the great heist

i stole a bike last night. a really nice one. and i have to tell you, i got a pretty good adrenaline rush from the whole experience. perhaps i should explain.

i should note that the story REALLY began about 6 or 7 years ago, when i had a bike stolen from my apartment. then about 3 years ago, a 2nd bike was stolen from my back yard. i admit i am not really good at "locking up," so i guess i was on my way to learning a lesson the hard way.

then a little over a year ago, i bought my honey a bike. it might have been a big pipe dream, but he wanted one and said he would ride it. which he did for a little while, even though biking in SD in winter has a good set of challenges. unfortunately, the cute blue Giant bike i selected had problems. ALOT of problems. so many, it was rendered pretty useless by about mid summer, when i finally got sick of taking it to the shop.

in a quest to find a cheaper solution to the $400 dilemmma on our hands, i got him a really nice used Giant at a pawn shop. it wasn't exactly what Phillip wanted, but hey, it was a gift. only $150 too. i figured if HE did not ride it, perhaps i would. except that exactly 24 hours after the purchase, it was stolen. yep. right out from under us. because we forgot to get a lock for it right away (oh yeah, gotta do that in these parts, i guess). anyway, if you are still with me, that makes for 3 stolen bikes.

the next bike was a Specialized (pictured). bought AGAIN for Phillip who did not want to give up on the bike dream. Great bike, but he liked the Giant better. And to be honest, this past winter, he did not ride it much....it's been waaaaaaaaay too snowey for biking most of the time.

so, when he decided to get it out of the garage and lube it up a couple of weeks ago, i was impressed. maybe he really is going to be a bike guy. until. yeah. you guessed it.

the VERY afternoon he started riding it, he went to starbucks for some coffee and ALTHOUGH I DARN NEAR COULD NOT BELIEVE IT, somebody stole it. because he left the key IN the lock outside the coffee shop. only was going in for a quick cup o' joe, and who steals bikes at starbucks, land of the yuppies?

go figure.

so, story gets good here. last evening, we were cruising around the neighborhood for no apparent reason. well, i guess there was a reason, we just didn't know it yet. we drove by the local soup kitchen, which is maybe a couple of miles from both our houses. and OMG, there it was!! locked up with OUR OWN lock, outside the Banquet.

the heart started racing quick at that point, Phillip jumped out and yelled at me to drive to his apt. and get the spare lock key he had. i wanted to call the police, but he said no. i made him wait by the bike, and sped off.

i think i maybe broke a couple driving laws, but i got back pretty quickly. i was rarin' for a fight. i was really going to let the guy have it when he came for the bike, considering it was my FOURTH stolen bike. nobody gets four bikes stolen without becomming Rambo. even me. ha. unfortunately (I MEAN FORTUNATELY), it was not nearly as dramatic. Phillip (not wanting an altercation, apparently) just unlocked the bike, we drove about a block, loaded it up in the honda and went home! wow! what are the odds of that happening?!

funny thing is, the Banquet was closed that night. so whoever took the bike probably was parking it there for safe keeping, knowing it was stolen. who knows. it makes me sad that somebody needs a bike that bad, but honestly. DO NOT STEAL A BIKE FROM ME. because given the opportunity, i will steal it back from you :)