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Bike lost - what next?
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the personnel of the airline has no clue whatsoever where the bike is. they couldn't trace it. did a claim and fingers crossed but in the worst case, what can you do if they lost your bike? do they actually pay for it or you get sc...ed?
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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Man, that sucks. No idea what you can do though....




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Searching for the bliss of ultimate exertion.
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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Check with the airline itself to see what their policy is on lost bags. I know that when I flew with my bike, their standard coverage didn't add up to the full value of my bike (full bike + race wheels) so I opted for the extra insurance. On a good note, I think the standard insurance for my carrier was just under $3k, so it's not trivial.

How much luck you'll have collecting from them is an entirely different question. Sorry to hear about your loss, man. That sucks.
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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If you declared a value for the bike they should cut you a check pretty soon. I'm not sure what the time period is, but your "Training Equipment" is fairly time sensative for recovery - read - don't let them think that they can 'look' for your bike for a couple of months. Also remember to itemize any extras that you had on the bike like your computer so that you don't get screwed.

I am a nice guy but I have found that it is better to be Firm but polite when dealing with the airlines (dispite my enormous hatred of them).

This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time. - Fight Club
Industry Brat.
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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http://www.thetravelinsider.info/...ostbaggagerights.htm



Your Rights if Your Bags are Lost

The carry on bags of yester-year were small and light, weighing only a few pounds.

Today's wheeled monsters can sometimes weigh more, empty, than the total carry-on weight allowance of some international airlines!

Part 2 of a 2 part article - see part 1 for what to do when your bag first goes missing.

So you've already transitioned from confidently waiting for your bag at the luggage claim carousel, to anxiously waiting for your missing bag to be found, to now despondently wondering what to do now that your bag has been officially declared lost.

Please read on....

Your bag is finally declared to be irretrievably lost

Eventually, if your bag doesn't arrive, you and the airline will have to face up to an ugly truth - your bag has disappeared. About 2% of all missing bags remain lost, and if you fly enough times, or are sufficiently unlucky, sooner or later, your bag will end up in this category.

When does a missing bag become a lost bag? Different airlines have different rules of thumb for this, and it depends on your itinerary and just how complicatedly the bag might get misrouted. It will almost certainly take more than a week for your bag to be deemed lost, and perhaps as much as a month.

The amount of compensation you can get from the airline for lost luggage varies depending on whether you were on a domestic US flight, an international flight, or a domestic flight somewhere else in the world.

What Can You Claim On When Your Bag is Lost

You can't necessarily claim on everything that was in your bag once it has been decided the bag has been lost.

You'll probably have to make an itemized list of what was in your suitcase. Try and be reasonably accurate here - it would be embarrassing if your suitcase was discovered the day after your claim was filed and, ahem, the six brand new suits you were claiming on were discovered actually to be six well worn pairs of jeans.

Don't forget to claim for the cost of the suitcase itself!

Adjustment for delay reimbursements

If you have already persuaded the airline to pay for things you needed while your bag was missing, they may try and reduce their payout for your lost baggage by the amount they've already paid you to compensate for the delay period.

Certainly, if the airline has paid for a new set of clothes for you, you couldn't then claim the lost set of clothes a second time. But if you received a $250 payment to cover the cost of your bag being delayed, while the bag was still declared as 'missing' not 'lost', that does not necessarily mean that the total compensation the airline must pay you when your bag is declared as lost should now be reduced by $250.

Your argument would be that the payment for baggage delay and the payment for lost baggage are for two separate events. If the airline had said to you, when you first reported your bag as missing 'I'm sorry, but your bag is lost' then you could only make one claim, of course. But when they say to you first that the bag is missing, and then subsequently, a week or two or three later, tell you it is now lost, these are two separate events, with two separate sets of circumstances and costs associated.

Excluded items

The airlines have a fairly long list of valuable items which they won't reimburse you for (see below).

It is unclear how binding this list of exclusions may be, particularly on an international flight, but it will, for sure, be much harder to get reimbursement if items are on their excluded list.

