I’m really enjoying having a bike and riding it everywhere. The actual riding is fun but also, I am consistently amazed at how quickly I get to places. I was really proud of myself when I figured out how to ride without sitting on the seat. You know you look like a professional when you can pump the pedals really fast without sitting down.
In England, it is compulsory to have lights on your bike. I bought krypton lights, which have a greater beam than LEDs. The down side is, of course, that they chew through light bulbs and batteries at a faster rate. I have an emergency set of C batteries in my bag, just in case.
My housemate, Dianne, was the victim of an unfortunately common crime in Cambridge: bicycle theft. The unusual aspect of this particular crime was that her bike was stolen from our backyard. That’s a bit of a creep thought, isn’t it, the idea that someone has been prowling your home?
Hundreds of bikes are stolen in Cambridge every year. The chance of recovering the bike is very low. Di was resigned to having lost her ₤65 investment. She considered punishing herself for not locking up her bike more securely by denying herself the pleasure of bike commuting. In the end, her family and friends convinced her to rejuggle her student budget to buy another bike. After all, biking is one of the fundamental Cambridge student experiences.
Last night, Di got a call from Alex, the person who had sold her the bike originally. Alex buys bikes early in the summer, when students are leaving. He then spends months repairing and refurbishing the bikes, which he sells to new students in September and October.
After Di hung up the phone, she rushed into my room.
“Joan! I have to tell you this! Alex just called and he says he saw my bike in town! He knows it because he worked on it. He says it’s definitely my bike!”
“What? Where is it?”
“He saw it parked outside a pub and he says he’s going to call the police right now. He’s hidden the bike in a little laneway around the corner, you know, to buy some time.”
“Wow. What a nice guy. But gosh, I hope that there isn’t someone who bought the bike from the thief and is now worried because she can’t find it.”
“Yeah… but Alex says hopefully we can now find the person stealing all these bikes. That’d be so awesome.”
i definitely hope Dianne’s bike will be found soon!!
good luck!
thank God that the bike owner found it.
What happened to the bike, what happened to the bike???
Joan…
Alex spotted the bike again the next evening. He called Di: “The bike is in front of Nando’s!”
The police had told Di that if she saw the bike again, she should just take it and hand it into the police. Di didn’t quite feel comfortable about that. Instead, she walked over and locked the bike with her own lock, leaving a note explaining who she was and why she had locked the bike. She wrote, “I’m a student. I hope you understand.”
Later that evening, while I wasn’t home, Di got a call from the current bike owner. Di went over to Nando’s and there, the girl whose bike it now was started yelling at her, calling Di an idiot. “I’ve had the bike since January!” she said.
It was very upsetting for Di.
What happened with the bike? Did the ‘nicker’ get nabbed?!!