Have you found a message tag attached to your bike around downtown London?

If so, that's the work of a London woman taking it upon herself to go around the city tagging bikes with messages to let cyclists know their bike locks aren't secure enough to deter thieves.

Shelley Carr has started the bike tagging initiative with her Facebook group London Ontario Stolen Bike Report.

"A lot of people just don't know how to lock their bikes and it's a shame. For many of us it's our only form of transportation," she said. "When it's gone, than you're back $300, $400, $600 for a bike and you have to find another one which might discourage you from biking."

Tags in hand, Carr walks around downtown looking for locked bikes and inspecting their locking devices. If she deems the locks are insufficient, she'll leave a tag attached to the owner's bike suggesting additional options to better protect their bike.

Carr's tags recommend better lock options to prevent bike thefts. (Jordan Heuvelmans/CBC News)

She was inspired to start her initiative after seeing a similar one at Fanshawe College, where the tags showed cyclists photos of how bikes should be secured.

While some bike owners may feel that they already lock their bikes properly, it only takes a few seconds to cut through some devices, such as cable locks.

Carr knows this from her own experience when she had her bike stolen three years ago.

"At the time, I had no income," she said. "I was waiting to get into college, so I had no money whatsoever. It was my only way to get around the city, and I was really upset."

Luckily, she was able to find her bike the next day and take it back. It was a hard lesson for her, as she used cable locks to secure her bike at the time. Knowing what it's like to lose a main form of transportation, she hopes to help other people reduce the risk of getting their bikes stolen too.

Deter theft by 'making it harder'

Carr doesn't want her tags to discourage people from cycling around the city. She just wants to share the information with people who need to know, and offer resources to help deter theft.

Yet, she says the city also needs to do more if they want to encourage bike infrastructure.

"They need to put in real biking infrastructure for locking facilities. That would mean protected units, bike lockers, or bike locks that can't be tampered with," said Carr. "These are the things that would get more people to bike if they knew that their bike would be there when they got back...and not everyone can afford a $60 lock."

However, Carr also admits cyclists can't prevent theft completely.

"Honestly, there's no way to prevent your bike from being stolen. There's all kinds of crazy and inventive things that people do to ensure that they want your bike," she said. "The trick is to make it harder for them so it's not as much of a risk."

While it's only been two weeks since she started tagging, Carr has already seen change. Cyclists she's previously tagged are heeding her advice, now using more secure devices to lock up their bikes. She estimates she's already left over 200 tags, and has no plans to stop anytime soon.

'If I can save 100 people from having their bike stolen, then all of this work [the walking, and the biking and the tagging], is worth it," she said. "That's a hundred people that will have their bike the next day, and the day after that."