Being a crime victim really sucks. Especially if something you prize is stolen. Especially if it is something as personal as a bicycle.
It’s hard to explain how attached a person can be to what is really nothing more than a collection of metal, rubber, and leather, but discovering that my 1970s vintage Peugeot U-08 10-speed had been stolen from my garage sometime between June 19 and June 23 as I prepared for a ride really got to me.
That metallic blue beauty was my second Peugeot U-08. The first was a bright yellow one bought from The Spoke bicycle shop on East Colfax Avenue in 1973 when I returned to bicycling for the first time in decades. I paid $148 for that bike, which, because it was made in France, was dubbed Brigitte.
My friend Fred Dumke, who rode a Gitane, was instrumental in steering me toward French bicycles. After reading “Richard’s Bicycle Book,” a paperback by Richard Ballantine, I decided on a Peugeot. At the time, we lived on Green Mountain in Lakewood, which offered lots of practice riding up hills.
It took a while to get used to shifting with derailleurs and maintaining the bike, which required more tinkering and adjusting that the balloon-tired Schwinn of boyhood days. Rode it every day the weather permitted, usually 10 miles or so at a time. One day, I met Art Franks, a neighbor who was a dedicated bicyclist, and occasionally rode greater distances into the depths of suburban Arapahoe County with him.
During the Arab oil embargo, I’d jump on the Peugeot and scout out the stations that hadn’t run out of gasoline, then rush home to get the Volkswagen beetle to fill up.
A highlight of my enthusiasm for the sport came when I got to review Eugene Sloane’s “The New Complete Book of Bicycling,” meet the author, ride around town with him, and visit the then-new Turin Bicycle Ltd. Store.
My bike riding in those days was strictly recreational. At the time I worked at the Rocky Mountain News but didn’t ride to work. That came after going signing on with The Denver Post and moving back into the city in 1979. Occasionally, I’d bicycle to work if there would be no need for a car to go on assignment.
I traded off the first Peugeot, and for years rode three-speed bikes, including a Raleigh that I fitted with a baby seat when our son was a toddler. (Taking a cranky child who is set against taking his nap on a bicycle ride around Washington Park was a good way to get him to sleep.) Years later, my wife talked me into selling the Raleigh at a yard sale. Big mistake!
Then about six years ago, I got the itch to find another U-08, and, after poring over Craigslist and visiting several bicycle shops, found just the bike I wanted at Bikes on Broadway, 1445 S. Broadway in September 2009.
Old retired guys have more latitude on when to ride bicycles, and so I’d wait until the spirit moved me and morning traffic eased up to ride the Peugeot around Washington Park in nice weather. It’s good exercise. Our goofy spring weather and other matters this year kind of delayed my getting back on the bicycle this year, so I was looking forward to getting back into my routine.
Until Tuesday, when I discovered the Peugeot had disappeared. Lately, our garage door had mysteriously opened seemingly all by itself. I reasoned that somebody else in the neighborhood had gotten a remote control with the same coding as ours. After discovering the theft of the bike (and my Bell bicycle helmet and fingerless gloves) I wondered if that were the case or if some electronically clever thieves had found a way to open other people’s garage doors.
Needless to say, the theft was reported to the Denver Police Department, and an officer was dispatched to our home to get the pertinent information.
Realistically, there’s not much chance I’ll ever see the Peugeot again, but, if you happen to notice a blue Peugeot U-08 with drop bars, black handlebar wrappings, black Ideal brand leather seat, a white plastic water bottle, serial number 44469, call the Denver police immediately. If the thief is lucky, the cops will find him or her before I do.
Peter Chronis of Denver is a former employee of The Denver Post.
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