Great story! And it shows the power that simply riding has to keep you in shape. Pretty gutsy move, to challenge a young bike thief. RivChicaWarrior, rock on!
Here on the Left Coast, this could be developed into at least a pilot. dougP On Jul 19, 7:18 pm, David Blessing <[email protected]> wrote: > Man! What a story. It makes my almost 59 year old bones feel young again. > You are my hero for the whole week! Congrats. david > On Jul 19, 2011, at 9:10 PM, Liesl wrote: > > > > > Despite this record-breaking heat and humidity here in the Twin > > Cities, my partner Erin on her Quickbeam and I on my single-speed > > Proto-Bleriot elected to do our 20-mile round trip commute to work. > > The ride home was 98 degrees with a dew point at about 80 degrees…this > > put the heat index up somewhere like 100-115 degrees. Right balmy. > > Two blocks from home, as I’m looking forward to air conditioning and a > > cold one, all hell broke loose. > > > Up in front of me is a maroon Mercury Cougar, and I’m thinking, “When > > did I last see a Cougar?” As I’m gazing, the car slows down and a > > young man hops out to go to the convenience store. I wait to see if > > the Cougar is going to park, but no, it just keeps going. As we > > proceed down the road, a bicycle passes me, and then I hear yelling > > behind me. I turn back to see another young man running like the > > blazes shouting, “That guy stole my bike! Stop him! That guy stole > > my bike!” It’s the dude from the Cougar who had passed me on the > > bike! > > > So I stood up and bore down hard on my peddles in hot pursuit. He was > > riding on the sidewalk next to a big park and I was just behind him in > > the street. After about 3-4 blocks he started to fade—remember it was > > literally close to 100 degrees—and I caught up to him. > > > “You stole that bike!” I yelled fiercely. It was clear that he wasn’t > > aware that I had been on his heels. “You stole that bike! Just drop > > it and walk away,” I commanded. His grin faded ever so slightly. > > > “I see you,” I continued sternly (albeit between gulps of air). “I > > see your face, I see your clothes, I see the number on your jersey.” > > His grin dimmed. I looked at his bare arm. “I see your tattoo,” I > > said and looked him in the eye. “I see you. Drop the bike and walk > > away.” He knew the tattoo meant I could ID him. He looked away, > > dropped the bike, and wobbled off, his legs spent. > > > A dude in the park had watched the whole thing and called out, “Whoa! > > You just caught that guy and made him give up the bike, man! You > > chased him down in this heat, and you made him drop the bike. You > > beat him and you’re twice his age, man!” > > > Erin rode up, having stopped to call 911, and the young man who owned > > the bike came up huffing and puffing and was ever thankful to have the > > bike back. > > > Most of the time, I count myself as one of the slower people out there > > on a commute filled with lycra-clad boys riding carbon racers. At 52, > > I’m all for bike lingering. But today, I busted it out at the end of > > a scalding hot ride and beat a kid who in all likelihood was not two > > but three times younger than me, and I caught up to him when it > > counted and got a stolen bike back. > > > Feels damn good. > > > Yours, > > Liesl > > a.k.a. RivChicaWarrior, Superhero! > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]. > > For more options, visit this group > > athttp://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
