Saturday, September 01, 2007
By Larry Walsh, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh police Lt. Reyne Kacsuta asked me to relay a request that will benefit bicyclists and police officers alike.

“Ask your readers to write down the serial number of their bikes and keep it in their wallet or purse,” she said. “If it’s stolen, that’s the best way to prove the bike is theirs.”

Serial numbers usually can be found under the crank, on the frame where the back wheel attaches to the bike and where the fork goes into the frame. And, on that same piece of paper, include the make, model and color of the bike — and any unusual graphics.

To make it easy for police to contact you, roll up a business card or piece of paper lengthwise with your name and phone numbers on it and drop it into the hole that holds your seat post. Roll up the card or paper about the size of a cigar so it will fall out easily when the police remove the seat post and turn the bike upside down to check for ID.

Jerry Kraynick, owner of Kraynick’s Bike Shop in Garfield, said bike owners should use an awl or an equally sharp tool to engrave their name on the frame. It can be in a placed in a noticeable — or less-than-noticeable — spot. The engraving doesn’t have to be pretty, but it does have to be legible.

Front- and side-view photos of your bike — with you in the picture — also would be helpful.

Lt. Kacsuta emphasized the importance of bike identification because of an incident that occurred in the Zone 5 district about a month ago. A drug dealer who was riding a green Bianchi road bike was arrested. She suspects the bike was stolen. She would like to see it returned to its owner and not to the drug dealer.

If the bike is yours, or you think it may be yours, call Zone 5 at 412-655-3605.

If your bike is stolen, report it to police and check back from time to time to see whether it has been recovered. If police do recover it, and you can prove it belongs to you because you took all or some of the identification steps listed above, you’ll be back on the road or trail in no time.

Volunteer of the year

Veteran bicyclist Emerson White, a financial manager for Dominion Peoples, has been named one of the company’s “Volunteers of the Year” for exhibiting “the highest level of commitment” to the community through volunteer services.

White, 54, of Ohio Township, uses his bike to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. He raised $15,500 for the society this year, and more than $75,000 the past 10 years. He does so by signing up sponsors for the society’s annual “Escape to the Lake,” a 150-mile round trip from Cranberry to Lake Erie.

He started riding a bike “as a form of recreation” while stationed with the Army near Mannheim, Germany.

“We’d rent bikes and ride through the countryside,” he said. He rides more than 1,000 miles a year.

For more information on the society, go to www.nationalmssociety.org.

Seven Springs bike trail

At 11 a.m. today, Seven Springs will officially open its new lift-accessed gravity mountain bike trail, the first step in the development of a bike park at the resort.

Guests are asked to meet at the base of the Polar Bear Express, the high-speed, six-passenger chairlift that will take them to the top of the hill for a traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony. The public is asked to park in the ski lodge parking lot for easiest access to the chairlift.

Chief Executive Officer Scott Bender said the new trail is almost 1 mile long and will appeal to riders of all abilities. It will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. Each rider must buy a $20 Gravity Bike Pass and wear a helmet. Seven Springs has purchased new mountain bikes, helmets and protective gear.

The winner of the trail-naming contest will receive an eight-week trail pass and a $100 certificate good for mountain bike apparel.

I’m partial to Isaac and/or Newton because he has introduced me to gravity on a number of occasions while skiing and mountain biking. Names should be e-mailed to cgrimm@7springs.com

For more information, go to www.7springs.com.

First published on September 1, 2007 at 12:00 am
Larry Walsh can be reached at lwalsh@post-gazette.com, and 4120-263-1488.