The past few hours have been an emotional roller coaster, to say the least.
Driving home from work, I was coming down 2nd street in Harrisburg. I always turn left at Market St, to head over the Market St bridge. There is a bike rack at the corner, and I usually sweep my eyes over, still hopeful that I will find my bike. I literally couldn't believe it when I saw it chained to the rack. I quickly parked on a side street, fed the meter (not enough, as I ended up with a $30 parking ticket), and sat down on the concrete benches outside the Dauphin County Administration Building. Homeless people often hang out here, and many of them gave me a wary eye as I sat there for over two hours. My Ram was one of four bikes chained to the rack when I first arrived. Around 5:30, a kitted-up commuter came out and started to fiddle with the rack. My heart was beating out of my chest, until I realized his was a different bike. Not much happened until 6:00, when someone started serving food to the homeless at the bus station across the street. All of the men that had been sitting near my bike got up and walked over, except for one. I started to get really nervous, thinking that this guy was on to me, but nothing ever came of it. Shortly after that, a man came up to the rack, and unlocked an orange Mongoose MTB. My heart raced again, but now I was just hoping the police would get there before something else happened. With only two bikes left, I noticed that my Ram and a BMX-type bike were actually sharing the same lock. I tried calling Harrisburg police again, but they couldn't give me an ETA on when they would arrive (the HPD is 1.5 blocks from where my bike was found). Frustrated, I tried calling my local PD again, and was able to reach the officer that had originally filed my report, back in December. I talked to him for a few minutes, and he said he would drive over to Harrisburg. Skip forward to almost 7pm. A guy I'd seen hanging around comes over to the rack, and begins to undo the lock. I kept fairly still, sitting 15 feet away, but had the video cam running on my phone. At first I thought he was going to just take the BMX bike and relock my Ram, but then he wrapped up the cable and took both bikes off the rack. Now I was starting to get panicky. I couldn't believe that after six months of missing my bike, and 2 hours of sitting on a concrete bench, that I was going to lose it again. I stood up, only to keep filiming. The guy slowly rolled the bikes across the street, toward the bus station. My heart was sinking. Just then, the officer from Camp Hill (my town) pulled up to the intersection. I waved my arms at him and pointed to the guy rolling the bikes across the street. He saw me, and pulled into the bus station, where the guy had stopped with the bikes. I hung back a little, but was close to enough to hear the conversation. My bike had been in the possession of a homeless man, who had bought it from a hardware store down the street for $30(!!!!). The officer talked with him for a while, and then Harrisburg PD finally showed up. The officer from Camp Hill took the bike with him, as I still need to prove that it is mine (didn't have the serial number). The man who had the bike was let go, and the dozen or so homeless people watched it all unfold from the bike rack where my bike had been. The bike has definitely been outside a great deal since it left my garage in December. There are a number of scratches on the top tube, and the Honey B17 looks like it has aged years. The headlight I had mounted to the left side of my fork was dangling, rubbing against the spokes. But to think that the bike I love so much is on its way home...it's almost too much to comprehend. The bike that was my first Father's Day gift in 2005. The bike that has towed our son for hundreds of miles; first in a Burley trailer, then a trail-a-bike. The bike that rode alongside him as he learned to ride on his own. The bike that had given me so much joy, and been part of so many of my memories...is almost mine again. Thanks for reading, Mark On Mon, Jun 22, 2015 at 7:45 PM, cyclotourist <cyclotour...@gmail.com> wrote: > One step closer to home! > > On Mon, Jun 22, 2015 at 4:33 PM, Mark Wilkins <wilkins.m...@gmail.com> wrote: >> Will post update shortly, but my bike is safely in the hands of my local >> police department !!! >> >> :-) >> :-) >> :-) >> :-) >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> On Jun 22, 2015, at 19:25, 'doc' via RBW Owners Bunch >> <rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> wrote: >> >> Parking a Riv at 2nd and Market is like putting it on a billboard. >> >> On Monday, June 22, 2015 at 7:03:57 PM UTC-4, Philip Williamson wrote: >>> >>> Yeah, I can't name one! >>> >>> Philip >>> www.biketinker.com >>> >>> On Monday, June 22, 2015 at 3:56:59 PM UTC-7, cyclot...