What would you do?
01-12-21 | 06:49 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Long time part timer
Joined: Nov 2020
Posts: 235
Likes: 217
What would you do?
This is a true story. I'm curious what others might have done so I thought this might be a fun way to find out if I'm of sound mind or a looney-tune 
Scenario: I am near the end of a mid-fall bike ride on a sunny Sunday afternoon around 4PM. I am riding a modern carbon road bike with just a couple of water bottles and am wearing cleats. I am on the final stretch going home: a 2.5 mile flat and winding road along the shore of a lake (a very nice way to wind down). About half way through this last segment there is a blue Bridgestone RB-3 in pretty decent shape - and that appears to be roughly my size - on the side of the road with a paper sign attached to it that says FREE.
So...what would you do?
Scenario: I am near the end of a mid-fall bike ride on a sunny Sunday afternoon around 4PM. I am riding a modern carbon road bike with just a couple of water bottles and am wearing cleats. I am on the final stretch going home: a 2.5 mile flat and winding road along the shore of a lake (a very nice way to wind down). About half way through this last segment there is a blue Bridgestone RB-3 in pretty decent shape - and that appears to be roughly my size - on the side of the road with a paper sign attached to it that says FREE.
So...what would you do?
01-12-21 | 06:52 PM
#2
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 604
Likes: 306
From: Brooklyn, NY
Bikes: 1970s Coppi/Fiorelli beater, 1973 Raleigh Competition, 1972 Bob Jackson, 1970 Cilo Sprint-X, 1985 Fuji Touring Series IV, 1969 Legnano Roma
All I know is that spare inner tube in your seatpack makes a really useful sling...
01-12-21 | 06:55 PM
#3
Thread Starter
Long time part timer
Joined: Nov 2020
Posts: 235
Likes: 217
01-12-21 | 07:05 PM
#6
(rhymes with spook)
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,786
Likes: 749
From: Winslow, AR
Bikes: '83 univega gran turismo x2, '85 schwinn super le tour,'89 miyata triple cross, '91 GT tequesta, '90 yokota grizzly peak, '94 GT backwoods, '95'ish scott tampico, '98 bonty privateer, '93 mongoose crossway 625, '98 parkpre ariel, 2k'ish giant fcr3
take it home. then, find out if someone's missing a bike. give it a month maybe. keep it if no one can genuinely claim it
01-12-21 | 07:13 PM
#7
Banned.
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 12,292
Likes: 4,863
From: PAZ
Phone A Phriend
DD
DD
01-12-21 | 07:15 PM
#8
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 5,382
Likes: 5,316
From: Central Virginia
Bikes: Numerous
Easy - over the shoulder and ride home with it.
__________________
N = '96 Colnago C40, '04 Wilier Alpe D'Huez, '10 Colnago EPS, '85 Merckx Pro, '89 Merckx Century, '86 Tommasini Professional, '04 Teschner Aero FX Pro, '05 Alan Carbon Cross, '86 De Rosa Professional, '95 Gios Compact Pro, '95 Carrera Zeus, 81 Masi Gran Criterium, 81 Merckx Pro, 89 Cinelli Supercorsa, 83 Bianchi Specialissima, VO Randonneur, Ritchey Breakaway Steel, Rivendell Rambouillet, Heron Randonneur, 92 Ciöcc Columbus EL
N = '96 Colnago C40, '04 Wilier Alpe D'Huez, '10 Colnago EPS, '85 Merckx Pro, '89 Merckx Century, '86 Tommasini Professional, '04 Teschner Aero FX Pro, '05 Alan Carbon Cross, '86 De Rosa Professional, '95 Gios Compact Pro, '95 Carrera Zeus, 81 Masi Gran Criterium, 81 Merckx Pro, 89 Cinelli Supercorsa, 83 Bianchi Specialissima, VO Randonneur, Ritchey Breakaway Steel, Rivendell Rambouillet, Heron Randonneur, 92 Ciöcc Columbus EL
01-12-21 | 07:29 PM
#10
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 1,181
Likes: 483
From: Newbury Park, CA
I can envision giving several different answers based on circumstances I found myself in during this past year. If that was me today I'd ghost ride the bike home after inflating the tires, then clean it up and gift it to my roommate or somebody who needs a bike.
01-12-21 | 08:20 PM
#12
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 1,958
Likes: 1,243
From: Menomonee Falls, WI
Bikes: 1984 Schwinn Supersport, 1988 Trek 400T, 1977 Trek TX900, 1982 Bianchi Champione del Mondo, 1978 Raleigh Supercourse, 1986 Trek 400 Elance, 1991 Waterford PDG OS Paramount, 1971 Schwinn Sports Tourer, 1985 Trek 670
Sling the Bridgestone over my shoulder like a golf bag, and ride home one handed on the handlebars. Pick up the front wheel later.
Tim
Tim
01-12-21 | 10:42 PM
#14
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 2,136
Likes: 1,524
From: Medford MA
Bikes: Ron Cooper touring, 1959 Jack Taylor 650b ladyback touring tandem, Vitus 979, Joe Bell painted Claud Butler Dalesman, Colin Laing curved tube tandem, heavily-Dilberted 1982 Trek 6xx, René Herse tandem
Yea, ghost ride the whip.
Not too hard once you get the hang of it, just hold on the stem and let Casper be your riding buddy!
