One night late November I went to see the movie Tintin. Still chuckling about one of the many jokes, I came out of the movie theatre to find an empty spot where I had left my bike. I walked up and down the street but that was obviously a waste of time. The next day I went to the police but that seemed a waste of time just as much. I got a document with a brief description of my bike, a Specialized Sequoia, stating that it was stolen. Any attempts at adding information was said to be irrelevant, and all of my questions were answered with: “I don’t know, Sir.” Getting it engraved had been on my to do list for a while; I can kick myself for not getting around to it. Now I keep my eyes peeled for it in the streets. I went to the second hand bike market at Brussels South station, and I checked ebay, kapaza etc. to see if someone is trying to sell my bike. But no success. Anybody who has information about it is welcome to leave a comment…
I loved that bike. I bought it in Memphis in 2008 and shipped it to Belgium. Aluminum frame, carbon fork, integrated gears, ergonometric frame, it had it all. It was my companion on the streets of Memphis and Brussels, my partner in crime. The two of us together against all the cars. Both Memphis and Brussels have a reputation for being bike-unfriendly cities, and in such a situation you depend on your bike. In any maneuver, you calculate the risk and assume your foot won’t slide off the pedal or something. My sequoia never let me down. He was there for me where the rubber meets the road. Goodbye, faithful bike.
But the worsgt of it is that from now on I will always associate Tintin with stolen bikes…
