Urban No-No

One of my first ever nights after graduating from college, I rode my
bike home from work, locked it up outside the house I had just moved
into, made myself dinner, read a little, and then went to bed . . .
and was rousted up an hour later by my seasoned housemates, dragged
outside, and made to bring my bike indoors, where it wouldn't get
picked clean. I learned that night that you don't leave your bike
locked up outside, under any circumstances.

Many, many years later, I'd like to think I've gotten a little urban
seasoning. But I made a rookie mistake yesterday. I rode my bike to
the train station and locked it up there while I took the train to
Trenton, as I've done a handful of times this year. But when I got
back to Philadelphia, I went straight to another meeting downtown, and
straight from there to my kids' day care, and from there to home.

And somewhere in the middle of all that criss-crossing, I realized my
bike was still at the train station. I worried for a moment, and then
though that I would take my chances, and pick it up first thing the
next day since my morning run took me right past there. Only when I
got there, the seat and the back wheel had been removed. I had to
roll it on its one wheel to in front of my office, where later that
day, I rolled it down the street to the bike repair shop to order a
new seat and wheel.

So for the next week or so, I'll be walking and not biking. And with
my extra time on the road, I'll have plenty of time to remind myself
that locking my bike outside overnight is an urban no-no.