Tour Team Bikes Stolen

 As too many of us know too well, bicycles are among the most easily- and therefore commonly-stolen items. Usually, when a lower-priced bike is taken, it’s a crime of opportunity. But when an expensive machine is pilfered, it more than likely been targeted, whether by an individual or someone working for a gang or other group that steals and sells bikes.

The latter scenario probably explains the theft of 11 bicycles valued at around 150000 Euros (about 163000 USD) from a team mechanic’s van in Le Lorian, a resort in the Massif Central of France.

Some of those bikes were spares for riders on the French Total Energies team. Others—possibly including the Anthony Turgis, rode to victory in Stage 9 earlier this week—were riders’ “best” bikes.

Anthony Turgis (from Getty Images)

 Other teams are helping TE build replacements, which is difficult without the mechanics’ tools.

I have to wonder why—or whether—TE was targeted. Most of those bikes were Enve Melees which, even if they were sold (as most high-end stolen bikes are) for a fraction of their retail value, would net a hefty profit. 

Or is there someone who doesn’t want French riders like Turgis to win more stages—or the entire Tour for the first time since Bernard Hinault achieved his fifth Tour victory in 1985?

Could it be that some unscrupulous collector placed an order for Enve Melees or bikes ridden by Tour riders?

Whatever the case, the team’s riders and leaders say it’s just part of life and they’ll soldier on.

Morning Light On The Island

 Another early morning ride to City Island. Check out the light:

Make Sure You Know The Way

 Nearly a century and a half ago, Baron Haussmann remade Paris. Before he began his work, the City of Light had, like many other old European cities, serpentine, circuitous streets. He replaced them with wider, arrow-straight avenues and boulevards. 

He reasoned, correctly, that those new thoroughfares would facilitate commerce. 

But city and national officials probably cared more about how they could make it easier for troops to move—and put down protests and rebellions for which Parisians were famous. City residents who incited or participated in such conflicts could evade gendarmes and soldiers, many of whom came from other parts of the country—or different quarters of the city—and were therefore not familiar with the meandering streets.

I mention this history because if you are trying to flee law enforcement or military personnel—whether because you’ve incited a protest for a noble cause or have committed a crime (which I don’t recommend)—on your bicycle, be sure you know the terrain.

It’s too late for a man in Troy, New York. Police in the city, just northeast of Albany, responded to a call about “suspicious activity.” They tried to question a man riding his bike in the area. But instead of stopping, he sped up and tried to evade the cops.

He pedaled down a couple of streets pursued by the patrolmen who flashed their lights and blared their siren. He steered into a backyard where, in the darkness, he tumbled over an embankment and into the Hudson River, where he drowned.

I don’t know whether the man actually committed a crime or simply panicked when the cops approached him. Either way, fleeing wasn’t a good idea—especially if he didn’t know the territory.