BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Here's a (not very good) photo of my actual bike, as opposed to a stock photo.

Oh, Ian! I am so sorry! I wish I had gotten a clear photo on Saturday, down at the Point. Hope it finds it's way back to you soon!

Ouch! If I recall you have a neon green security sticker on it too. How does that work?

That sucks... And it worries me - do you know how the garage door got open? I'll keep an eye out.

I don't have a green sticker but it was registered with the Pitt police. I very well may have left the garage door open when I got back last night, so "user error" may have been a contributing factor. (Not that having an open garage door makes it OK to steal things within.) I would say the red/white tire combination is probably the easiest thing to spot.

That completely sucks, Ian! Kitaira posted a picture of you on your white bike (I think it's the same bike) on FB--I just tagged you in case it's useful.

Thanks to the Bike Pittsburgh "I <3 My Bike" photo campaign, I have this excellent, high-quality photo of the missing bike. This is from April, before my latest tire color configuration, but it's basically the setup as it existed last night.

I was really impressed with the outpouring of support after this was posted on the Bike Pgh Facebook page--thanks again to everyone who re-posted on Facebook! It's an amazing community we have here. I heard from someone who may have seen my bike either last Saturday 6/22 or Sunday 6/23 evening, in East Liberty (the possible sighting was on Negley Avenue between Penn Avenue and East Liberty Boulevard) around 6-8 pm. I've been keeping a special eye out when I'm in that area, and I'd hope that others who work/live/commute that way could (continue to) be on the lookout. In the mean time, I have been pursuing an insurance claim, and though I will have a deductible, I am cautiosly optimistic that I can get some compensation that way. Thanks again!

This bike has been recovered! It was spotted downtown around 6 pm. I posted on facebook and.a fllo rider hopped into action. Polo Leon anr i me up in oakland, rode thru the hill dist and located the bike. The police were called, the bike was recovered, no arrests were made (no participants were riding the bike at the time.) No visible damage, still has both lights, but the Pedal For The Pantry spoke card is missing.

If you guys could have witness how this was organized on Facebook to recover this bike, it was epic.

This is awesome.

WOW--how wonderful!!! Great job and congratulations, everyone! :) :)

Yeaaaaaassssss! Beaves to rescue again. I dub thee "Finder of all Bike-Things Lost" I so owe you a beer for finding my wallet and I invite Ian to join in and buy the second round. So awesome

WOW!

Being that there were no arrests and there were several people at the house where the bike was recovered. It is not unthinkable to believe that they may have figured out who made the call. With that said, I think it may be best to conceal identities the best we can for the time being. It is better to be paranoid than eating from a tube.

^Considering the above, if anyone wants me to edit their post, let me know via PM. I'm a moderator on this board and I can change/delete/edit any posts.

This is really easy for me to say, since I wasn't involved, but ... I doubt they'll mess with anyone. We know where they live, too. And so do the police, for that matter.

I'll gladly buy PB a second, and a third! This is so awesome. MANY thanks to everyone who was vigilant, and a special shout out to those who went out of their ways to help me out. You are the best and you give me so much happiness and joy. In many states (I don't think Pennsylvania), when someone is prosecuted for a criminal act, the charges are often filed in the name of "the People of [State] v. [Defendant]." The theory being that the crime is not just against the one victim, but against the whole community. I have really felt that here, where I felt others suffering right along with me when my bike was stolen, others working to recover it, and others celebrating now that we've got it back. This is an amazing community and I am very lucky to be a part of it.

This is so great. Thanks everyone for keeping an eye out for Ian's bike. We're batting a thousand since I <3 My Bike launched!

The truly ironic part of this whole recovery story is that i didnt ride yesterday (lousy morning rain) and spotted the bike while i was walking from the shuttle to my bus stop. Had i ridden, i would have been cranking out extra challenge miles and not going thru downtown at that time. But i'll take the point hit on endomondo if the result is a successful reunion of rider and machine.

Agreement x1000 with Scott about the I <3 My Bike photo. Although many of us know the details in Ian's bike that make it unique to him, Having a very clear photo to show the police on the spot who don't was critical in this being a success. I would have liked to get a photo of the person we saw riding it so further justice could have been possible. Especially since it was taken by breaking and entering! But in the moment our focus was on not causing alert, and being safe. The last minutes of all of this was walking a very fine line of both. As a community I hope we have further success in recoveries like this and encourage pursuing even the smallest lead using surveillance over aggressive confrontation. Congrats and victory celebration's to Ian, Beaves, and the community as a whole who participated and saw this unfold.