CONFESSIONS OF A BICYCLE THIEF STUN THE DUTCH

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - The newly published
confessions of a former drug addict who says he
stole 50,000 bicycles while roaming the streets of
Amsterdam has hit a raw nerve in the Dutch
capital, where bikes far outnumber automobiles and
just about everyone has lost one to a thief.

Now, two major bicycle rental companies are suing
the publisher of 100,000 Bike Valves for a cut of
the book's profits, saying they were certain the
author, Chiel van Zelst, was responsible for some
of the hundreds of bicycles they lost to theft
over the years.

And one of Amsterdam's top law-enforcement
officers is in hot water for accepting a signed
copy of the book at a news conference, where he
joked with van Zelst - a man some say belongs
behind bars - and made light of the city's chronic
bike-theft problem.

"This is all too crazy for words," said Jaap
Molenaar, who runs Rent-a-Bike in the heart of
Amsterdam. "Now, if you go to the police station
because your bike was stolen, they'll laugh while
they take your report. We're not laughing. 100,000
Bike Valves? That's 50,000 bikes!"

Molenaar and Jos Louwman, who runs the MacBike rental agency, are
suing Dutch publisher Nijgh & Van Ditmar to recover some of their
losses. A judge has not yet ruled whether they have a case.

Bicycle theft is legendary in Amsterdam, peaking in the 1980s, when
van Zelst claimed to have been active Police have since cracked down
on the addicts who steal bicycles for drug money and resell them
within hours for as little as $13.

Police statistics released Wednesday show the number of reported
bicycle thefts has declined to 7,515 this year, down about 4.5 percent
from 7,878 in the same period in 1998. However, because most thefts
are never reported, estimates of the number of bikes that disappear
each year run as high as 180,000.

Officer Klaas Wilting, chief spokesman for the Amsterdam police, has
been roundly criticized for accepting a signed first copy at a book
launch Monday.

In 100,000 Bike Valves - whose title refers to the valve stems used to
pump bike tires full of air - van Zelst gives an almost do-it-yourself
account of how to steal a bike and get away with it, right down to the
best way to conceal bolt-cutters under a jacket.

At the book launch, Wilting called the book a gripping read about what
can happen to a young person who dabbles in drugs and becomes addicted.

He maintained in an interview that there was nothing wrong with his
promotional statements. Authorities, he said, have never seriously
considered arresting van Zelst because there is no evidence to back
his theft claims, and in any case, the statute of limitations has expired.

Part of the theft problem is the public, Wilting said. "There are
plenty of very nice Amsterdammers who are perfectly happy to buy a hot
bike" for $13, he said.

Van Zelst, who appeared bemused by all the attention, agrees that
thieves are only half the equation.

"Everyone's making me out to be the monster of Amsterdam," he told the
Rotterdam newspaper Algemeen Dagblad. "All I'm doing is holding up a
mirror in front of the people of Amsterdam. If the bikes didn't sell,
they wouldn't be stolen. People don't like to hear that."

But, he added with a touch of remorse, "if your bike was one of my
victims, then I'm sorry."