Is there anything sadder than coming out of someplace and finding your bicycle long gone?

Jonathan Maus of BikePortland.org has a game plan for those who have had their bikes stolen:

1. Gather your documentation.
2. File a police report by calling 503-823-3333.
3. Register with the FineToothCog/BikePortland.org Stolen Bike Listings.

The cool thing about the FineToothCog/BikePortland stolen bike listings is that it informs the bike community about your stolen bike. How's that? Well, the stolen bike listings are listed on BikePortland.org, the most popular bicycle web site in the country. They are listed at FineToothCog, which compares reported stolen bikes against Craigslist's bikes for sale listings.

The easiest way to sell a stolen bike is on the internet using services such as Craigslist ...

Finetoothcog takes over the menial task of scanning these sites.* Like a 'fine tooth comb' the fine tooth cog covers the electronic sales methods and keeps you informed of bikes for sale similar to the one you describe. It sends you an email digest each evening and provides a webinterface to viewing what bikes are for sale similar to yours.

The Stolen Bike Digest is a daily email that is sent to local shops, police officers, and concerned citizens. It includes all the stolen bikes listed during the day (usually 3-6 bikes) and recipients are encouraged to print out the list and display it in their shop or place of business.

FineToothCog even offers a Stolen Bike map (wow, two bikes have been stolen within a block of my house!).

And if you haven't had your bike stolen, Jonathan at BikePortland offers tips to minimize the chance that it will be stolen.

thanks to Nancy for asking.