A naïve and sentimental cyclist, bless 'im

Hat’s off to the cyclist who forgives bike thieves who snatched his dearly loved machine – though I’m surprised to see those words emerging from my keyboard.

I know what it’s like to lose your bike that way. I despise the thieves.

You follow the recommendations: park in a busy place where there are lots of other bikes.

 You lock it to an arm of the cycle parking structure.

But what fury, what disappointment, when you return a few minutes later to find it isn’t there any longer.

 The cycle was gone

The Beeb tells of a cyclist, Josh Quigley, from Edinburgh, who stayed overnight in a London B and B and parked his bike in the street outside.

Josh planned to ride the bike round the world, as some really keen cyclists do, and which he had tried before. Only when he returned to the bike park in the morning, the cycle was gone.

He told reporter Hamish Mackay that he cycled 10,000 miles through 14 countries on his last trip, but didn’t complete the round-trip. He planned to now, only … suddenly, no bike.

I recall my own anguish when my bike, ironically the only new bike I ever owned, vanished from a madly busy cycle parking area.

I tried to interest the police which these days is only possible online.

A shrug. Tough!

A couple of days later I received a shrug. Tough. They couldn’t help. Continues on the blogs for my ocean adventuring book, Sailing to Purgatory, at http://sailingtopurgatory.com/index.php/feeds/387-a-naive-and-sentimental-cyclist-bless-im