MY BIKE WAS STOLEN ON A TRAIN..!!!

A WARNING ABOUT TAKING YOUR BIKE ON A TRAIN….

#biketheft #bikethief #bikesontrains

hello good morning it’s Friday the 28th of June on my last video I said I would hopefully be posting some videos towards the end of June about my thankful Villages cycle tour in northern England well that went fantastically until the final few hours my bike got stolen on the train coming back from Manchester padil I just wanted to make this short video to tell you what happened and just to urge people to be cautious when they take their bikes on trains cuz you’re not going to get a lot of help from the authorities in my experience it’s really up to you to look after it I would urge you to lock your bikes on trains and also if you really really want to be 100% sure just sit and watch it at all times and if that means sitting in the vestibule on a long journey well so be it if I can help one person avoid going through what I’ve been through then making this video would have been worth it you’re probably wondering what’s happened so just let me briefly tell you the tour was fantastic I finished in Manchester on my final evening stayed at the Travel Lodge I was booked onto the 10:3 train from Manchester Picadilly to Bristol Parkway on the Wednesday and I was going to cycle home from Bristol Parkway the journey started at Manchester so I made sure I got there quite early as soon as the train arrived and people got off I got my bike on in one of the two available upright bike cupboards where you hook the front wheel up now actually bungee the bike to one of the upright post to stop it swaying backwards and forwards and banging and then I went and got a seat because the train started filling up rapidly glastenbury was starting next day so there’s lots of young people going to glastenbury plus the usual holiday makers business people Etc and very soon there was only one seat left in my compartment and that was next to me so every station I made sure you know I wasn’t obstructing anybody who wanted to sit there at Stoke on Trent a guy come and took that seat and I was aware of this sort of knocking backwards and forwards I thought oh gosh how hope my bike can’t come loose so I got up to go and look there was already people standing in the vestule that’s how crowded the train was getting and I thought that’s not my bike it’s the wrong color it’s got discs on I looked in the other cupboard nothing there I said to these people has anybody moved the blue bike here and they said well we’ve only just got on but there’s only that one guy who’s just got on the blue bike I thought oh no it’s been stolen or possibly moved I went to the front of the train to try and find the train manager I actually found the girl doing the drinks trolley and told her she said look just walk me to your seat show me where you are I’ll go and find the TM and bring her to you and the train manager at the TM was very very help were very apologetic took all my details confirmed that she or none of her staff had moved it and we decided it had been stolen and she s said well it can only have been three stops Stockport maos fi or Stoke on Trent and the guy next me said oh that’s my blue bike I got on the stoken Trent and I’m pretty sure there was nobody on the bike with the platform I can’t be 100% sure but certainly nobody got off of the bike so it’s most likely the first two stops possibly the thir so she’s very nice this lady took me down to First Class where I could just gather my thoughts you know in a quiet Carriage without people all around me and she did say she advised me even though she’s going to log it as a crime to text the British transport police on that number they always tell you see it say it sorted texted I sent the text and I just got back an automated reply with a link to a crime report so words you need to fill out your own crime report and I just wasn’t in the right place mentally to do it I was gathering me thoughts and first and foremost how am I going to get home from Parkway with p and I quickly thought of a plan I thought well I’ll just stay on the trend the next stop Temple Mage it’s a huge Hub and then I can just book a train ticket online and get a local train two stops in my local station in bath and I don’t live far from it and that’s what I did and then I thought rather than filling the form online when I get home I can actually go and see the British transport place at Bristol cuz I’m pretty sure there’s an office there and there was and I went and reported it and I even gave a description of this guy that I’d seen in the v area who looked a little bit dodgy so i’ just gone to check my piers were okay because there was all these backpacks from the glastenbury you know Travelers being put on top of it and I just wanted to make sure if the train was busy when I when I stopped and needed to get off I I I couldn’t remember where my bags were and I remember seeing this guy probably middle-age quite thick set slightly darker skin Mediterranean either Eastern European or North African and he’s in very black clothing on the hottest day of the year and he turned away and looked at the window and that should have raised my suspicions but I just thought that hey some people just don’t like sitting in cred carriages do they I’ve been in that stage I’d rather just sit in the vestle and look at the window I