Faith in people reaffirmed.
 

A little over a month ago, my car was broken into and my bike and bag was stolen out of it in the fine city of DC. I posted on Craiglist and Bike Forums to alert people. Yesterday, an awesome dude in Georgetown recognized my fixie from the picture i put up on Craiglist and bought the bike off the homeless guy who had it for $25 and emailed me. I gave the guy $40 for being so rad. The homeless fella told the guy that he was selling it because he was getting too old to ride this kind of bike...

I am so happy right now...i wasn't so sure i would ever see it again. The bike stinks. Man does it stink! It is covered in crack head funk and sh*t. He taped over my beautiful Cinelli grip bar tape with red duct tape...this one had an eye for design. He took the toe clips and straps off my pedals...probably to realize that you can't really ride a fixie easily without them. I will be giving it a full overhaul. It still even had my blood all over it from an accident 3 months ago.

I am happy to be continuing the recent trend of people getting their stolen bikes and wheels back. I am sure the only reason it got it back was because it was really recognizable as a fixie conversion on an old frame. Thanks for keeping an eye out people.
~Noah

that's cool.

post some before and after pics of the cleanup / overhaul.

I love stories like this!

Ill have some pics up tomorrow morning.

congratulations on fiding your faith again brother

*blink*

wait, wait, wait
in some half drunk, brief moment of lucidity, i just thought of something brilliant...

what if the sub-strata of the bum world act as a societal aquifer,
collecting, absorbing, then redistributing our cultural belongings.

i.e. - right now some bum, somewhere, has something you've ever lost
and someone else is going to end up with it.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...n/DSC02688.jpg

That is a warm fuzzie for sure. How was your bike situated in the car when it got stolen? Did you have it across the back seat, or was the front wheel detached?

Glad to hear the bike is back in your hands!

I hope there is some bum in nashville wearing my "thug life" beanie that I left on a park bench there.

Great MDRAWK! I remembered your post from a while back. Great to read that you got the bike back. Clean her up and come ride!

Glad to hear you got your bike back. There are kind souls out there. You just have to have your bike stolen in order to find them;)

I've gotten some great PM's and stuff from people as of late. And made some good friends here. Some I've met, others I have not. We exchange things, we send things blind.

In near escalating order:

I once sent some handlebars on faith that I'd get something as cool back. Didn't even know the user. I got a very cool "decrative item" and a beer bottle opener. The beer bottle opener didn't look like something special, but the Forum user had to ride 100 miles to get it. That beer bottle opener is in my bag at all times.

One forum user had something I really wanted on computer. Recently, they sent it to me. Why? Because they found it in them to forgive my agressive and @$$hole posting. They are, a better person than I in many ways. I intend to use what they gave me to make a gift for them when I get back home.

Two people, across the country and the world, located some places in Japan for my relatives to get me a Birthday present. This way, my in laws, who are getting older, don't have to travel to far or go to much out of thier way. These two people used thier collective resources and knowledge and time.. to help me out. That means something. I'm dreaming something up decent to say thanks.

I met two forum users blind: just basically arrived on their door step. They took me in for 3.5 days, we did a lot of riding, some drinking, late night BS/life talk etc. It was surreal and cool. They were probably the most fun 3 days I've had in a LONG time. The kind of days that recharge you for years to come. Friends for life, I'd say. Good people, who deserve good things.

I have an irregular group of people that I keep in contact with blogs and emails. The subjects are random and funny, stories, encouragment, bits and pieces. Sharing life, as different as we are. I find value in this, to no small end. It makes my life better. And I mean that.

One forum user allowed me to publish thier writings. And distribute it out to the big wide world. The echoes from this have been immense. Some good, some bad. But over all, very much worthwhile. I learned the value of being domistique, and the value of making permanent what the internet makes very fragile and temporary. And I learned the person behind the postings.

There's another forum user that I exchange email with on a regular basis. We talk about life's happenings, the ups, the downs, the BS and the real, the hopes and the faded dreams. We send music, books, and bike parts. Phone calls, etc.

Can you call someone friend if you've never met them? I never would have thought so, but I do.

I don't live by this forum, though I've been here for a LONG time, comparatively. And I feel that sometimes, some of the moderating that (Koffee Brown) does takes away and changes this particular forum in a way that is not good. But I respect Joe's choice in her, and his belief in what this place is.

More over, I have faith in people here. That beyond our idiosyncracies, and our stupid habits, and our views that are odds with eachother.. .. that we are basically good decent people.

I do have faith in people, because of situations like this place here.. in electronic la la land..

Amen WK.

Pictures coming tonight...otherwise i wont make it to work.

I am so happy for your return of your stolen bike back to you, MDRawk!
This is something that I would not have expected here in this forum or anywhere else for that matter. I guess that there are still decent people left in the world-although with the evening news blasting the evils of the world it may not seem that way. I am glad now that I joined up in this and the other forums which I participate. I am being reeducated in ways which I could not be dream of before the internet.

wow william, hell of a post, inspiring few paragraphs. I read forums every day (this one among others) and that is the kind of post i hope to find.. thanks for sharing.

Nah, I suck.

Hey WK, happy birthday.

So here are the pictures of my bike as ravaged by said crackhead.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24832813@N00/
(i hope that works. Never used flickr.)

I would love some suggestions on how to shine the chrome and generally decontaminate my ride.
~N

WK, thanks for the comments. It is funny how the internet thang brings like minded people together for greater awesomness.
~N

Something has gone wrong with your photostream. The 'before' bike does not even vaguely resemble the 'after' bike.

haha, gotta get me some of that cleaning solvent.

Greg, the bike was stuck through the pass through...rear seat down. Window got smashed, opened the trunk and pulled it out. Now, i u-lock my bike to something in my car.