Commuting - No bikes allowed on train, so guy just drops it on the platform and rides off...

OK, so as I was getting off the train with my folder in Bridgeport, this guy was trying to get on the train with a brand new $490 bike. Conductor wouldn't let him on. He was looking at me, hoping that he could, but I showed him that mine folds, which is permitted even during peak hour trains.

Regular bikes are permitted other times if you have a $5 lifetime permit.

The guy looked at the train, looked at the bike, and leaned it against the railing on the platform and boarded the train!

He must have been choosing work over bike I guess. I grabbed it and walked over to the door and gave him our number and offered to hold it at work for him. I had to walk across town with two bikes, but there it sits.

He must have been interviewing that AM or starting a new seasonal job? Don't know. I didn't get the vibe that the bike was stolen and he was just thinking "easy come/easy go," although bike theft is an obvious problem in the city.

(The current style among the young guys is to be riding purple and pink "obviously stolen" bikes in order to look tough.)

But he hasn't phoned and hasn't dropped by work yet.... hmmm.

Very strange on any number of levels. Let us know how it all turns out!

Rick / OCRR

I'd say you now are in possession of stolen goods.

who in their right mind would leave a bike they paid for?????????

sometimes people are strange...

probably stolen

I vote that the guy is a thief, or has a mental problem.

If being late would have cost him his job, it might have made more sense to ditch it.

Is it a cheap bike, or something more expensive? If it was a cheap bike, then replacing it isn't too much of an issue. If it's something more expensive, I'd turn it over to the police if you suspect it's stolen.

It's a bike-shop mid/low level hybrid. Nice, but not cheap, though definitely not worth losing a job over. And it has some signs of use-- but not a season's worth of road grime/dust or anything.

I've pretty much always been a union guy, so I don't know what it's like to fear losing a job just for being late one day.

He was a ncely dressed guy on his way to work. Not a mental case. He typed my # into a nice smart phone (heck, I can't even really afford a cell phone). He even said that he had the permit for the regular hours trains, but was caught by surprise with the rush hour policy.

I'll take the S/N or the whole bike to the city cops, because of course the story is odd.

My instincts, though, were that it was not stolen. I've lived in various cities and have a pretty ok radar for that kind of stuff. The bike fit him, fit his style of dress, and fit his comportment with the conductor-- respectful, calm, modest.

Heck, I've been more argumentative with conductor in one instance, one who was giving me grief about the folder when I had to get to work. So this guy didn't read "bike thief" at all.

If I was faced with leaving my Gunnar behind or losing a job, I might not have a job. I would like to think most employers would be understanding of this situation. Can't imagine many labor boards would sympathize with an employer firing someone because they wouldn't throw away their property in order to get to work.

As a matter of fact, there isn't one of my bikes I would even consider just leaving at a bus stop. If somebody was nice enough to take possession of my bike so I wouldn't have to leave it, I'd thank them profusely, then show up at their home that evening with a six pack and a pizza.

still hasnt called? wierd. Guess it was easier to just buy another $500 bike. I know some people who think like that but I love all my dollars and like to keep them safe.

Maybe he got your number wrong. If you wanted to be really nice you could post a flyer.

Does the bike have a sticker from the shop where it was sold? They might be able to help it find its way home.

Maybe he got your number wrong. If you wanted to be really nice you could post a flyer.

Does the bike have a sticker from the shop where it was sold? They might be able to help it find its way home.
I thought of that. But I also told him where I work-- the largest of the city's 3 high schools. He should have been able to track me down. I'll see if there is a message when I get home.

The flyer is a good idea. I could put it right where he left the bike-- but I'd probably get a lot of random claims to wade through.

I looked for a sticker. Online retailer.

Sounds like he just had a place to be. You guys seriously wouldn't get rid of a $400 bike if you had somewhere important to be? The guy could have been trying to catch a plane to go visit an ill relative, or going to court for his divorce proceedings, or maybe a meeting with a potential new client to help grow his business. You really value a bike more than those things? I'm not a frequent poster but some of the posts in this thread are bizarre.

I've had jobs like that- you absolutely had to be there. Public transport is so unpredictable, when its like that.. sometimes you just spend the night at work. Lots of people do that when its crunch time.

He was probably kicking himself in the butt that he did not do the same that day.

I was working in an IT-related job.

Lots of times I've had to spend the night at a job, sleeping on the floor. (I have a nice, clean, noncamping, sleeping bag that I've just left at work when I've had to.)


They tended to be pretty high paying jobs. If you aren't paid very well you can burn out pretty quickly in that kind of situation.

The other kind of job that's like that is low paid. Unfortunately, those kinds of jobs are getting more common all the time. But a person working one of them wouldn't have a $490 bike.

"He even said that he had the permit for the regular hours trains, but was caught by surprise with the rush hour policy."


