#1921 - Bicycle Harvest

    Reno Travis with the 2,000 bicycles left on the playa at Burning Man 2011. Most will go to the Reno Bike Collective and other bike organizations, some will be repainted and added to the BRC Yellow Bike program.

    Comments and faves

    1. ★

      ralliark, Bici Girl, Pear Shade, kriegsman, and 31 other people added this photo to their favorites.

    2. albany_tim (9 months ago | reply)

      Were all of those bikes simply abandoned on the playa?

    3. Spaceman Spiffy (9 months ago | reply)

      We picked up a dozen. Some of them were really nice. Bastards just MOOPing all over the place.

    4. xmasons (9 months ago | reply)

      Lost, misplaced, temporarily stolen, or simply abandoned.

    5. wolfewolf68 (9 months ago | reply)

      not exactly leave no trace...

    6. btybburnin@sbcglobal.net (9 months ago | reply)

      for gawd's sake! what's the matter with people?

    7. Jane Maru (9 months ago | reply)

      Not hard to lose track of your bike at night...

    8. Lucid Eye (9 months ago | reply)

      HEY! That's my bike! The one right there... with the fur on it ;-P

    9. Lucid Eye (9 months ago | reply)

      That's kinda sad that there are so many forsaken bikes just left as moop. If you can, please send some of them to BICAS bicycle co-op in Tucson AZ.... that's my home town not-for-profit bicycle collective. They are always in need of bikes and they are a wonderful and truly inspirational community resource.

    10. Russell Roesner (9 months ago | reply)

      That is totally Bizarre. Mike, I remember in 1996 you didn't even need a bike. You could walk across the entire camp in like 10 minutes. Those were the daze!

    11. Hittel Family (9 months ago | reply)

      Based on my experiences with bike theft in 2010 I would guess that over half of these bikes were "borrowed without permission"

    12. zhynn (9 months ago | reply)

      We had 4 bikes from our camp (on the 9:00 plaza) "borrowed without permission". I would bet that they are in that pile up there. :(

    13. Hunter Luisi (9 months ago | reply)

      Let me tell you, having your bike "borrowed without permission" sucks. I looked every where for mine after it was taken on Thursday night. Trust me, the last thing anyone wants to do is abandoned their bike on the playa.

    14. pictrip_n (9 months ago | reply)

      That is Awesome! Good at cha!

    15. ellenjacobson (9 months ago | reply)

      Kiwanis Bike Program was able to get 480 bikes that we collected thanks to the Burners and our volunteers and a semi full of 260 bikes that 10 of our volunteers worked all day to process and put away before the rain hit! Thanks to Travis et al we're in business for another year and ready to add to our pins on the map of worldwide Burning Man friends again next summer! See you soon.

    16. ellenjacobson (9 months ago | reply)

      From Kiwanis one additional thought -- ideally there would be no bikes left on the playa to collect, but we certainly benefit from the ones that are left there!

    17. denzoner (9 months ago | reply)

      I've known of several bikes that were "stolen" (or misplaced, benevolently borrowed, etc.) the past few years. Including a "Frank" a freak-bike a few years ago. If there was only a way for them to somehow make it back to camp on their own...

    18. espazible (9 months ago | reply)

      Where free bikes come from...

    19. xenira (9 months ago | reply)

      Paint them all say green with an orange logo that says "Borrow Bike" and set up free bike borrowing stations around the playa. Borrow bikes may not be locked and can be used by anyone at any time. Could it work?

    20. DangerRanger (9 months ago | reply)

      Paint them all green with an red logo that says "Yellow Bike".
      Like this: www.flickr.com/photos/10111/1172886258/

      Yellow bikes may not be locked and can be used by anyone at any time. Some day in the future, any unlocked bike will be a "Yellow Bike". Private bikes will have a smart electronic brake lock, which will release only when its owner rides it.

    21. albany_tim (9 months ago | reply)

      You know, there are probably enough abandoned bikes to start up a community bike program in 2-3 cities each year. Unfortunately I'm not the one to organize such a thing, but I still thought I'd throw it out there in case someone does have that passion and skill.

