Island.

The summer bike theft season has already begun in the Queen City.

Many cyclists in the area worry about keeping their own bikes safe, so here are some ways to protect bikes in Burlington and what to do if your bike is stolen. 

They’re back.Canadians return to Kingdom Trails mountain biking in Northeast Kingdom.

Keeping Bikes Safe 

Project 529, an organization that works to fight bike theft, estimates that around 2 million bikes are stolen each year in North America. The organization works with police, universities, and communities to compile data about bike theft and work to reduce theft in the country.