Depreciated not replacement value

Airlines will only reimburse you for the depreciated, not replacement value, of your possessions. In other words, if you had a suit that you've owned for two years in your bag, and if it cost you $300 when you bought it, and would cost $400 for a suitable replacement, the airline won't give you $400.

It won't even give you $300. Instead, the airline might say 'this suit is nearly worn out, it is two years old, we'll only give you $150'.

Cash or travel vouchers

See our discussion in part 1 about suggesting/accepting a higher value in airline travel vouchers instead of a lower value in cash, when negotiating how much the airline will reimburse you.

Other insurance coverage

The sad reality is that you'll probably end up quite severely out of pocket after the airline's partial reimbursement of the items you've lost.

However, all is not lost (just your luggage!). Simply claim the shortfall between what the airline paid you and the actual replacement cost on your regular home owner's or renter's insurance policy. You might also have free insurance as part of using your credit card to buy the ticket, or included as part of a travel insurance policy that you bought.

Most insurance companies will refuse to pay your claim if someone else has already paid your claim (you can't 'double dip') but you can use your different types of insurance selectively to get best coverage and to avoid impacting on your renewal rate or claims history with your main home owner/renter insurance.

Claim Limits

Domestic maximum liability

In the US, the Department of Transportation has specified that airlines are liable for up to $2800 for losing your luggage.

This limit increased from the earlier $2500 limit on 22 Oct, 2004, and is expected to be adjusted every two years, in line with inflation.

This is a limit per passenger. If you were traveling with someone else, and if you had some of your items and some of your companion's items in your lost bag, then conceivably you could possibly be able to claim up to $5600 for the lost items.

International maximum liability

If you are flying internationally, including on flights connecting to international flights, the airlines are liable for up to 1000 'Special Drawing Rights' for lost luggage. This is also a limit per passenger.

A Special Drawing Right is a sort of international currency equivalent, set by the International Monetary Fund. The value of an SDR changes daily; this page shows its current conversion to US dollars (on 3 Feb 1 SDR = US$1.519, so the airlines would pay up to $1519).

This 1000 SDR limit is expected to be reviewed every five years.

This obligation on the airlines is part of the 1999 Montreal Convention, known more formally as the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air. It came into effect on 4 November 2003, and replaces an earlier Warsaw Convention of 1929 (albeit one which had been modified several times since then).

This 1000 SDR limit can be exceeded if you can prove the airline and its employees was acting recklessly and had reason to expect that damage would result from its actions (a 'please handle with care' sticker for example might help establish the airline's knowledge and increased duty of care). On the other hand, the airlines won't pay for damage to fragile items that are not adequately packed (whatever that means!).

You might still see references to the earlier international limits, which were US$9.07 per pound of baggage (US$20/kg). This new limit is usually slightly more generous and is no longer weight based.

What if You Can't Agree with the Airline on Your Claim

If you can't agree with the airline about how much you should be reimbursed, then your best recourse is to take your claim to your local Small Claims Court.

The Small Claims Court will still be largely influenced by the Department of Transportation or Montreal Convention limits, but it might have a more generous interpretation of how much you can claim, up to these limits. In other words, if you're claiming $10,000 from the airline for baggage lost on a domestic flight, and the airline is only offering you $2800, it is unlikely that the Small Claims Court will choose to break the DoT limit.

But if you're asking for $2000 and the airline is only offering $1000, the Court will certainly consider why you think you should get $2000 rather than $1000 and would be able to award you the full $2000 if it chose to.

You have no guarantee of winning your action in the Small Claims Court, of course, but if your claim is fair and well documented, then the chances are probably more in your favor than not.

Be careful, if accepting any money from the airline, to ensure that you don't have to sign an indemnity waiver which says that, in accepting the money offered, you agree that this is a full and fair settlement and won't seek to get more money later. Sometimes you might have to refuse to accept an airline payment because it has 'strings attached'.

