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Health & Fitness

Bike Theft a Big Loss for My Son

Last night, a stranger climbed our stairs with bolt cutters to make a few bucks off of my son's sole method of transport.

My son, Tristan, is 9 years old. He is the oldest of four children. Tristan loves foil fencing, bicycling, and Magic: The Gathering.

Tristan began fencing a year ago at Pacific Fencing Club (at Santa Clara and Park St.) Tristan's favorite Alameda destinations are the library, Crown Beach and D20, a game store on Santa Clara where he meets up with friends to play Magic. Tristan uses his bike to do all of these things. In fact, he uses his bike with a trailer to return glass CRV to the recycling center on Blanding. He uses the money to pay for Magic cards. 

Sometime last night between 10 pm and  6am this morning, his bike was stolen off our porch in Alameda. It was locked - they came with bolt cutters. Our porch is above a big set of stairs in a lovely Alameda Victorian. I can only imagine that the thief scouted out my son's bike. It was not visible from the road. 

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As I write this my son doesn't know about the theft. He is still asleep. I have spent my entire morning looking for our receipt, calling the police, and reporting the bike stolen on the EBBC website. When Tristan wakes up to this news he will naturally be upset. This wasn't just a bike, it was his vehicle. It is how we got everywhere in Alameda.

We bought the bike, an xs black GIANT revel with road tires, last year at Alameda Bicycle. It was Tristan's first grown-up bike. He was really proud of it, having proved his readiness for months on an impossibly heavy, too-small kid's bike from a department store. It was a 21-speed and felt really hi-tech to Tristan. At first it seemed too big, but he took off on it and never looked back. 

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The kids and I go everywhere on bikes. Maybe you've seen us: a mother with four children in line on bikes. The youngest rides in our trailer. Bike safety is really important to our family. We hope we're raising safe riders who will enjoy the freedom of living in this bike-friendly town. Bike theft is common, but we are pretty shocked that someone came on our porch last night with tools of the trade to steal my son's most precious possession. 

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Details of the bike: xs black GIANT revel, 2011. The bike had a small round bell on the handlebars and a Burley trailer hitch on the rear wheel. It also had an Alameda Bicycle sticker. 

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