Been Violated...

Had the two most expensive pieces of athletic equipment stolen from me during the past week;

My bike: An early 1990's Specialized Allez Epic Carbon Fiber frame
My wetsuit: A Quintano Roo wetsuit I got as a closeout item from Lombardy Sports 4 years ago.

In both cases some scumbag/scumbags who crawled into our buildings garage most likely took them. A week back, the only time in 9 months I did this, I only secured my bike with a steel cable, using the u-lock I share with my wife to secure her bike frame, and not mine. The scumbags cut the cable --- judging by the clean cut, probably some bolt cutters.

The wetsuit (and a pair of swimming jammers) I left to dry on the landing of the staircase leading up to our floor of the apartment -- which is the top floor of a multi-story building. The only way to access that staircase without a key is through the garage -- and the thief/thieves probably went up and down prowling those stairs looking for something to steal or some way to bust in.

How do I know it was through the garage? Because thats where we've had the most problems. Another tenant in the building called the cops one afternoon when a pair of homeless people snuck into our building garage and did the hunka chunka on top of the landlord's Land Rover. Our garage just ain't secure.

If you calculate the loss dollar-wise, its not that bad. Replacing them won't cost me that much. Both items were also very old and had issues. The bike dated from the early 1990's. The wetsuit had an unfortunate problem of the zipper bursting while I was swimming in it -- leading to very embarassing and frustrating wardrobe malfunctions in the middle of Aquatic Park.

But both items (for all their flaws) had sentimental value. I was very proud to show up at triathlons, centuries, and various training rides, on a bicycle that was almost 20 years old, with technology so antiquated many couldn't figure out. The downtube shifters got many odd stares. I was even more proud when I smoked people using much newer technology. And lastly -- the Specialized brought me BACK into road cycling after a hiatus of almost 16 years. It was the bike that helped me rediscover the beauty of the open road, and allowed me to take on challenges that I didn't dare dream of taking on during my previous period of cycling -- when I was younger, skinnier, and still in my late teens.

The wetsuit -- yeah it was a cheap piece of crap. Yes I had wardrobe malfunctions with it as my girth expanded. But it got me into open water swimming. Without the suit I would never have known about the sub-culture of both triathlon and open water swimming here in the Bay Area.

Then there is the safety issue. I hate knowing that that some asshole/assholes are crawling around our building, looking for easy targets to pounce on. Being a father now, with a wife still recovering from giving birth, and an infant daughter, I'm tempted to either stay up all night stalking the halls of my building with a baseball bat to hunt the bastards down. Or maybe get all geeky and set up some wireless cameras connected to a laptop to record the comings and goings in the building THEN go stalking the hallway with a baseball bat after ID'ing the perps.

This being San Francisco of course, with its excessively PC attitude towards homeless people/junkies/petty criminals, my act of self-defense would make ME the bad guy. And because I have a decent job and income -- I become the bastard for not "sharing my wealth" with the unfortunate (and undeserving) unwashed mass.