How to Minimize the Risk of Baggage Loss

Sadly, there's nothing you can do to stop the airlines from losing your baggage. But you can help them find it again if it does get lost, and there are a couple of minor things you can do to help reduce the chance of your bags going astray

Reducing the chance of your bags disappearing

Take anything that might confuse automatic bag scanning machines off the bag. If you have bits of old luggage labels still on your bags anywhere, be sure to remove them.

When checking your bags in, carefully watch to make sure that each bag is properly tagged with its bag tag, and check you get your copies of the tags, and that they correctly show your destination and flight.

Try not to check in late for a flight, and try and make sure you don't have very tight connections if you're changing planes on your journey.

Making it easier for your bag to be found again

Make your bag as distinctive as possible. One more generic black soft sided wheeled bag, in a warehouse full of generic black soft sided wheeled bags, is going to be much harder to find than one with purple and yellow stripes.

Well, you don't have to paint purple and yellow stripes on your bag, but anything you can do to make it more obvious would be a good idea, starting off with, next time you buy a suitcase, perhaps considering a color other than black.

We always put a MyTag on our bags (which are admittedly generic and black). This large bright yellow tag with our name printed in bold letters makes the bag much easier to see, and the MyTag is unlikely to come off due to its sturdy tie.

Check that whatever address information you have on the outside of your bag is current and correct. This might sound trivial, but it is surprising how many people have out of date information on their bag labels.

Include your contact information inside your bag, too, in case the label on the outside of the bag gets torn off.

We suggest you have both your contact information and also a trip itinerary inside your bag. Put both these things in a large (eg 9x12)envelope on the top of everything else, and prominently label the envelope 'Contact Details if Luggage Lost'. The reason for trip itinerary information is that if your bag is lost on the early part of your trip, it will be easier for it to be sent to you while you're still traveling.

When to Expect Payment

Once you've finally agreed on everything with the airline, don't expect your payment immediately. It can take the airlines several months to then actually send you the agreed payment.

Is this fair? No. But it is, sadly, typical practice for the airlines, and there's very little you can do to try and encourage them to be more responsive.

How to Minimize the Inconvenience of Luggage Loss

You've probably read this before, but it is worth repeating. Never put anything in checked luggage that you can't survive without or replace.

This means making sure you have an adequate supply of medications in your carry-on, plus things like trip vouchers, ID and credit cards, maybe even camera and used film. In my case, I never check my computer, and similarly, I never check my computer's power supply or modem cable either. I also make sure I have both my cell phone and its charger (or a Clipper Emergency Recharger) with me.

Because the airlines limit their liability if they lose your bags, make sure you also carry with you anything small and expensive, and anything which the airlines might exclude from reimbursing you if lost (this includes many electronic items as well as jewelry).

Things the Airlines usually Refuse to be Liable For

Different airlines may have slightly different lists, but in general, they will usually refuse liability for the loss, delay, or damage to the following :

  • Antiques

  • Computer Equipment and related items

  • Documents (personal or business, negotiable papers)

  • Electronic Equipment

  • Film

  • Fragile Items

  • Irreplaceable Items

  • Jewelry

  • Keys

  • Manuscripts

  • Medication

  • Money

  • Paintings or one of a kind works of art

  • Perishable Items

  • Pets/Animals

  • Photographs

  • Photographic Equipment

  • Samples

  • Securities

  • Silverware

  • Watches

Don't Buy Airline Insurance

Most airlines will offer to sell you insurance to extend their liability to a higher value than would otherwise be the case. This insurance typically will cost you $1 - $2 per each extra $100 of cover, and is still subject to the same exclusions (see above).

This is a very poor value for insurance cover. Fewer than one in ten thousand bags end up being totally lost, which means the cost to the airline of selling you this premium is actually 1¢ per $100, but they sell it to you for $1+ per $100!

Wouldn't you like to be able to sell things for one hundred times (or more) their cost price?

What's more, you probably don't need this, at any price! If you're worried about your possible risk, check with your regular insurer and see if your householder's insurance policy will cover you for items lost by the airline. Chances are, in just about every case, you already have this cover (although subject to whatever deductible that might apply).

