Bike Found Miraculously Unharmed On Side Of Interstate In Colorado And Reunited With Owner

Saw it from a distance as something that was foreign to the roadway. Got closer and saw it was a bike rack with a bike attached. Had assumed it was a newb who hadn't mounted their rack properly. Slowed down as I was passing it and noticed the rack was a Thule XT Pro. I figured someone who spent that kind of money on a rack would have a pretty nice bike. I was definitely a little surprised how nice the bike was when I got to it on the roadside. Knew it didn't have much use as the tires were still pretty new (and Maxxis are pretty stock new).

Accounting now. I paid for my education by refurbishing bicycles in the Midwest. By doing that, I was in a perfect position to do stolen bicycle recovery. It was more of a goodwill gesture to the cycling community. Some people weren't thrilled I was profiting off of "flipping" bicycles. They were certainly entitled to their opinions. I mainly kept these recoveries to the Chicago - Minneapolis route but have assisted in other recoveries around the US (by providing insight).

This was initially a concern of mine. I had purchased a flip bike earlier that year with a Thule XT Pro (same model and hitch size as the one I found) and I was able to fit that inside my car when I purchased that one. The bike had a cable routed through the rack which Thule offers however it didn't appear as though the owner had secured it properly or it came unlocked when it fell. I was able to get that off. I took the bike off the rack and folded the rack up (after moving various items around in my car to make room for it). The rack fit in my car and thankfully I had my rack already so was able to mount the bike on it.

He was in disbelief. He wasn't having a great time these recent years (divorce, business issues, etc) and had stated "Nothing like this has ever happened to me". He didn't believe the shop manager from [Chile Pepper Bike Shop] who called him to inform him. Thought one of his buddies was pulling his leg. Didn't really believe me either. Was in total disbelief when I met him to return the bike. He said it was truly a turning point in his perspective that there are good people in the world.

Not really. The Facebook and Reddit posts definitely brought attention to it in the community but the owner didn't use social media. He was completely unaware. I called my old personal shop who knew and trusted me to get in contact with their sales rep from Giant who was able to find the info on the shop that sold it. Their employee there (Zach) was the one that did that. Chile Peppers was closed until the 8th and I was able to post to the Moab MNT bike Facebook page trying to get in contact with an employee to track down the owner. After a few hours, the service manager was able to get in contact with me. He went into the shop when they were closed and got in contact with the owner. The post helped in this regard but didn't do much otherwise.

Prevention is your best step. If a thief knows what they are doing and is working with a coordinated group, you have very little chance of getting your bike back. Keeping it secure and out of sight is your best step. Most thieves are opportunists. They see something nice and steal it to either generate some quick cash (likely to pay for their vices). Coordinated rings working with organized crime are way more sophisticated. Strava is dangerous. Most riders will ride from their homes and their routes are generally publicly available. I'm aware of a few burglaries directly linked with bike thieves tracking Strava accounts. When traveling, always bring your bike into your hotel room. Don't leave it on your rack. Thieves will break your rack to steal your bike. It's slightly safer inside your car but no guarantees. Keep records of ownership. A serial number is valuable. When I used to recover bikes, I'd always asked for the serial number, sales receipt, police report, or even pictures of the "owner" with the bike as some kind of independent confirmation of ownership. With this bike particularly, I had probably 10 or so individuals contact me trying to "claim ownership" without being able to provide any proof of ownership. Some said they'd "take it off my hands and make it worth my while". This always happens in bike recovery. Some people are just really scummy.