While I’ve been riding a bike as long as I can remember, I rediscovered road cycling about 15 years ago – and now I’m hooked. I ride with a large social group who have created a tight community who look after one another and we have fun riding our bikes.

About two years ago my mum passed away suddenly. It was a shock and took a while to adjust to not be able to pick up the phone and talk to her. We never had a lot of money growing up, but mum left me a small amount of her savings. I thought for a while about what to do with it and decided to spend it on something that would bring me joy and help remember my mum with love. I bought a new bike. She is gorgeous. I love riding her, looking at her and remembering mum.

About 6 weeks ago I rode to work in the city, as I do a couple of times per week. The weather turned stormy – rain and wind and I decided it was too dangerous to ride home. So I locked up my bike in the secure storage area. The next day when I went to ride home……..my bike was gone, the lock cut and left lying there. I couldn’t quite believe it. I kept thinking it must be there somewhere. But no, she was gone.

While I was devastated, I held out hope that my bike might turn up. My husband had recorded the bike serial numbers and had taken photos of it from every angle to list it on Bike Vault (Vic) and Bikelinc (WA), the new Crime Stoppers WA website to help protect your bike. We marked the bike as STOLEN on Bikelinc and kept on eye on buy and sell sites. There was also a crime report to WA Police and hope that there might be some CCTV from the building management.

After a few weeks I had almost given up hope. No sign of my beautiful bike. But then…….a phone call from WA Police said it had turned up at a Cash Converters store in Mirrabooka. The shop staff had checked Bikelinc when someone bought it in and found it was stolen. They hung onto the bike and let Police know, who called me and arranged an emotional reunion with my beloved bike.

Thanks to Bikelinc I’m back on the road, enjoying cycling with my friends and remembering my mum. A bike can be more than just a bike – and this one means so much more to me than just another bike.

Thank you Bikelinc, thank you Cash Converters Mirrabooka and thank you WA Police.

Even if you love your bike only half as much as I do, put it on Bikelinc, record the serial number, take photos. You can hope the worst won’t happen, but if it does you will be prepared and have some chance of getting it back – and if every bike owner lists their bike on Bikelinc – it might just deter some of the crooks too.

Sharon McBride – Cyclist