Basket being used as bin

Duckee

Hi,

This is not a 'sporting' question but I'm wondering if anyone has had this problem or maybe has ideas. I have a basket on my bike and when I'm not using the bike I leave it in the car park of my apartment block. For the past few months someone has been using my basket as a bin, sometimes leaving remnants of sticky drinks etc. I started putting a plastic bag over the basket but the perpetrator just pushed the bag into the basket and left their sh*t there anyway. At this point I was really sick and tired so I wrapped clingfilm around the basket and left a note telling the perpetrator to stop what they were doing. This morning I found my bike covered in coke (or some other sticky drink).

I thought about contacting the management company but I'm not sure what they would be able to do beyond emailing residents about the issue. I could move my bike but frankly I feel that I've as much right to use the car park as other residents. Any ideas?

Lumen

Ask the management company to put a bin near where your bike is.

Larianne

Sounds like the person is doing it now only to annoy you.

I'd say just park you bike in another spot.

califano

Im narrowing it down to a Ukrainian, Greek or Swedish eurovision loving resident.

kenmc

Take the basket off?

Dubba

Ambush the fooker:pac:

Lemag

How is this a cycling issue? I don't know the OP and I already want to pour my coke all over their bike :pac:

Morgan

Duckee wrote: »

Any ideas?

Lie in wait...

Duckee

Like I said, its not a 'sport' issue but I figured maybe other people who owned and used bikes might have experienced something similar and couldn't think about what other forum might have an answer/opinions. I'm happy for the thread to be moved elsewhere, if mods can recommend a better place for answers/opinions.

I'm really p*ssed off by the scumbaggery of it. Thanks for the responses though. The bins for the apt block are about 10ft from the bike racks and the basket itself is a pain to get on and off given that I use the bike every other day so Larianne's probably right in that I'll have to move it. Don't really want to park my bike on the street permanently but looks like my only option is to move it. :mad:

Duckee

Morgan wrote: »

Lie in wait...

:pac:

Actually, this is what I'd love to do... maybe a spy camera's the answer :pac:

SachaJ

wire your basket (and bike) up to the mains electricity.....

seamus

Hook it up to a pressure-sensitive switch, a large battery and a 150dB alarm. As soon as he drops something into the basket, the fncker goes deaf, you hear the alarm, run down and find him cowering in a ball in front of your bike.

mcmoustache

I'm no fan of baskets but someone messing with my bike is much worse.

Don't back down by moving your bike. It's no guarantee that it will stop and worse things could happen. And, as you said, you have just as much of a right to it as anyone.

You need to first find out who is doing this. You can do it the old fashioned way with some detective work or with a cheap spy-camera pointing at the bike.

If you can narrow down the time that the littering is happening and if it's during the week, it's a safe bet that the person will be leaving the carpark at the same time every day. You might also be able to identify the perp's car. I'm not going to advise what to do with the car as it would be illegal but record his reg in case things escalate and you need to report him for driving over your bike.

Tonyandthewhale

Duckee wrote: »

Don't really want to park my bike on the street permanently but looks like my only option is to move it. :mad:

I wouldn't if I were you. It's annoying to have someone messing with your bike like this but if you start leaving it on the street it'll be exposed to the elements and need a lot more maintenance and may also be vandalised by scumbags or drunks if left out over night.

I think you're better off trying to find out who's doing it and put a coke can in them, see how they like it. You could also consider replacing your basket with a rack and pannier set up which is a far superior method of transporting stuff by bike and doesn't provide scumbags with a bin.

Tonyandthewhale

rounders123 wrote: »

Im narrowing it down to a Ukrainian, Greek or Swedish eurovision loving resident.

Am I the only one who has no idea what this means? Am I going to have to start watching the eurovision?

uberwolf

can you park the bike with the basket at the opposite end to the access point?

tbh, whilst the management company should have cctv on the bike park area, some good old fashioned detective work is required here. And having escalated when you asked them to stop, some revenge is in order here.

jaqian

spy-camera+youtube=shame the b*sturd.

-Chris-

I think you need to catch/confront them.

If you remove the basket, I've no doubt they'll start putting sticky stuff on your grips or saddle, they'll think you're trying to outsmart them and they'll try and up the ante.

If you move it, you'll probably get away with it, but again I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't get an "ah, so you thought you'd get away from me did ya? Take this!" kind of response.

I'd find out who's doing it and confront them/report them to the management company/find out where they live and put supeglue in their door locks.
Obviously the more extreme you make your "stand" the more likely they'll feel hard done by and raise it up a level.

funkyjebus

mcmoustache wrote: »

at the same time every day. You might also be able to identify the perp's car.

It would be brilliant if the car was a convertable,a sly 50 quid to the bin men and they could empty the contents of one of those big apartment bins in the car. Then set up your previously used spy camera for the all important reaction / crying. And if you could post a link to the video, that would be awesome.;)

Not endorsing, of course. Its just nice to think about these things happening to people like that, brightens the day.

mcmoustache

I'd say the nice chaps in AH would be able to provide some great ideas for sorting out this problem of yours, OP. You could request that the thread be moved.

Duckee

Thanks for the advice guys.

I think I'll start keeping a record of each time I find crap left on my bike. I have a suspicion that it's the owner of one of two cars already so I think identifying the reg is probably a good plan. I agree with many posters here in that I don't want to back down from whatever scumbag is doing it.

Not so sure about sending it to AH. It's a jungle over there. :eek: Thanks tho, I think I now know where to take it from here.

Cookie_Monster

just bring the bike into your apt...

humbert

Some inspiration via QI:

John Napier, inventor of the decimal point and logarithms, kept a black cockerel which he used as a ploy to catch a thieving servant. He would hide the cockerel in a darkened room and ask all his servants to stroke it (having told them it would crow when the guilty servant touched it), but they didn't know he covered the cockerel in soot, so the innocent ones would stroke it and have dirty fingers, but the guilty one would pretend to stroke it and have clean hands.

So you just need to send a note around the apartment building asking residents to come into your darkened apartment and stroke your magic cock. The one who doesn't is obviously the culprit.

And if that doesn't work:
Napier supposedly invented the machine gun.