Editor, Daily Nexus,

Protect your bike from being impounded! On Wednesday I biked to work at Bio II, at the corner of UCen and Lagoon roads. On my way back out of the building, I went to unlock my bike.

It was gone.

As were the other 40 or more bicycles that park there daily. This was especially poignant, considering May 18 was Bike to Work Day for Santa Barbara County, and nationally it is Bike to Work Week. In the past, there have been bike racks in front of Bio II, that as I recall, had been removed this school year. Early on in the school year signs were posted, alerting us that our bikes would be impounded. So, we all moved our bikes. The signs were later removed, so we began parking our bikes there again. I have parked my bike in front of Bio II for the entire Spring Quarter, and it has never been tagged or moved by a CSO. No signs have been posted this quarter, and no sign was posted at Bio II the day my bike was impounded. After they impounded our bikes, they did put up posters. They are charging us $24 to get our bikes back and another $6 to get them registered. Also, unlike a car-parking violation, when bikes are impounded, they make you pay upfront and then you are allowed to appeal. If you want to protect your favorite parking space, or join us in solidarity, please e-mail Jill.Shepherd@police.ucsb.edu with your complaints. The Bio II community is currently working with the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition and a campus liaison to resolve this issue.