should have been more alert was my boat locked no should I’ve locked it yes I’ve always considered bik theft on a train fairly unlikely and low risk I was wrong I put my hands up completely wrong which is why I’m telling you this story I should have locked it the reason I didn’t and I don’t is sometimes it’s a hassle getting your bike and Luggage off a train especially if the vestibules got creaded as it was in leads it was difficult getting the bike and the pan off without hand on Locker bike I would urge you all to lock your bikes on trains in future and to be 100% sure sit and keep your eye on it I know it’s not very nice if you got a long journey certain vestle but that’s probably the only way you’re going to 100% guarantee not having any bikee stolen I was told by the police officer when I reported this crime I’ll get a crime reference number with two days on H anything and I was also told there CCTV at the stations again even if they get a photograph of someone with my bite is not going to get my bite back it’s caused me a lot of inconvenience and as I said being a VI as I said being a victim of crime is horrible it really really is I don’t want anyone else to have go through this unnecessarily it’s a mixture of sadness anger and also recrimination against myself you know I saw the guy who I think did it at the time I thought it was opportunistic probably just saw the bik I love that maybe ride home with it dump it or just I love that for good but the more I think about the more I think I was targeted I must have stood out like a saam in Manchester walking through the train station and as I understand it I put a graphic on screen now the previous year’s stats showed there was over 3,000 one 00 bikes stolen in Manchester and that only resulted in 32 arrests or prosecutions less than 1% if you look at it from a thieves perspective that’s a 99% chance of getting away with a crime I’ve come to think this is only a hunch but it’s my gut instinct I was targeted I was followed you sort of think about it’s going to be quite easy just to buy a ticket get off at the first station even if I saw the guy walking down the platform with it what are you going to do pull the community Cod even if you did that the doors don’t open do they I’d imagine it’s a very easy crime to get away with and there’s clearly a big Market in Manchester I did a little bit more reading and people just had to solve their own crimes they looked on secondhand online bike selling sites or they even trolled around bike shops and sometimes they find their own bikes and they reported the police no action taken so I have absolutely no confidence whatsoever in the official side of it nothing’s going to get done that makes me sound a bit better where it probably is because I am actually which is why I’m making this video don’t expect official them to do anything for you because it’s probably ain’t going to happen is it and even if they get a photograph of someone taking it it’s very unlikely going to get your bike back isn’t it the reason I’m a bit cross about not getting a crime reference number is I’m doing all I can to locate it actually I mean short of going up to Manchester and looking around boat shops or boat parks there’s not a lot I can do I registered it online with a couple of bike theft sites I’m also scanning secondhand bike marketplaces to see if it turns up but you know I then need to to prove that I’m a claimant aren’t I and if I haven’t got a crime reference number that’s going to be very difficult isn’t it so yeah I’m a little bit cross about the lack of I I don’t expect the police to drop everything they’re doing and go looking for my boat you know that’s realistic but it would have been nice to at least had a crime reference number so if I was able to locate it at least I can then say hey I’ve got a legal claim this bike anyway it’s completely ruin the rest of my summer really as regards touring I can’t go camping without a Touring bike um it’s just put on hold sort of anything like that I can’t even get me I’m not really in that right head space to even start thinking about editing the videos actually it was a great trip in conclusion if I can avoid one person going through what I’m going through then making this video and telling my story would have been worth it I used to think bikes were fairly safe on trains low risk of having them stolen clearly not the case they can and are stolen it’s only natural when you hear some bad news you want to know what’s happened so I can kill two bird to one St I can tell you the story and urge you if you’re taking your bike on a train or in any public area just be ultra Ultra cautious think about if you lost that bike what the ramifications would be I never really have and now I’m realizing just how inconvenient and expensive it’s going to be before I say cheio I want to thank everybody online who’s offered me consolation and and one person in particular who’s made a very very generous offer to me which I’m hopefully we’re going to sort something out I’m not saying any names you know who you are thank you so much anyway in the meantime Look Hope for each other everybody see you probably in a few months my head’s not really in the right space to edit the video of the tour there was some fantastic moments I will get round to it but it’s probably going to be a few weeks yet bye for [Music] now e