Rohan set me up with an account, so I have written two short/sweet articles about Bike Safety and Bike Locks for the Albany Bicycle Coalition’s website. They are by no means thorough, hence the “101″ suffix, but they are better than nothing.

This is from today’s Albany Times Union:

Disabled man’s mobility taken in street theft
Custom three-wheeler was Jeff Elsbree’s sole means of transport

By PAUL GRONDAHL, Staff writer
First published: Friday, September 5, 2008

ALBANY — Stolen bikes are commonplace, but when someone cut the lock and made off with Jeff Elsbree’s custom three-wheeler, an otherwise routine theft robbed a 52-year-old disabled man of his independence.

Elsbree, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident when he was 18, was being fitted for a new arm brace at a physical therapist’s office on Madison Avenue Tuesday evening when his trusty red tricycle was stolen.

He locked it up with a chain and padlock, as usual. He came outside 30 minutes later to find his only mode of transportation gone.

“I don’t try to hurt anyone. I try to help people. Then I get my bike stolen,” said Elsbree, who speaks haltingly and has suffered seizures. His left arm and hand are withered and his left leg is in a brace. He uses a crutch and walks with difficulty.

Police told him that it’s unlikely, as more time elapses, that the trike will be recovered.

Read the rest of the article.