@gmail.com wrote: >>>> >>>> Not as far as we're concerned!!! >>>> >>>> On Mon, Jun 22, 2015 at 3:14 PM, Mark Wilkins <wilkin...@gmail.com> >>>> wrote: >>>> > Seriously, I'm dying here. Waiting. >>>> > >>>> > I understand there are more important matters in the city of >>>> > Harrisburg, but >>>> > c'mon! >>>> > >>>> > Sent from my iPhone >>>> > >>>> > On Jun 22, 2015, at 18:11, Minh <mgian...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> > >>>> > oh the suspense and excitement of RBW bike retrieval! >>>> > >>>> > On Monday, June 22, 2015 at 6:05:52 PM UTC-4, Mark Wilkins wrote: >>>> >> >>>> >> Waiting for my wife to bring one. Nervous to leave the scene. Several >>>> >> people hanging around. >>>> >> >>>> >> Sent from my iPhone >>>> >> >>>> >> > On Jun 22, 2015, at 18:04, James Warren <jimcw...@earthlink.net> >>>> >> > wrote: >>>> >> > >>>> >> > If you don't have a lock, buy one and do that. >>>> >> > >>>> >> > >>>> >> > Sent from my iPhone >>>> >> > >>>> >> >> On Jun 22, 2015, at 2:59 PM, cyclotourist <cyclot...@gmail.com> >>>> >> >> wrote: >>>> >> >> >>>> >> >> KEEP THE FAITH!!!!! >>>> >> >> >>>> >> >> If you have a lock with you, double lock it with that one! >>>> >> >> >>>> >> >>> On Mon, Jun 22, 2015 at 2:54 PM, Mark Wilkins >>>> >> >>> <wilkin...@gmail.com> >>>> >> >>> wrote: >>>> >> >>> Just spotted my blue ram, stolen in December, locked to a rack in >>>> >> >>> downtown Harrisburg, PA. Waiting for police (1hr so far) >>>> >> >>> >>>> >> >>> Can't believe it! >>>> >> >>> >>>> >> >>> Sent from my iPhone >>>> >> >>> >>>> >> >>> -- >>>> >> >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> >> >>> Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>>> >> >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, >>>> >> >>> send >>>> >> >>> an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. >>>> >> >>> To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com. >>>> >> >>> Visit this group at >>>> >> >>> http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. >>>> >> >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>> >> >> >>>> >> >> >>>> >> >> >>>> >> >> -- >>>> >> >> Cheers, >>>> >> >> David >>>> >> >> >>>> >> >> Member, Supreme Council of Cyberspace >>>> >> >> >>>> >> >> "it isn't a contest. Just enjoy the ride." - Seth Vidal >>>> >> >> >>>> >> >> -- >>>> >> >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> >> >> Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>>> >> >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, >>>> >> >> send >>>> >> >> an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. >>>> >> >> To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com. >>>> >> >> Visit this group at >>>> >> >> http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. >>>> >> >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>> >> > >>>> >> > -- >>>> >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> >> > Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>>> >> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, >>>> >> > send >>>> >> > an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. >>>> >> > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com. >>>> >> > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. >>>> >> > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>> > >>>> > -- >>>> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> > Groups >>>> > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>>> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> > an >>>> > email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. >>>> > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com. >>>> > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. >>>> > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>> > >>>> > -- >>>> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> > Groups >>>> > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>>> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> > an >>>> > email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. >>>> > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com. >>>> > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. >>>> > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Cheers, >>>> David >>>> >>>> Member, Supreme Council of Cyberspace >>>> >>>> "it isn't a contest. Just enjoy the ride." - Seth Vidal >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > > -- > Cheers, > David > > Member, Supreme Council of Cyberspace > > "it isn't a contest. Just enjoy the ride." - Seth Vidal > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
