West St resident Kevin with his stolen bikes sign. PHOTOS/SUPPLIED.
Two bicycles were stolen from a birthday party in Greytown two Saturdays ago.
But come Monday morning they had been returned.
West St resident Caroline, who did not want her last name published, said that her friends Judy and Colin, members of the “Senile Cyclists”, had ridden to her and husband Kevin’s house for a dinner party at 6pm.
Judy and Colin parked their bicycles against Caroline’s front fence, behind a tree.
The friends had dinner together, but when it was time to go home, the bicycles were gone.
“We had occasion to go out to the bikes at 10pm, and they were there. But when Judy and Colin went to leave at 11pm the bikes weren’t there.”
Caroline called the 105 non-emergency reporting number for the police.
Later in the night, she saw a police car trawling the street with a torch shining up residents’ driveways.
“The police were absolutely phenomenal,” Caroline said.
However, they were unable to locate the bicycles that night.
Judy and Colin were driven home by their hosts.
On Sunday morning, it occurred to Caroline that droves of people walked past her property with their dogs every morning.
She made a “Stolen” sign and displayed it in her driveway.
The sign attracted a lot of attention from neighbours.
“I’ve never talked to so many people out the front here,” Caroline said.
But by Sunday night, the bikes had still not been found.
Caroline brought the sign in and went to bed.
On Monday morning, a neighbour walking her dogs saw the bicycles on the kerb in front of Caroline’s next-door-neighbours. The neighbour sent Caroline a message.
“They were totally unharmed – even a two-dollar coin was still in the pannier of my friend’s bike,” Caroline said.
Caroline erected a new sign saying, “Thank you, bikes returned”.
“We don’t know who took them, but we can surmise that somebody’s conscience has been pricked,” Caroline said.
During the ordeal, she said that Senior Constable Rod Gully had reassured them.
Victim Support also visited the house. “We all laughed, but it was really quite upsetting,” Caroline said. “We’re do a lot of biking, and these bikes matter a lot.”
