A Miracle

As my family was off visiting Grinnell today, Brian and I decided to go hit happy hour downtown after work. While sitting outside on a lovely patio, we had a couple of beers, and got to talking about sushi, and how great sushi is. We talked about sushi for long enough we felt we had to have some, so we decided to go to Takanami on our way home.

We walked through downtown at a leisurely pace. As we approached the intersection at Dubuque and Iowa streets, I glanced across the road and saw a solitary bike locked to a rack. The bike looked oddly familiar. It exuded a restless quality that pulled at my heartstrings. Also, it was dark green with silver decals. I looked closer and discerned some red on the underside of the saddle. Telling myself not to get excited, I said, "I think that's my bike."

Brian and I crossed the street. As we drew closer, there could no longer be any doubt. The Johnny Sprocket's decal on the down-tube, the double-sided pedals, the clamp for my light on the handlebars... everything was right. It was my bike. Undeniably, irrefutably my good old Jamis Aurora - stolen from my porch three months ago today.

I said, "What do we do?"

We called the police. They found the report I'd filed and an officer soon arrived on the scene. He verified the description and called for backup. Presently, another officer joined us, this one wielding the bolt cutters of justice (the handles were at least three feet long). After hacking through the lock that held my bike captive, they sent Brian and I off home with my liberated steed.

Unfortunately, the bike is a little worse for its journey into the unknown. It is going to need some repairs, as the thief obviously made no attempt to maintain or care for it. But, I'm just happy to have it back. Too bad it can't tell me all it's been through. Fortunately, as it wasn't a flashy bike to begin with, its new scars will just add character.


After bringing my bike safely home, we headed back downtown and had some celebratory sushi. It was pretty wonderful.