How I Stole My Bike Back

When Kelson Da Cruz’s bike was stolen, he felt like someone had cut of f his legs. So he decided to track down the thieves, ‘Rasta’ and ‘ The Frogman’ – and steal his treasured possession back.

- Andy Davis

Kelson Da Cruz is a Brazilian surfer living in Cape Town. Actually, that’s not quite true; he was a Brazilian surfer living in Cape Town. He’s still Brazilian, and he’s still living in Cape Town, but he gave up surfing when he fell in love – with cycling.

Inevitably, he was naturally good at cycling, and then got better. Soon he was competing beyond his suburban weekend clique, competing in races – and doing not just well, but smashing it. Podium finishes. At the age of 45, Kelson was a little late to semi-professional cycling, but he’d found his gift.

He was deeply enamoured by what he could achieve on a simple machine. “It’s only transportation,” I’d say. But Kelson just laughed: “You don’t understand, man!”

You see, Kelson and I used to share a bromance of sorts. It was a surfing thing: he was willing to waste an entire afternoon waiting for a wave, with little to no chance of success. He was someone who would watch your back when it got big, or when you did something stupid. Basically, someone who would call the NSRI if you got blown out on the offshore, and not make you pay for it later at the pub.

We surfed many waves over many years, braaied hand-caught crayfish and shmokkeled perlemoen dinners, rice and beans, beer and bonfires.

(This all unfolded over several years BC (Before Cycling). These days, if I suggest a cheeky little surf, he responds: “No way, man, what if I injure myself and can’t race on the weekend?”)