As I reported a few weeks back, Mitch and I had fat bikes stolen off our hitch rack while vacationing in La Crosse, WI. But there is a happy ending. Some great investigative police work by the La Crosse P.D. and not only was Mitch’s fat bike recovered but the thief was arrested on a felony theft charge.
Unfortunately, my Trek Farley was “stolen” not once but three times. We are not certain if it was sold or actually stolen from both the guy that originally stole the bike, but also from the second person that stole it. Yes, it’s a crazy story.
Last week I made the 8 hour round trip drive to retrieve Mitch’s bike. The thief made a lame attempt to disguise it by stripping off the water bottle cage, Garmin mount, sensors, seat bag and pin striping. But he also swapped my seat and seat post for Mitch’s. As he attempted to strip everything off he did manage to pull out the Di2 wires which will need to be rerouted. But it looks like the frame is in great shape.
When I picked up the bike, I spent time talking to the investigator who was delighted they recovered the bike. Usually it doesn’t end well with high end bikes. He told me some of the key details that helped their investigation:
- Serial Numbers
- Photographs of the bike and all accessories (stock photos off the internet aren’t as good)
- Description of make/model of bike and accessories
- Bike registration
- Social media posts – by posting all over social media, I made the bikes too hot to sell
I really hope you never have your bike stolen. But if you do, you’ll be better prepared to help police locate and identify it.
Sheri Rosenbaum regularly contributes articles and reviews products for RBR. She’s an avid recreational roadie who lives in the Chicago area and a major advocate for women's cycling, serving on the board of directors and volunteering with the Dare2tri Paratriathlon Club. Click to read Sheri's full bio.
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