What Happens if the Airline Finds Your Bag After Reimbursing You for its Loss

Most likely, when accepting payment from the airline for your lost luggage, you are also signing over ownership to your lost property to the airline, in case they subsequently find it.

In such a case, it is very unlikely the airline would even tell you if they subsequently found your bag. Instead, they'll probably sell it, at a very low price, to the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, AL. And, no, there's no way you can ask the UBC to look out for your bag. They have thousands of items come in every day, and no system for trying to match bags to their lost owners.

Summary

Never pack anything irreplaceable in your checked luggage, because there is always a small chance it might be lost or broken or stolen.

If something does go wrong, you can negotiate with the airline to get the fairest resolution to your inconvenience. Don't necessarily believe their first offer is their best offer.

Don't expect to profit on the deal, but any unreimbursed loss can probably be claimed from your regular householder's insurance policy.

Read more in Part 1



In Part 1 we explain the process to follow when your bag is first delayed, and what to do to ensure the airline best compensates you for any clothing or other items you might need to purchase prior to your bag's return.

You need to know these things, because just about every bag that is permanently lost starts off as missing.


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Re: Bike lost - what next? [bigsky17] [ In reply to ]
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didn't declared a value for the bike when flying.
just checked and they apply the standard $20 per kilo... :-(
I guess that doesn't cover a QR Lucero + race wheels + rotorcranks
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Gary Tingley] [ In reply to ]
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well, going to hope for the best. maybe overly pessimistic...and otherwise, looks like I can recover part of it.
thanks for the post mate
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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I hope you didn't book through travelocity, after last time! Did you pay additional to have your bike onboard or was it part of your standard weight allowance? If the former you should have a considerably higher pay out limit, this was the case with BA when the handlers in Frankfurt wrecked my bike box.


"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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when I come out for camp, I am shipping using an all-3-sports velo case, via UPS

between lost luggage and the baggage gorillas/inspectors, I think it best to go this route, costs $65 each way between San Diego and El Paso, ground 3 day
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Gary Tingley] [ In reply to ]
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you're not driving?

jk: didn't pay for the bike, free on varig

btw, there was a bunch of brits in Brazil. lots of fun with these guys.
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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Unfortunately, the airlines hate cyclists. They jack us with huge charges when they don't for other sports equipment. As well, the second you say "bike" they have no liability like with other bags. I took my bike out to Hawaii last October for the Ko Olina Challenge and they told me that they don't insure bikes in any way because they are too valuable i.e., if it is damaged or lost, too bad.

When I got to Hawaii, I got off the plane and sure enough, no bike. I went over to the desk to fill out the "find by F#&!ing bike" form and told them I got to the plane over 3 hours early specifically to ensure that my bike made it on the plane. I begged them to go look again, and if you can believe this, my bike was still on the plane!!! It was sitting right there in the baggage compartment the entire time, they just didn't bother to unload it. If I wouldn't have pushed the matter the plane would have taken off and I would have been SOL.

That really sucks bro, I hope you get it back but I wouldn't expect much help from the airlines.

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Don't hold back
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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If you have homeowners insurance try checking with your company, sometimes they cover lost or stolen items while traveling.
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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My bike got 'lost' on the way back from IMMoo last year. I flew Continental and waited in Newark for a few hours before filing a lost baggage claim.

At the time and over the next two days, they had no clue where it was and I was thinking some handler just scored a new Cannondale, but it turned up at CDG (Paris) and they got it in my hands very quickly.

Check the renters/homeowners insurance. My renters insurance covers me up to 10% of my coverage amount for losses outside of my apartment. It would've been short a few hundred, but it's better than nothing.

Wait a solid week, it'll probably turn up somewhere, just call the airline daily asking for updates.

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Mike R

Software Engineer and Mac geek
Aspiring to be front-middle-of-the-pack in 2010.
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [miker] [ In reply to ]
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it turned up in CDG??? WTF....that's just amazing...CDG is soooo close to Madison :-)

thanks for the tip. Called them, but no answer so far.
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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My thoughts exactly. The only explanation I can think of is that my flight arrived during the late evening, when most european flights depart, and something got messed up.

