Bicycle thefts shift into high gear in Calgary

The number of bicycle thefts in Calgary have raced up sharply over the last two years, police say.

There was a 64 per cent spike in the number of bikes stolen from January to October 2016 compared to the previous five-year average, according to the latest figures compiled by the Calgary Police Service.

From January to October 2016,2,516 bikes were snatched.

Between May and November, peak cycling season, it worked out to 30 bikes stolen a day on average, police say.

The total stolen also raced sharply up in 2015, with 2,634 bikes stolen from January to December, compared to 1,828 in 2014 and 1,653 in 2013.

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About one-third of the bikes stolen in Calgary are snatched during break-and-enter robberies usually from unsecured garages, police say.

Bikes on college and university campuses, malls and LRT parking lots are also frequent targets of thieves.

Here's a graph showing the number of bikes reported stolen from 2011 to 2016:

Sean Carter, owner of BikeBike, says the increase in bike thefts is a symptom of the city's blossoming bike culture.

"There's so many things you have to think about these days because the thieves are, too," he said.

"And they're casing out areas where bikes are locked up, they are coming back and stealing bikes, cleaning out whole rooms. It'spretty bad."

Two-time Olympian Monique Sullivan found out this week even professional racers aren't immune to the problem.

Thieves cut through the cable to take her bike from outside SAIT on Tuesday night.

"It's just sort of part of my daily life and I'm lucky that I will be able to replace it," she said.

"And my friend said to me, hopefully the person who took it needs it more than you did, so I am trying to think of it that way actually."

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