It puzzles me when I see it: a bike locked up in a weird place, the sort of place where you go past and find yourself thinking, "I wonder why the owner rode to that particular spot and then decided to walk the rest of the way?"
Feel free to take a few spare parts…
Handy railing…on a bridge
Leave your bike where it's likely to be crushed by a carHow do they get into these odd places?
Speculation
I speculate that these are no casual abandonments. No, these are the sites where someone's born-again love-affair with cycling has died, dashed to pieces in a head-on collision with reality. I imagine it happens like this. The bloke used to be pretty fit but he's on the wrong side of 40 and let himself go a bit, so he decides to get a bike and get back his "old form". He buys a mountain bike (of course) and some lycra kit and off he goes, whoosh! All flashing pedals and thrashing thighs.
But some kilometres down the track, it all gets a bit hard and he thinks he might be having a stroke. He dismounts inelegantly and casts the bloody machine aside. His wife, who has nothing to "prove" and so has been travelling at a much more sedate pace, soon arrives on her new bike, and asks what's wrong.
"I'm done in," says he, "This is gonna kill me. I can't go any further. I'm going to have to leave the bike here."
"You can't just leave it here and walk off."
"No, it's OK. Look, I'll lock it up here and whip around and pick it up in the car later." But he's actually thinking, "Bugger that! The damn thing can rust here for all I care!"
"Well, alright. Will you be OK to walk home?"
"Yeah, sure love. I've just got to catch my breath. You go on and enjoy your ride. I'll be fine."
"OK, I'll see you at home."
She rides off and as soon as she's out of sight, he digs out his mobile phone and whistles up a taxi.
Well, I guess that's one way it might happen…
Comments
When I was in the UK, I noticed lots of these abandoned bikes with both wheels buckled almost in half. My theory was that the owners had returned to find the bike thus vandalised by drunks, and had abandoned them rather than figure out how to get them home and fix them.
I noticed it a lot bushwalking too. In some of the popular areas in the Blue Mountains it wasn't uncommon to come across an abandoned campsite - tent, sleeping bags, the lot. Another mystery, but I suspect with the same answer. People who just couldn't be bothered carrying all that crap out leaving it behind.
Dan, If this was the case you'd think they would unlock them and at least take the lock home. I see quite a few, they are often picked over until just the frame remains, normally low spec machines. Have seen some better bikes go this way to which is really strange...
When we were in Amsterdam just recently we were told it's a massive phenomenon there and not just in remote places either! Abandoned bikes are called 'orphan bikes' and every now & again the council (dutch equivalent) does a massive collection and notification of their massive collection to general public - bikes are then sold off from 'depot' or given away, all ready for the next round of 'orphan bikes' and their accumulation, etc etc