I was very pissed that my bike was in France without me.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike R

Software Engineer and Mac geek
Aspiring to be front-middle-of-the-pack in 2010.
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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Aer Lingus lost a backpack of mine on a flight from JFK to Dublin about 15 years ago. When I got it back about 2 weeks later it had customs tags on it from Jamaica, Cape Town, Osaka and Istanbul. Damn thing went around the world.

Recently on a flight from Bangkok to SF I had a Tag Heuer watch, a cell phone and a digital camera stolen from a piece of checked and locked baggage....OK the watch was a $20 fake I picked up at Patpong market but the rest of the stuff was legit. United refused to reimburse me a dime because I failed to report the theft within 24 hours....I WAS IN THE FREAKIN AIR FOR ABOUT 16 HOURS AND WENT TO BED WHEN I GOT HOME!

When you give anything to an airline you're playing Russian Roulette.

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"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy."
John Sawhill
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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Damn dude, you've got all the luck! That sucks man... I hope they find it - and quickly.


<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
Get Fitter!
Proud member of the Smartasscrew, MONSTER CLUB
Get your FIX today?
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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Hi Francois,

Sometimes Airlines carry additional cargo in the belly of the airplane, we used to do this on LA to MIA flights and we would have an extra 40,000lbs of strawberries that had to go, so sometimes it makes the aircraft overweight for takeoff, so the airline is not going to bump the cargo becasue that cargo just paid for the whole flight, they try not to bump passengers so they do the next best thing and BUMP YOUR BAGS and you dont even know it untill you get to your destination unless you happen to be sitting on the right hand side of the Airplane and see your bags comming off.

The other reason could be that if you had to make multiple stops back to ELP, then most likely they had to re-screen your bike because it came off an international flight and it didnt make it back to your next aircraft.

Or the guy making 5 bucks an hour that puts the bag on the plane screwed up and sent it to another destination, was that Manchester, NH or Manchester England, you get the picture.

On a side note it happens all the time, a couple of months ago we had some horses to send via air, 6 Show horses were supposed to go to Amsterdam and 4 race horses were to go to Puerto Rico, how can you screw that up, well this company did and sent the Premium Show horses to San Juan and the old race horses to Amesterdam. The funny thing is that the puerto rican dude knew the company screwed up and took the horses anyway, but the guy in Amsterdam wasnt to amused.

I hope you get your bike back

_____________________________________________

I have horrible back problems but I have zero problems staying in an aero position for 180k. Why? Because I ride steep and because I train regularly in that position. Simple as that.....Gerard
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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jk: didn't pay for the bike, free on varig

btw, there was a bunch of brits in Brazil. lots of fun with these guys.

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I hope that doesn't reduce the amount of your payout due.

Glad you had a good time in Floripa despite everything that happened. How was the weather, any storms as we had last year?


"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [jk_allen13] [ In reply to ]
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the bike magically appeared today in Miami and will be home tomorrow am...
hopefully intact...12hrs fingers crossed
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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Good News!!

BTW- What happened at your last IM?I keep reading things here and there about bad luck?



Tim

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I'm just a 10 cent rider on a $2,500.00 Bike

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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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HOORAY!! Keep us posted on when it arrives and in what condition it arrives.


"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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dude, that blows big time. that just sucks. let us know what comes of it.
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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NICE - got a couple more fingers crossed up here for ya too. :)


<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
Get Fitter!
Proud member of the Smartasscrew, MONSTER CLUB
Get your FIX today?
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Re: Bike lost - what next? [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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Cool,

All I have to do now is go to the varig ticket counter in MIA tell them that im Francois and cha ching, ive got a new Lucero, heheheheehehehe

_____________________________________________

I have horrible back problems but I have zero problems staying in an aero position for 180k. Why? Because I ride steep and because I train regularly in that position. Simple as that.....Gerard
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