When I lost my key ring while I was out hiking on Tuesday, unlocking my bicycle from the sign post was not the only problem I had to figure out how to fix. One of the other keys on that key ring was a key that would open the lock that prevented any random person from removing the bike rack from my van. Not incidentally, it also prevented me from removing the bike rack, because if I have a spare key, I don’t know where it is.

I don’t keep very good track of my spare keys. I know I have a spare key to the bike lock I used to lock up my bike to the sign post. I could have driven home to get the spare key and open the bike lock instead of cutting it off, if I knew where the spare key was. But I didn’t. And so, I had to buy a bolt cutter and cut it open.

A bolt cutter wasn’t going to work on the lock for the bike rack. It was held in place by a pretty thick steel bolt, and the lock that snapped over the end of the bolt was even thicker. The only hope I had of getting it off, if I couldn’t figure out how to open the lock, was to cut through the bolt with a hacksaw. But before I resorted to that, I had an idea.

I’ve always wanted to learn how to pick locks. I have never picked a lock in my life, but I’ve been locked out of my house more than once. It’s not a reach to say that being able to pick locks would come in handy at some point in the future. Because of this casual interest — I don’t feel I need to go as far as to learn to pick the most difficult locks ever made, just the simplest, most common locks — I have watched enough YouTube videos to know that the simplest locks can be opened with the simplest tools.

Behold, the single-sided jiggler:

Knowing this, I went online and placed an order for a set of lock picks which a beginner would be able to use. The set included two actual lock picks in two different sizes, and two “wave rakes,” which can be used to open the simplest locks simply by jamming them into the lock repeatedly, raking them in and out.

I got my set today. Unfortunately, neither of the wave rakes opened the lock. At least, not the way I used them.

I guess I could try the lock picks? I had nothing to lose, really. The alternative was a hacksaw.

Each of the two lock picks was a thick handle with a long, thin pokey rod, curved at the end like a hook. In all the videos I’ve seen, the lock picker shoved the hook into the key hole to feel for the pins that held the lock shut. The pins fall into their holes if you press them in the right order with the right amount of tension. Or something like that. Again: I have never picked a lock in my life.

I felt around in the key hole with the pick, but I wasn’t sure what it would feel like when I found a pin. Kind of springy, maybe? There was something in there that gave under pressure from the hooked end of the pick but I wasn’t sure how hard to press on it, so I just jammed it in as hard as I could. . And then the lock rotated open and I easily pulled the lock off.

Holding the lock in my hand, I tried it again to make sure it wasn’t just a stroke of luck. No, I very easily found the pin again and popped the lock open. Apparently there was just one pin in there. Most of the locks I’ve seen in videos have four or five. I really thought it would be harder than that, but it turned out I had to know only the bare minimum about picking locks and have the absolute rock-bottom basic level of skill to open this lock.