When I came back outside, two of our family's bikes were gone. One was an old Specialized mountain bike we'd gotten for free. But the other was a Felt Verza Speed that was my daughter's first real bike. She'd had it barely a year.
After a brief, frantic search around the neighborhood, which only turned up one of our discarded helmets, I knew that her bike was gone, and would likely never be seen again.
I shut the garage door, went inside, and tried to remember all the things I was supposed to do. I'd already registered the Felt on bikeindex.org. So I went to the site and marked it as "stolen." Next, I called the police and filed a report.
Then I visited the Twin Cities Stolen Bikes Facebook page and posted whatever pictures I could find of the bikes, along with the required information: model, make, color, serial number, and police report number.
For a week, I scanned Craigslist and other places online for the bikes. Nothing came up.
By then, I knew who I had to call.
I'D SEEN A STORY ABOUT MIKE PAVLIK IN OUR LOCAL PAPER, UNDER the headline, "Minneapolis Police Recognize Work of Bike Sleuths." Pavlik, now 51, was receiving the "Chief's Award" from the Minneapolis Police Department for his work in getting people's stolen bikes back to them. At that point, he'd reunited 130 owners with their bikes.
The article piqued my interest because I'd had my share of bikes stolen. The most memorable was a red and white Huffy Pro Thunder that was taken from our garage in the early 1980s. It was my first bike, and I loved it more than anything I owned. Having your bike stolen is a particular sense of loss; it's personal in a way other thefts aren't. A bike is an intimate thing, an extension of your body. You know it in a way you'll never know a car. Even now, 40-odd years later, I can still feel the mix of sadness and rage I experienced when that Huffy was stolen.
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Denne historien er fra Fall 2024-utgaven av Bicycling US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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ONE MAN'S OBSESSIVE CRUSADE TO Take Down Zwift Cheats
Indoor cycling and virtual racing are booming, and so are the ranks of digital dopers abusing the platforms.
WHAT I LEARNED WHEN LOST IT ON A MOUNTAIN BIKE
A lifelong roadie tries singletrack for the first time. It did not go as planned.
THE UNLIKELY HERO WHO RECOVERED OVER 200 STOLEN BIKES IN ONE AMERICAN CITY
It was a sunny day in the summer of 2022. There were some things I had to move into the house, so I left the garage door open. I was gone less than 15 minutes.
YOU CAN BE MORE THAN JUST A CYCLIST
I'VE ALWAYS HAD A LOVE FOR SPORTS, starting with the usual team ones such as football and baseball. But that faded in favor of more individual pursuits. Watching my dad roll down the driveway to go for a ride, I wanted to do the same. The bike was my first taste of freedom, a freedom to do it my way.
THE RIGHT SADDLE CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE
UP UNTIL RECENTLY, I WAS, AT BEST, A TWICEa-month cyclist.
HOW TO SAY GOODBYE TO THE RIDER YOU USED TO BE
CYCLISTS OF ALL LEVELS GO THROUGH various phases or eras over the years they spend in the saddle. For the vast majority of riders (myself included), these things happen privately, without fanfare.
BIKES MAKE THE WORLD A MORE INCLUSIVE PLACE
LIFE'S A BEAUTIFUL PUZZLE THAT COMES in all sorts of shapes, colors, and sizes.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD CYCLING SCENE, ANYWAY?
I'VE HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF INVOLVING myself in a few populous and dramatically different cycling communities.
CHOOSE GEAR THAT INSPIRES YOU TO HAVE FUN E
EVEN THOUGH I TEST LOADS OF CYCLING gear for a living, sometimes I get locked in on particular items and find it difficult to enjoy competing products, even if those products have obvious advantages.
WHY YOU DESERVE A CUSTOM BIKE
Custom. The word evokes passionate opinions about what constitutes a custom-made bike and who gets to ride one. There's this idea that they're wildly expensive pieces of functional art meant only for the fittest, fastest riders.
