Wonder Woman and the Bike

I heard the news while I was pedicabbing dirty six on Thursday evening. Wonder Woman, otherwise known as Sarah, had her bike stolen while it was locked up at a busy location. I heard the news second-hand from the doorman at Pete's Piano Bar and knew it was significant.

Not the right color, but that rear suspension is pretty unusual.

Sarah drives a pedicab on the streets of Austin, most of the time dressed up as Wonder Woman, a gimic for sure, but a gimic that she pulls off comfortably and effectively. Unlike me Sarah usually kills on the pedicab, but with this setback her FaceBook posts showed that she had shed her confident DC hero persona and could only morn the loss of an old friend who been her loyal partner in world-wide adventures for over 12 years. That sense of loss was understandable, but she was Wonder Woman, damn it! Find that bike and dispense some super hero justice!

Someone suggested the idea of posting an ad to Craigslist to put a sort of all-points-bulletin on the community bulletin board. Unfortunately,  Sarah reported that she had no photos of her beloved vintage GT mountain bike with that unique rear suspension. This lack of personal photo record is something I still cannot comprehend. My bikes always pose for pictures at least once. But it was what it was.  I decided to go looking on the internet for pictures of the same sort of bike, the result you see above. I posted a Craigslist ad on the subject late Friday evening and by sunrise Saturday morning I had a response in my email box. A citizen had spotted a gold colored GT of similar configuration chained up at a coffee house about a 1/2 mile from the location of the theft. I relayed the tip to Sarah. She replied that her bike wasn't gold, it was yellow with red graphics.

Saturday evening Sarah sent me a text. She had followed the tip and located her bike. It was recovered at the same location indicated by the Craigslist tip. Happy ending?

Well, not entirely happy. Once the bike was found, Sarah placed another lock on it where it stood hoping to stake out the location from the comfort of the coffee shop and nail the thief when he returned for his ill-gotten prize. She gave up after a few hours (I guess Wonder Woman can only tolerate so much coffee) and reclaimed the bike without serving up any justice (or using that magic lasso). Mild disappointment I suppose, but a happy ending nevertheless.