City Cracking Down On Your Rusty, Rotting, Unused Bikes

You know the type. The rusted BMX bike that’s been chained to the rack outside your go-to bar for like, two years. Well, starting Monday, the city will begin tagging bikes that have quite clearly been left for dead. If they’re still locked up on July 11th, a crew of lock breakers will arrive, and the bikes will be donated to charity.

A personal note: One spring afternoon in college, I locked my bike up in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. By the time I returned to ride it–him–back to campus, I had lost my bike key. My last bike key. So I left him there and trudged back, by foot. Whenever I’d pass by in the following months, I’d pat him on the saddle and say, “I miss you, bud.” That bike stayed downtown for more than a year before someone broke the lock and claimed it. The point is: Some of us want to set our bikes free; we just haven’t been able to get our shit together and actually do it.

[CBS 3]