What's prompting this was the theft of my bike trailer sometime in the last couple of days. Most of my neighbors -- the ones I've talked to -- seem to think it might have been college kids from a big party at the corner of Oak and Illinois this last weekend (you know, wacky college prank -- eating goldfish, stuffing bodies into a phone booth, vandalism and theft of private property).

Another dude, close to the local bicycle community says it was probably the work of a band of local misfits who steal bikes and trailers at night, and that my own little trailer was probably chopped for parts in less than a couple of hours.

True? False? Who knows, but this last summer -- according to the dude -- apparently saw a dramatic rise in the number of bicycle thefts across the city. The evidence is anecdotal, mostly related to people who complain about it. But, the problem is apparently worst down in the blocks of Pine and Oak streets between Michigan and High streets -- coincidentally where I live.