After a day trip, we returned to our caravan park in Midland, Perth, to find our bike locks cut with bolt cutters and our beautiful mountain bikes stolen. Further investigation revealed that they had probably been taken from the back of our caravan while we were sleeping. Unfortunately we hadn’t noticed their absence in the morning.
This was of course a very unpleasant surprise. However, our shock and sadness deepened when we contacted our insurance company and realized that our bikes were drastically under-insured for their value.
So that others can learn from our mistake, the only cover we had in these circumstances was Unspecified Contents Away from Home Insurance, with a maximum claim amount of $1,000 per annum with a $100 excess.
We were in a tricky situation. This happened on Thursday and we were due to travel north on Saturday. Derek wanted to act quickly to get one new bike (we couldn’t afford two), as he felt that Perth was the best place for us to get a suitable replacement.
Friday was a crazy day of visiting four Perth bike shops and phoning several others. We also attended the Midland Police Station to give our statement.
We had intended to buy another Giant. However, as we both prefer Large size frames, we found that our choice was a bit limited. In the end we came away with a beautiful Scott Spark (“Sparky”) at a very good price from TBE (The Bicycle Entrepeneur) at Osborne Park. I want to also thank Midland Cycles for their excellent advice.
Hoping to reduce our chances of being raided again, we bought a Giant Surelock Protector featuring a 14mm ultra hardened steel bar.
If thieves want to steal the frame of the new bike, they will need to come with some serious high tensile steel cutting equipment. Unfortunately the wheels will still be vulnerable to a bolt-cutter attack.
If you ride a lot, there’s a lot of sadness, as well as anger, in losing a bike this way. It’s like losing an old friend. These two bikes had been with us on all our recent travels, in Victoria,
South Australia
and Western Australia.
I guess it is a blessing that the bike that I completed the Mawson Trail on is still sitting safely at home.
Lessons Learnt the Hard Way
So in summary, what we have learnt is
- While it may not be practical to carry around a heavy Giant Surelock Protector lock when you are out riding your bike, it is advisable to use one when the bike is locked up to the caravan.
- We have insured the new bike as a Specified Item under our Contents Away from Home Insurance to its full value. Because the risk is high, this insurance is not cheap, but it was less than 10 % per annum of the value of the bike. Well worth it in our travelling situation.
- Lastly, when your bike is stolen, it’s like losing an old friend. You lose a tangible connection with the memories of the places you have visited. Having said that, I am grateful that we have been able to buy a good quality replacement bike.
Time now to cycle on and start making some new memories with “Sparky”. Hopefully Sparky will have a friend in the not too distant future!
