'I was chapped': Regina residents vent about summer bike thefts

As summer rolls around and Regina residentsopt to cycle instead of drive, inevitably there will be bike thefts.

CBC's Peter Mills took to the streets to ask people of their own experiences having their bicycle nabbed only one person said no.

"I've had like probably20 bikes stolen," said one Regina resident of 30 years. "Last year, it was seven."

There were 117 bikes reported stolen to the Regina Police Service in June. The two-year average is 349 bikes stolen between June and August.

The man said he locks them up but does not report them when they're stolen because they're "old clunkers."

Another man said a thief used a bolt cutter to remove the lock and his bike from a bus stop sign.

"I was chapped," the man said.

"The thing was, I was like 'I shouldn't be leaving it out here this long; I should really just bring it in.' But hey, I'm lazy. I'm going to be out in a bit at five o'clock to ride my bike again," he continued.

The stolen bike was not reported.

One cyclist who spoke to CBC said hehad a little too much faith in people as he went into a store to grab a drink, leaving his bike unattended.

"I left (my) bike out there in confidence, thinking it wouldn't get stolen," he said, noting he thought Regina was a nice city.

"I was a little down because I really enjoyed biking."

When he emerged from the store, his bike had been snatched. The man said he blames himself somewhat for not using a lock but the incident did not sour his perspective of the general public.

"You have to think, there's some people that don't always have the best in life," he said, adding incidents such as that shouldn't result in others looking down on the lessfortunate.

"You kind of have to think through their perspective but I think crime is something that's going to continue to happen but we kind of needto work together to change that."