On Mon, 17 Feb 2003 05:03:29 -0600, Steve McDonald wrote:
> Suppose the petroleum supply is reduced enough, so that not only the price of gas keeps
> rising, but it becomes hard to buy or completely unavailable at times. Will this result in
> bikes becoming so much in demand, that they will be stolen in greatly increased numbers?
> Will the term, "bike-jacking", become part of our vocabulary?
I don't think so. People will either steal gas (hey, they do this already) and also steal any other
kind of personal property they can lay their felonious little hands on, to sell for money, which
they use to buy all sorts of things: gas, dope, Cameros, Rottweilers, trailer houses and all the
other status tokens of the dead-beat.
Things would really have to go to hell before gas became completely unavailable at any price, which
is what it would take to force most people onto bikes. People are EXTREMELY motivated to not let
this happen. Wars will be fought before willingly giving up the cheap-n-easy transportation that we
Americans have come to expect. Once the gas price rises to a point where most people have to
curtail their driving habits, fingers will begin pointing at 'these people' or 'those people' who
are 'unfairly' refusing to sell us oil at a price we like. Maybe we'll call it 'Economic
Terrorism'. But oh yeah, whatever it takes to keep the oil flowing will be done. I'll also surmise
that most Americans and other net importers of oil will support it, once they understand what the
alternatives are.
> Close to 1,000 bikes are stolen (reported) in my community every year. Only a small
> percentage are recovered and the police provide no solution to this.
I'll take this as a statement of fact and not a critisicm of the police. After all, they can't be
everywhere keeping an eye on your bike. Lock that sucker up! The only other strategy is not to have
anything worth stealing. Relying on police to protect your property from theft is about as naive as
relying on the inherent goodness of your fellow man.
I keep my bikes hanging from hooks in the living room. I'd put my TV out on the porch before I'd put
a bike out there. I have a couple of semi-disposable beater bikes for this purpose, I ride them when
I know I'll have to leave them somewhere exposed to thievery.
> I'd advise those who ride regularly to find an old beater or two now, while they're still
> available, in the $25-$50. category and keep them in reserve. During World War II, when no
> new cars were sold, used cars went for a premium price, if one could even be found. I imagine
> that bicycles were very popular then, and also hard to buy. Do any old-timers remember what
> the bicycle availability and usage was back then?
Absolutely, buy some beaters now while they're cheap- theft discouraging bikes, rain bikes,
loan-to-others bikes, ride while you're other bike is in the shop bikes. If our relationship to
China turns sour there might be some trade restrictions on bikes that bump up prices, especially on
the low end.
As far as stockpiling bikes for the Apocalypse, I suppose there's worse things to do. If we run out
of gas there probably won't be as much reason to ride- no food in the stores, no job to go to. Just
stay at home and work on self-sufficiency things like gardening, and pull a trailer of produce to
market to trade for other things you need that you can't produce yourself. Food will be in short
supply so there's probably not enough calories or spare time for recreational riding. Or perhaps
you'll be drafted to fight in World War III. Picture yourself driving around in a tracked SUV,
fighting to preserve the American way of life
Doug Kennedy