Ok, so I get home at a reasonable time after work for a change, and it's 65° out. 65°! I drive down to this new park just east of downtown where I'd been parking for months. I'm still too much of a lump to try to ride down the hill to get there and then end up climbing home. Anyway, I wanted to enjoy the weather and see what the Ohio River flooding was like around downtown. It was pretty neat, and a nice ride. There were some people along the riverfront with their kids checking out the high water, and some businessmen walking around to get to their cars. I took a spin along the river, looped around the stadiums a few times, rode over the river into Kentucky, and then headed back to the car.

As I approach the parking lot, I see some guy trying to break into my car! I shout out at him and he jumps into his SUV (of all things) to get away. I got an ok view of the license plate, and once I got home I phoned in a police report. There was some damage to the frame around my driver's side window, but that's about it. The thing that really steams me is that this is barely 100 yards from the Montgomery Inn Boathouse, a really nice restaurant with half a dozen vallets hanging out in the parking lot. I tell you it really steams my clams. See if I go down that way for a bike ride anytime soon.

Nice area for a ride. The valets at the boathouse were famously clueless when I lived there a few years back (they're valets). I've never heard of a car being stolen downtown despite working downtown and living in the area for ten years or so.

Something has me thinking though: why would a dude try to steal a car when he's already got wheels? Not too many SUVs I know of that are downright jalopies. Not asking you to reveal a whole lot, but was your car a decent upgrade over this fellow's SUV? Then again, I don't know how the whole car boosting thing works. I hope your police report nails him.

It's a 1993 Mercury Sable with nothing of value sitting around inside, so I highly doubt it.

Simple solution: Leave the car at home and ride there. Hills build character.

Was there anything valuable left inside the car? Sounds like the person may have been trying to steal something from inside the car, rather than the actual car.

PS - Don't you just hate it when you see an answer that was posted while you were typing your question?

A professional might drive an SUV and target your car for parts.

Hope they catch the jerk.

This should be enough to make you leave your car at home, not, not ride your bike.

Chuck, take a spin around my neighborhood in my body with my bike, then tell me that.

65!!! its 20 here

Come on now, I am no racer boy my self, we ride thru the worst part of town (motivation) at night, and when I used to run an altimeter it would show over a 1000 feet of climbing

Oh yeah it hit 69 here today at one point. I'm looking at the long range forecast where normality wants to make a comeback and I'm in total denial. I say bring the heat a little longer, baby!

1,000 feet huh? Imagine doing 500 feet right at the very end of the ride with no flats until you got to the top. That's what it would be like if I rode my bike from home to this place and back.

So are the idyllic roads of Cary too boring? Maybe take a spin through Crossroads Plaza, use the speeding traffic for "motivation."

sorry for the frustration of your car, but what's one got to do with another?

Did you actually read my post? This is one of the only places close by where I can ride without either getting run over or exhausting myself on mean hills. I have to drive there. Do you see the connection?

well, then move. Sounds like you live in a crap hole. Or get your anger in check cuz you're displacing it on the wrong people.

I just live on top of the hills, which is where most of the land here is, but the only flat-ish areas are down in the river valleys. I actually live in a nice neighborhood, it's just too hilly for me to ride comfortably, so I need to go elsewhere.

And I think you need to get your attitude in check.

Odd...is it just me or are the board's time stamps 10 minutes slow?

Someone "swallowed a lot of aggression along with a lot of pizzas" ~ Dewey 'Ox' Oxburger, Stripes

Not like the area I live in is bad but I always get a little queasy leaving my Jeep when going on my ride. I know that stupid high school kids know I'll be gone for at least an hour. I usually try to park 1/2 way into my route, this way I can come check up on my Jeep as I pass by. Not that it makes any difference if they want to steal it but it makes me feel better

We roll fixed in SouthEast Raleigh on a Friday night. Drunks and drug dealers

I said to a coworker, "Summer's right around the corner."

When it comes back cold, it'll be truly weird.

It's supposed to be back into the teens and 20s by Friday. Frankly I'm surprised it managed to stay dry today. This is the first warm day this January where it hasn't poured all day, and we've had lots of those.

I was loving the weather today, I was riding without a coat. January in Bowling Green is NEVER this nice. Only problem was that the streets were nasty wet, so I was drenched after my 4 mile ride to class (Normally it is only about 1/4 mile, but I wanted to RIDE). My new jeans got soaked and dirty (they finally look like they belong on me), but I was in heaven.

I was going to ride over to KY via the Purple People Bridge today, but I ended up tearing up College Hill/White Oak. I might've run into you, and if I did, I would've torn up that thief.

By chance did you park in the Sawyer Point lot?