Bike Lost. Bike Found. Onwards!

Heinz Stücke, a quasi-celebrity amongst biking fanatics, has travelled 335,000 miles across different parts of the world aince 1962. He's travelled across the Syrian desert to set a personal record of around 200 miles in 12 hours. He's been to high altitudes in India and Tibet, across Afghanistan and in the mountainous African kingdom of Lesotho. He's been shot at in Zambia and stung by bees in Gambia. And that's not all - he did it on the same bike! Yes folks, he's been riding the same bike for 335,000 miles and 44 years. It was -obviously- not your average bike.

In these days of multi-speed, titanium-framed, shock-absorbed mountain bikes, it was no ordinary bicycle. It had a modest three speeds and a hub brake. It weighed 56 pounds because its frame had been reinforced against fractures, and its spokes had been thickened to cope with the rugged terrain, according to a web posting by Mr. Stücke (http://bikechina.com/ct-heinzstucke1z.html)

Last week, en route on a bicycling trip from France to Greenland, he set up camp in Britain, and you know what? Someone stole his bike!

Last Monday he landed in Portsmouth, southern England, pitched his tent, and covered his ancient bicycle with string, canvas and bungee chords, tethering it outside the tent flap.

"I even left my door open so that I could see it, but when I awoke at 3 a.m., it had gone," the Times of London quoted him as saying.

He notified the police and a helpful constable offered him another bike from the lost and found. But Stücke stuck with his faith in humanity and refused. He was convinced it would be returned.

"I expected it to be found, because it's not a flashy one, it's not an expensive one," he said.

And you know what? This story does have a happy ending. The bike was returned.

An unidentified person found it abandoned in a park. And it was handed back to him, to his relief.

"It's my way of life," he said. "It's the only life I know."

Good going, Heinz! And that's not all. This is not the worst crime he's faced. In New York, he was hitchhiking back to his bike (which was in Costa Rica for safekeeping) and someone offered him a ride. This person stopped in front of a drug store a little while later and requested him to get a couple of cigars, offering him some change. When Heinz came back the guy had driven off! In fact,

"...he had driven away with all my belongings in the car — camera, 1,000 selected slides, passport, my diary, equipment, everything."

"At such a time I remembered my motto: Every blow that does not kill me only makes me stronger."

Inspiring words. There's definitely a correlation between endurance sports and enduring the crap life doles out to you. Way to go, Heinz!

Read more about it in this NYT article.