    22. Deja el tener, comienza a ser. (9 months ago | reply)

      I found you in tumblr, love this photo♥.

    23. neilcrocodile (9 months ago | reply)

      One of those is mine. Some idjit decided to take it while I spent 5 min looking at an art piece Wednesday night. I'm so sorry I didn't lock it.. :>( ... If there is ANY way I can locate it an have it shipped to me (I'll pay nearly any price, including your time to locate and pack it up), I would love you. I've written to lostbikes@burningman.com ... but please let me know if there is another route to reuniting with my stolen bicycle. I have photos and a very clear description. help?

    24. Mário Tomé (9 months ago | reply)

      Can I get one? :-)

    25. mambo1935 (9 months ago | reply)

      wow spectacular!

    26. farissshafee II (9 months ago | reply)

      uh great numbers here

    27. georgethomasphotography (9 months ago | reply)

      awesome

    28. macabucha (9 months ago | reply)

      yeah, i'd like one too. butt you know, it would be good for folks to fucking lock their bikes!!!! yes, it's a bummer when your super nice rad playa bike gets taken and used when you rode all way out to deep playa but brc is not fucking utopia. lock your fucking bike. please.

    29. fracteladon (8 months ago | reply)

      I think I may have a small amount of insight into this.. i dunno how intentional this is... people steal, "borrow", bikes out there...without asking of course. 3 of my friends had their bikes taken and I'm sure that the culprits felt less than obligated to take the bikes home with them.... just a thought~
      I don't think it should be there responsibility to lock their bikes.... they should yes- but you can't blame them in my mind... if you take a bike from a location you should return it to that location within 24hours or as quickly as is possible... i mean isn't this stuff common sense? aren't we talking about building a utopia or at least a comfortable honest space??

    30. neilcrocodile (8 months ago | reply)

      "Trust in Allah, but lock your bicycle" :-) (paraphrase change from "tie your camel")

      re: fracteladon -- in a better world, shouldn't people ASK before borrowing? If no ask, then = steal. Communication, communication, communication... difficult, I know, but so, SO essential to a better functioning world.

    31. ConcreteWaffer (8 months ago | reply)

      I have a different sort of bike story. I was walking home alone one morning, in bad physical shape, across the playa, and I had a few wonderful people offer me their bikes to use. Of course I would have figured out a way to give them back, if I had taken them up on it.

      I had a friend have his shoes borrowed from outside his tent one night. REALLY?

      Let's put bike disclaimer stickers on tickets this year. Don't borrow bikes without asking, for the sake of love of our community!

      And I haven't ever had my bike stolen, but I hate worrying about it.

      I had the idea, or did someone else, I don't know, years ago to place a tiny GPS tracker in the bike frame. Maybe if I go next year, I'll try to figure out a way to do that. What would be really rad is if I wasn't within a certain vicinity that it started talking, saying my camp name or address or something, crying, begging, pleading to return them to me.

    32. This photo was invited and added to the The Best Of Burning Man 2011 group.

    33. playarazzi (8 months ago | reply)

      Wow, I had no idea there were so many left behind. This year I found quite a few a day after the Trojan Horse Burn and the day after the big party at the Love Camp. I even saw a walker that was lost/misplaced near the Trojan Horse burn the next day. I had hoped that the owners had eventually retreived their bikes...
      I hope the yellow bikes can gain traction and be treated with respect. I still see people locking them and occasionally some that have been spray painted. (to not be green)

    34. DustyHawthorne (7 months ago | reply)

      Can anyone guess what the best way is to get your bike back after you loose it on the playa?
      PUT YOUR PHONE NUMBER ON IT! Really! Burning Man loves to call you to return your stuff. I was standing there when this photo was taken, and not one of these bikes had contact info on it.

      BTW, you ought not help yourself to "lost" bikes on your way out the gate. Unlike other moop, they should be left where they are because you dont know if the owner is still around looking for it.

    35. whome1111 (3 months ago | reply)

      I actually Do see my bike.....can i just have the seat back?

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