Protective services shares crime data while Archer Library improves cycle security
Bicycles are a fun, environmentally friendly way to commute. But ask someone about bikes, and you’ll often find you’ve started a conversation full of memories and horror stories.
The staff at The Carillon asked students, staff and faculty to share their bike anecdotes. Here’s what they had to say.
Swiped cycles, pilfered pedals
Martin Lopez Mendivil, an employee at the University of Regina, said he heard about “bikes getting stolen” at the university. He parks his at the U of R’s cage parking to prevent it from being stolen.
Greg Campbell, another employee at the University of Regina shares that he “had two bikes stolen” from his garage, and recommends that people lock their garages.
Since theft remained a recurring theme, protective services offered some advice and information.
In an interview with The Carillon, Drew Novak, patrol supervisor for protective services, said there were “four thefts that have been reported” so far in 2026.
In 2025, he said, a total of eight were reported.
Out of those eight bikes stolen and reported to the protective services last year, only one was retrieved, said Novak. However, he mentioned that many thefts go unreported.
Novak says it’s important to report bike thefts.
Submitted by: Anya Peppler
Locks are integral to blocking bike thefts, he says. Novak stresses that it’s very important to choose the right type of lock. Cable locks, he says, “are absolute garbage.”
In his 21 years of experience a U-lock has never been stolen, he says.
Novak urges victims to report bike theft as soon as possible to both protective services and city police. When you do report to protective services, they can’t contact the police for you, he says.
“Unfortunately, we can’t report it [to police], ’cause it’s not our property,” says Novak.
Novak also suggests keeping a photo of your bike and its serial number, and registering it through the international bike database Garage 529.
A new program is ready to ride
Fortunately, a new initiative at Archer Library aims to help students keep their bikes secure.
UR Ride Ready is a program offering U-locks, a bike pump, and a repair kit and manual. This is all free to borrow for the University community, including faculty, staff and students.
The program doesn’t offer its services to anyone outside of the university community.
UR Ride Ready allows students to borrow the U-locks for a day, repair kits for three days and bike pumps for two hours. Information on each of these items is available in Quick Find within Archer.
According to Michael Shires, community engagement and communications librarian, and project event planner for UR Ride Ready, the idea originated with the UR Sustainability Office after director Jocelyn Crivera approached the library about making bike-related equipment available to the campus community.
Simon Granovsky-Larsen, international studies professor and a member of Bike Regina, was also an integral part of building this program. Granovsky-Larsen noted Dutch Cycle was able to give them discounted locks and equipment.
if your bike is broken, well, now we’ve got a bike repair kit, but if that’s on loan, then you’re out of luck. —Dr. Simon Granovsky-Larsen
This conversation between the sustainability office and Archer took about a year to figure out, from Bike Regina to Dutch Cycle.
Granovsky-Larsen notes Bike Regina tries to “encourage cycling in the city” to “make cycling more visible.” He emphasized that “the University of Regina campus is a great place to bike to.”
Shires says he hopes to expand this pilot program, but it’s dependent on the success rate. “We would like to extend to community members,” he says.
And now you know. While bike thefts remain a campus concern, protective services and Archer library both offer information, tools and resources to support students who choose cycling as their preferred way way to get around.
