I'm far from a prolific forum poster but feel compelled to share the below story - A random act of kindness from a fellow cyclist in London yesterday has restored my faith in humanity :-)
A little bit of background:
I completed the Evans Cycles King of the Downs on Sunday (112miles, 9000 feet elevation, good ironman brick fodder..) Great day barring a nasty spill on the final descent ~ 15km from the finish - I knocked myself out & smashed my glasses into my face resulting in a nifty little 2cm flap on the bridge of my nose to the bone. I also bent the rear mech so was very thankful that there were no further hills as I limped back to the finish line.
Then....I received a very strange call yesterday morning.....
“Hi this is Dean, the events Director for Evans Cycles”
“uhhh… Hi Dean”
“John, can I ask you if you lost anything yesterday?”
“I lost consciousness & lost a bit of blood, is that what you mean?”
“Not exactly, are you sure you didn’t lose anything important?”
"I'm pretty sure I've also lost a fair amount of confidence on descents, other than that, no. Why?"
“Well, do you know why a young hooligan (not his exact words...) was riding down Norwood Road this morning on a Specialized S-Works SL3 with your race number from yesterday on it?? (2010 Team Geo, Sram Red, Zipp 404s, Powertap SLC..)
“WTF!!!!!!!”
Long story short: I dropped my bike into a local shop to get repaired following Sunday's off. A little punk broke into the back of said store and helped himself to my bike. A local cycling enthusiast (Hugh) was out riding and spotted this little s**t and his mate with my bike. Immediately recognising that the bike was more than likely stolen, he thought quickly and did something very, very smart. Instead of confronting them, he casually approached them, complemented them on “their nice ride” and offered to buy it. He haggled the price down to £150 and took the bike home. As my race number was still on the bike he contacted Evans to inform them he was now the proud owner of rider #750’s bike and they may want it back. What an absolute champion!!!
Yes, some scumbag is now £150 richer, but if Hugh had confronted them they would have likely bolted (or turned their attention to him).
Apart from mild concussion, I am currently on cloud 9!! “Hugh from Herne Hill” you are a shining example of all that is good in this world.
A little bit of background:
I completed the Evans Cycles King of the Downs on Sunday (112miles, 9000 feet elevation, good ironman brick fodder..) Great day barring a nasty spill on the final descent ~ 15km from the finish - I knocked myself out & smashed my glasses into my face resulting in a nifty little 2cm flap on the bridge of my nose to the bone. I also bent the rear mech so was very thankful that there were no further hills as I limped back to the finish line.
Then....I received a very strange call yesterday morning.....
“Hi this is Dean, the events Director for Evans Cycles”
“uhhh… Hi Dean”
“John, can I ask you if you lost anything yesterday?”
“I lost consciousness & lost a bit of blood, is that what you mean?”
“Not exactly, are you sure you didn’t lose anything important?”
"I'm pretty sure I've also lost a fair amount of confidence on descents, other than that, no. Why?"
“Well, do you know why a young hooligan (not his exact words...) was riding down Norwood Road this morning on a Specialized S-Works SL3 with your race number from yesterday on it?? (2010 Team Geo, Sram Red, Zipp 404s, Powertap SLC..)
“WTF!!!!!!!”
Long story short: I dropped my bike into a local shop to get repaired following Sunday's off. A little punk broke into the back of said store and helped himself to my bike. A local cycling enthusiast (Hugh) was out riding and spotted this little s**t and his mate with my bike. Immediately recognising that the bike was more than likely stolen, he thought quickly and did something very, very smart. Instead of confronting them, he casually approached them, complemented them on “their nice ride” and offered to buy it. He haggled the price down to £150 and took the bike home. As my race number was still on the bike he contacted Evans to inform them he was now the proud owner of rider #750’s bike and they may want it back. What an absolute champion!!!
Yes, some scumbag is now £150 richer, but if Hugh had confronted them they would have likely bolted (or turned their attention to him).
Apart from mild concussion, I am currently on cloud 9!! “Hugh from Herne Hill” you are a shining example of all that is good in this world.