So some of you may have heard that a while back, both of my bikes had been stolen. I owned a mountain bike and a road bike, and they both were lifted from my porch on the first floor in what I thought was a zero-crime area. I was wrong. I posted a stolen bike listing on Craigslist, and sure enough my red Trek road bike had been broken and abandoned, between a Jack-and-the-Box and a Tire Kingdom. By the time I went to find it, the lawn service had cut the grass and it was gone. So close, yet so far away. So, I moved on with my life.
Last week, I was running on the greenway, which I have taken to doing much lately. I have a tendency to always look closely at bikes, hoping and thinking that I will see mine. Sure enough, a Red Trek Road Bike passed me slowly while I was jogging. Were those Shimano clipless pedals? Was that a new blue seat? Had the reflectors been removed? HOLY CRAP! it was my bike! I jogged faster, but he still pulled away. He had on headphones and I had on headphones. I couldn't think what to yell. Luckily, he was coming to the end of the greenway, so he had to turn around.
I stopped him on the way past the 2nd time. I looked closer, asked him where he got it, and found out he bought it from a pawn shop. His friend, who worked at Jack-and-the-box, found it behind the dumpster and then fixed it and pawned it. His name was Joe. Joe was a an Iraq veteran, having been sent home after and IED sent shards of metal towards him and almost cut his leg off. He paid way too much for the bike, but had bought it nonetheless. He rides it everyday, and the oversize shoes that go with the pedals fit him. Sort of happy ending at that point. Joe is a good guy...just stuck in an odd situation.
So, later in the week, as I am running the doberman with infinite energy I am thinking about how much I want to do triathlons. I figure I could run to a friends house, borrow her bike, ride, and then run home for practice. Next thing you know, I am walking down a hill behind where we live and I find a Fuji Opus III bike, with a few missing parts and some maintenance required! HOW AWESOME IS THAT!? I definitely feel like I am able to make life change to my benefit if I just think about stuff enough and concentrate on the good. My Karma 401k must be doing pretty dang good.
Last week, I was running on the greenway, which I have taken to doing much lately. I have a tendency to always look closely at bikes, hoping and thinking that I will see mine. Sure enough, a Red Trek Road Bike passed me slowly while I was jogging. Were those Shimano clipless pedals? Was that a new blue seat? Had the reflectors been removed? HOLY CRAP! it was my bike! I jogged faster, but he still pulled away. He had on headphones and I had on headphones. I couldn't think what to yell. Luckily, he was coming to the end of the greenway, so he had to turn around.
I stopped him on the way past the 2nd time. I looked closer, asked him where he got it, and found out he bought it from a pawn shop. His friend, who worked at Jack-and-the-box, found it behind the dumpster and then fixed it and pawned it. His name was Joe. Joe was a an Iraq veteran, having been sent home after and IED sent shards of metal towards him and almost cut his leg off. He paid way too much for the bike, but had bought it nonetheless. He rides it everyday, and the oversize shoes that go with the pedals fit him. Sort of happy ending at that point. Joe is a good guy...just stuck in an odd situation.
So, later in the week, as I am running the doberman with infinite energy I am thinking about how much I want to do triathlons. I figure I could run to a friends house, borrow her bike, ride, and then run home for practice. Next thing you know, I am walking down a hill behind where we live and I find a Fuji Opus III bike, with a few missing parts and some maintenance required! HOW AWESOME IS THAT!? I definitely feel like I am able to make life change to my benefit if I just think about stuff enough and concentrate on the good. My Karma 401k must be doing pretty dang good.
4 comments:
I would really like to do a triathlon as well. Not sure if my Huffy is up for the challenge though...
I went for the 2/3 virtual triathalon this summer in the gym. 30 minutes on the bike, swim some in the pool, and then a real run. I never ran the same day, though.
So someone found your bike, pawned it without investigating where it came from, and you find a bike with no apparent owner. What steps did you take to make sure this bike did not belong to someone else, who may be looking for their bike. Surely you could empathize with their plight...
How's the Fuji Opus III? Those are amazing bicycles!
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