Perhaps he has a new job.

Give him at least a week, but I bet he calls you within a day or two. He'll probably be a regular rider soon, with a folder.

Come to think of it you wouldn't believe how many expensive tape decks I used to see abandoned at the gate by people who were attending concerts by a favorite touring band decades ago.

Before they allowed and then welcomed taping.

I think fortune has smiled on you for your good karma, and you have a new bike.

Maybe he lost your phone number. Have you tried calling him?

Sounds like he just had a place to be. You guys seriously wouldn't get rid of a $400 bike if you had somewhere important to be? The guy could have been trying to catch a plane to go visit an ill relative, or going to court for his divorce proceedings, or maybe a meeting with a potential new client to help grow his business. You really value a bike more than those things? I'm not a frequent poster but some of the posts in this thread are bizarre.

If it's life or death? Sure. My job? Nah! $500 isn't disposable for me. I can eat that amount occasionally but not going to do it if I don't have to.

I would have just rode my bike. Either home to get my car or on to work. But then my boss isn't going to fire me for being late. I don't know what that guys problems are/were.

Catching a plane? I wouldn't take the bike to the airport unless I had a plan and plenty of time.

Come to think of it you wouldn't believe how many expensive tape decks I used to see abandoned at the gate by people who were attending concerts by a favorite touring band decades ago.

Before they allowed and then welcomed taping.

Grateful Dead?

Grateful Dead? His location *does* say formerly the Bay Area...

If anyone has an audience tape of Phish playing the whole White Album on Halloween 1994, that's me clapping and going "woo." Sorry. I did get quiet after the tapers gave me "the look."

Maybe he lost your phone number. Have you tried calling him?

Don't have it. I am lo-tech all the way. No TV, no cell phone to type it into.


I'm surfing bike forums by telegraph. Takes a heck of a long time. And the graphics suck.


I work in a high crime city. Someone said that the responses in this thread are strange, but elsewhere on BF there is a common belief that it's best to treat found bikes or other odd finds as "assumed stolen until checked out otherwise."

But I do like the bike karma theory. See my thread from last week in C&V. Lots of people predicted good bike karma. And bam.

Come to think of it you wouldn't believe how many expensive tape decks I used to see abandoned at the gate by people who were attending concerts by a favorite touring band decades ago.

Before they allowed and then welcomed taping.

I have experience in this area, but with high dollar knives. I went to a concert one time where lighters (indoor venue) and knives were collected out front of the entrace. I saw trashcans full of high end pocket knives and lighters, including Zippos.

Blew my mind.

One unfortunate possibility -- did he really not care because he was planning on stepping in front of the train later in the day? (People try to commit suicide by jumping off our state ferries on Puget Sound just often enough that there's an established procedure for dealing with abandoned vehicles as possible suicides. More often, it's someone who usually walks on and catches the bus on the other side; they forget they drove today and leave their car parked on the boat. On the other hand, my commute home today was 90 minutes longer than usual because someone walked in front of an Amtrak train...)

I think the guy got the bicycle specifically for a multi-modal commute, got the train pass and was not aware of the different rush hour rules. Once he found out he could not ever bring that bike on the train during rush hour, that bicycle was no longer of use to him. Bet he is looking at buying a folder after meeting you.

I agree that if he does not show up in 1-2 weeks you could safely consider the bike yours. Definitely within the next 30-90 days.

jputnam, perhaps he was planning on getting off at the Willoughby stop.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Hc8XpoGUAGI/S-MXpdjVd6I/AAAAAAAABEg/Cx9N3La-pl0/s1600/TWILIGHT_ZONE_SEASON_1_DISC_5-6.bmp

I mean, this *is* Connecticut after all...

Without a TV, how would you know about Willoughby.......unless you've been there.

Craigslist has a lost and found section. You could try posting it there.

I've been there. And back.

Where I am one must place an ad for 30 days( not sure I remember the time period correctly). If no onne claims it, then it is yours. I don't live in Conn. Call the police and ask about it, or search the interwebzs for the law.

Not all people think alike. I was on CL when an ad popped up with photos for a mint condition Cannondale with upgrades and a spare set of wheels for $75 and a phone number. Scam or hot were my first thought. Called and was at the guys house in 10 minutes of him posting the ad. It was his baby rode it daily and never saw a drop of rain. Never was on a car rack and as clean as the day he bought it. Was moving to Fla. and new house new bike was his plan. Even had the original owners book and tags from the bike shop. Best part was it was the right frame size. As I put it on my padded bike rack he said that’s a first. I know I could have tripled my money in another 10 minutes but I didn’t.

It’s hard to figure people out so I don’t try anymore. Give it your best effort to find him and document what you have done like you are doing here, if you find him who knows you may have a new biking friend, if that fails enjoy the bike till you run into him and give it back.

