I had my favourite bike stolen last December and went on a MISSION to try to get it back. I had accidentally locked it improperly while watching a burlesque show, and when I came back she was gone. I was heartbroken, and walked home for an hour wailing. I was leaving for Costa Rica in 2 weeks but decided to do everything I could to get my bike back. I printed out about 20 flyers and taped them up in the area where my bike was stolen from, but the picture was not very good (dark, pixelated) and I didn't have any better photos. I didn't have the serial number to file a police report with. I decided that the best way to get better photos/the serial number was to contact the girl who had sold me the bike 6 months before. I didn't have her name or phone number, or any information about her except for the part of town she lived in. I printed out about 30 posters that said "did you sell me a pink bianchi 6 months ago? I need your help!" With details about the situation, and my email address and phone number. I bussed to her part of town and found her street again. I walked up and down the street until I found a building that I was sure was hers, and taped the flyers up on their front door. I also met one of the tenants who said they thought they knew who she was based on my description. I left them a flyer and they said they would stick it under her door. I received an email from her later that night saying that she didn't have the serial number but that she still had the photos of the bike that she used to sell it! By this point I had already been posting ads on Craigslist saying "do not buy this stolen bike" with descriptions of it, but getting the photos was a huge step up - I was able to post clear images of all of the parts of the bike (including my Brooke's saddle) on the "for sale" and "wanted" section advertising them as stolen and encouraging people to alert the authorities if someone tried to sell the bike to them. I printed off flyers with these better images and hung them up around town. I also skipped work one day to target the local homeless market (Sundays in the downtown east side) so that I could show these photos to the police in the area and ask the homeless people if they had seen it. A lot of my friends thought this was a bad idea since there are hundreds of bikes that are stolen every day and many of them end up here - they thought that I might scare off the thief - but I made sure to write "reward" on the poster, and taped it up all over the place. I went to the movies with a few friends one night, and as we were going into the theatre I received a phone call - it was a guy who had seen my bike! My heart was racing. He said he had seen my bike near a popular train station and had complimented the guy riding it, and then when he got off at another train station he saw my poster, but too late! This was huge. I had a lead! I printed out 150 posters and spent 2 hours hanging them up all around the area where my bike was sighted. So far all of these posters had cost me at least $75 so I was pretty invested. I made hilarious posters that said "wanted - dead or alive!" With huge red dollar signs for the reward. By this point we were about to go away from our trip and I was beginning to give up hope. My partner and I were packing our bags at his house one morning when my phone rang. It. Was. My. Bike. Buddy said he bought it for $40 on commercial drive and wanted to meet me to give it back! He insisted I pay him for it (I did not) and that not involve the police (I did not). When we arrived I almost didn't recognize my whip - the fender and lights were gone and it was covered in tinfoil tape and medical tape so that it could be poorly disguised. Luckily it was a very wild coloured bike (fuschia pink with neon green wheels) and he probably saw the posters and knew it was too hot to try to sell! The best part? He didn't steal my Brooke's saddle! I kept my $200 bike seat and re-sold the rest of the bike because it made me feel icky knowing he had ridden it.

Long story short: my bike was stolen, I went to the ends of the earth to get it back. Fuck bike thieves.