Not too hard once you get the hang of it, just hold on the stem and let Casper be your riding buddy!
__________________
Owner & co-founder, Cycles René Hubris. Unfortunately attaching questionable braze-ons to perfectly good frames since about 2015. With style.
Owner & co-founder, Cycles René Hubris. Unfortunately attaching questionable braze-ons to perfectly good frames since about 2015. With style.
01-12-21 | 10:43 PM
#15
feros ferio
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 22,417
Likes: 1,882
From: www.ci.encinitas.ca.us
Bikes: 1959 Capo Modell Campagnolo; 1960 Capo Sieger (2); 1962 Carlton Franco Suisse; 1970 Peugeot UO-8; 1982 Bianchi Campione d'Italia; 1988 Schwinn Project KOM-10;
Ride one slowly one-handed while "walking" the other with your other hand on the handlebar stem. Been there ... done that. I am not very coordinated (my amateur ballerina wife and my natural jock younger son would say that's a gross understatement), so I proceeded gingerly and stopped several times, but it did work.
__________________
"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
01-12-21 | 10:50 PM
#17
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 18,841
Likes: 11,743
I’ve been in similar situations but had a lock with me. I moved the free bike a couple of blocks away, locked it to a pole, headed home, and retuned for the bike with my car. And a couple of weekends ago, about a mile into my ride, I spotted a frame at the curb with a “free” sign. I figured I’d check on it at the end of my ride. If it was still there, I’d grab it. It was; I did.
01-12-21 | 11:08 PM
#18
Ride, Wrench, Swap, Race
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 9,835
Likes: 1,816
From: Northern California
Bikes: Cheltenham-Pedersen racer, Boulder F/S Paris-Roubaix, Varsity racer, '52 Christophe, '62 Continental, '92 Merckx, '75 Limongi, '76 Presto, '72 Gitane SC, '71 Schwinn SS, etc.
I've ghost-ridden bikes many dozens of times, even with flat tires. On rare occasion, a particular tire may come off a particular rim, so ride slowly.
Ride slowly for other reasons as well. Hitting a bump may cause the ghosted bike to speed wobble and it'll fly out of control unless the front end is briefly lifted off the pavement and put back down still pointing straight. When this didn't go right, I let go of the ghosted bike with a push-away and accepted the damage as the statistical cost of doing business this way.
If the handlebars of both bikes clash, you may be hitting the ground.
Be prepared for passing motorists to jest about your stealing the bike.
Riding downhill can get tiring in a hurry, bracing one's knee against the toptube allows steeper descents while steering and braking sufficiently.
Once again, attaining speed can be dangerous in many ways.
Ride slowly for other reasons as well. Hitting a bump may cause the ghosted bike to speed wobble and it'll fly out of control unless the front end is briefly lifted off the pavement and put back down still pointing straight. When this didn't go right, I let go of the ghosted bike with a push-away and accepted the damage as the statistical cost of doing business this way.
If the handlebars of both bikes clash, you may be hitting the ground.
Be prepared for passing motorists to jest about your stealing the bike.
Riding downhill can get tiring in a hurry, bracing one's knee against the toptube allows steeper descents while steering and braking sufficiently.
Once again, attaining speed can be dangerous in many ways.
01-13-21 | 09:23 AM
#19
Thread Starter
Long time part timer
Joined: Nov 2020
Posts: 235
Likes: 217
here's what I did
After assessing the situation this is what I did with one caveat: as I started to walk home with a bike in each hand I realized that doing so in cleats was going to be very uncomfortable. So, I took them off, attached them to the handlebars and walked home in my socks. I figured if I ended up not keeping it and selling it off I could by a new pair of socks if needed 
I had another similar situation maybe two years ago although I was about 3 miles away from home at the time. There was no sign on the bike (just in the front yard with some other stuff) but I figured since I was so close to home I'd just hop in the car and go get it. Unfortunately in the short time it took me to return the bike was gone 
Epilogue: I cleaned the RB-3 up, replaced all cable & housings, repacked the headset & BB and replaced the tires & original white vinyl tape. I rode it around town for a while but the bike just doesn't fit me great. I still have it but I will likely find a home for it one way or another. On the plus side at least I didn't need to buy new socks!
Epilogue: I cleaned the RB-3 up, replaced all cable & housings, repacked the headset & BB and replaced the tires & original white vinyl tape. I rode it around town for a while but the bike just doesn't fit me great. I still have it but I will likely find a home for it one way or another. On the plus side at least I didn't need to buy new socks!
01-13-21 | 12:25 PM
#23
Tortoise Wins by a Hare!
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 7,393
Likes: 945
From: Looney Tunes, IL
Bikes: Wabi Special FG, Raleigh Roper, Nashbar AL-1, Miyata One Hundred, '70 Schwinn Lemonator and More!!
I've done the ghost riding thing many times when finding bikes in the trash. It's not too difficult once you get going. Keeping the speed low is key if you prefer not to go down in a plie of bikes. Nice find!
01-13-21 | 06:02 PM
#25
Crawlin' up, flyin' down
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 6,771
Likes: 4,432
From: Democratic Peoples' Republic of Berkeley
Bikes: 1967 Paramount; 1982-ish Ron Cooper; 1978 Eisentraut "A"; two mid-1960s Cinelli Speciale Corsas; and others in various stages of non-rideability.