I’m sorry that this post is a bit whiney, please bear with me today. This happened to me today. When I was on my way out to take the kids to taekwondo practice earlier today, I met two neighbours in the courtyard cleaning their bikes.

– Is it your big cargo bike in the corner over there? one of the neighbours asked.
– Yeah, it’s ours, I happily confirmed.
– Ok, but you never seem to ride it, do you? the neighbor asked.
– Well, we cycle to the kids practice every day, I replied just as happily and we left for another taekwondo practice.

When we got back home, “someone” had parked two bikes on the spot we’d used for a month. They bikes were locked together with a thick chain lock between the frames and covered with a large tarpaulin.

Of course, everyone has the same right to park their bike in the courtyard and we do not have an exclusive right to park in that particular corner. But I was surprised and a little stunned. I actually felt stupid for sharing our daily plans. It was obviously exploited against us, though it may have happened in that way.

Now we can’t fit the bike securely and we stand in the way at a time and I obviously worry that it will cause problems for someone. I was so happy when I found a place in the courtyard where we could stand out of the way. Apparently more people saw that it was a good spot after we started to stand there, because I’ve never seen anyone park there before. Not a big problem, I know, but it makes me irritated everyday and makes the bicycling feel less enjoyable to have an argument hanging.

I hope this is going to solve it self soon. Because everything really takes more time now.