A bike stolen earlier this week helped pave the way for a Windsor business to grow, making it's theft that much more personal.
Shane Mitchell wants his vintage bicycle back.
“I hate to see this sort of thing happening and it seems to be happening more often,” says Mitchell.
He claims late Wednesday night someone stole it right off his front porch.
“Unfortunately somebody seemed to think it was a perfect opportunity to get a free ride home,” says Mitchell.
According to Mitchell, the stolen bike is a 1977 Raleigh.
It was also one of the first bikes restored that helped spring the popular City Cyclery in Old Walkerville.
“I hate to see bicycles being stolen in the neighbourhood,” says Mitchell. “There's a lot of people out there who use bicycles every day to get to work or to school."
Councillor Chris Holt is a former co-owner of the Cyclery and recalls this specific bike to be the one that launched the vintage restoration business.
“This one was special," says Holt. “To have somebody just arbitrarily just take it, it's personal.”
Friends have put out a reward for the bikes safe return - a full suspension aluminum mountain bike and no questions asked.
Windsor police Const. Andy Drouillard says bike thefts are a constant problem, as evident by the hundreds of recovered bikes at the annual police bike auction.
“It's always important for people to report these instances so we can direct our attention to special areas,” says Drouillard.
Police encourage all bicycle owners to register their rides online through the Windsor police bike registry. http://www.police.windsor.on.ca/services/reporting/Pages/Bike-Registry.aspx
“In the event that we find a recovered bike we're able to find the owner of the bike," says Drouillard.