Yeah, I've sold nice bikes on CL for $25, $40... delivered into New Haven and seat adjusted....

If it's life or death? Sure. My job? Nah! $500 isn't disposable for me. I can eat that amount occasionally but not going to do it if I don't have to.

Losing his job would probably set him back more than $500, so he's probably coming out ahead. It is strange that he hasn't called yet, though.

Don't have it. I am lo-tech all the way. No TV, no cell phone to type it into.


I'm surfing bike forums by telegraph. Takes a heck of a long time. And the graphics suck....
.... . / .. ... / .--. --- ... ... .. -... .-.. -.-- / .--. .- .-. - / --- ..-. / - .... . / --- -. . / .--. . .-. -.-. . -. - .-.-.- / .... . / -.-. .- -. / .--- ..- ... - / -... ..- -.-- / .... .. -- ... . .-.. ..-. / .- -. / . -. - .. .-. . / -... .. -.-. -.-- -.-. .-.. . / -.-. --- -- .--. .- -. -.-- / .-- .... . -. / .... . / -. . . -.. ... / .- -. --- - .... . .-. .-.-.-

dah dah di dit dah di dah / dah di dah dit di di di dit dit dah di dah dit dah di dah !

در اولین دوره قاعدگی خود چند سال سن داشتید؟

در اولین دوره قاعدگی خود چند سال سن داشتید؟

Um, Google translate gives this....
Dr. Olin role Hadگی Khod چnd Sal Dachtیd age?

So, um, yeah.

Also, still no phone call.

καλημέρα σε όλους!

Sorry for being a troll in your post Standalone!

OK, so as I was getting off the train with my folder in Bridgeport, this guy was trying to get on the train with a brand new $490 bike. Conductor wouldn't let him on. He was looking at me, hoping that he could, but I showed him that mine folds, which is permitted even during peak hour trains.

Regular bikes are permitted other times if you have a $5 lifetime permit.

The guy looked at the train, looked at the bike, and leaned it against the railing on the platform and boarded the train!

He must have been choosing work over bike I guess. I grabbed it and walked over to the door and gave him our number and offered to hold it at work for him. I had to walk across town with two bikes, but there it sits.

He must have been interviewing that AM or starting a new seasonal job? Don't know. I didn't get the vibe that the bike was stolen and he was just thinking "easy come/easy go," although bike theft is an obvious problem in the city.

(The current style among the young guys is to be riding purple and pink "obviously stolen" bikes in order to look tough.)

But he hasn't phoned and hasn't dropped by work yet.... hmmm.

I had something very similar happen about 20 or so years ago.

Here in the Tampa Bay Area Hillsborough County's bus system HARTline was the first to put bike racks on buses. You had to have a permit to do so. When Pinellas County's PSTA also added racks to the front of their buses the permit was good on both sides of the bay. There were several commercials about being able to take your bike "on" the bus with you. However they failed to make it clear that you needed the permit in order to do so.

I'd been living in St. Pete for a about a year or so when i was going to a job interview and was on the bus. A gal who needed to go downtown to pay a bill had rode her boyfriends bike out to the bus stop and thought that she'd be able to put it on the bus. However she didn't have the permit and the driver wouldn't let her do it, and they weren't (and still aren't) allowed to put a bike on the rack. She was going to put the bike under a bush near the bus stop and leave it there. Which means that more likely then not about 5 - 10 mins after the bus left that the bike would be stolen.

Before we left the stop I asked the driver if I could put the bike on with my permit. He allowed me to do so. The only "downside" is/was that I had to stay with her to wherever it was she had to go to pay the bill and then wait with her to put the bike back on the bus so she could get home.

As luck would have it, the same driver who had initially picked us up and took us downtown was the same driver who picked us up and took us back to her stop.

He could have been a hard arse and not allowed me to do it, but he was nice and did.

Sounds like he just had a place to be. You guys seriously wouldn't get rid of a $400 bike if you had somewhere important to be? The guy could have been trying to catch a plane to go visit an ill relative, or going to court for his divorce proceedings, or maybe a meeting with a potential new client to help grow his business. You really value a bike more than those things? I'm not a frequent poster but some of the posts in this thread are bizarre.

With the way the economy is I can see it being a tough call, but if I had to choose between my bike and catching a train/bus/etc. to be somewhere I think that in all honesty that I would choose my bike. Especially considering that I am a Disabled Vet on a fixed income and would be hard pressed to replace the bike. Particularly with one of similar quality.

Maybe you can afford to abandon a $400.00 bike, but not everyone can.

Maybe he lost your phone number. Have you tried calling him?

Unless he:

a) lost his smart phone or
b) his smart phone crashed

How would he "loose" the OP's phone number?