I wouldn’t call myself an enthusiast. An enthusiast is a person who goes all out, who gets every gadget, who fully immerses themselves into it. They participate every opportunity they get. Sometimes, they get specialized ones. Ones that look like this:

That’s not what I meant when I said I wanted a pony.

Or one of these:

From the same page as the pony. Really- there are many more. Click the pic and check them out. We’ll wait.

Or even one of these:

For the bicyclist on the GO! Get it? Huh?

Bicycle enthusiasts are those people that build a killer pedal float and continue to use it.

An enthusiast is a person who joins a bicycle “marching” band. Though, it really is pretty sweet to watch.

I am not an enthusiast. But I have recently gained a love of biking.

I am incredibly lucky to live in Minneapolis where they make bike riding so easy. We consistently rank in the top few US cities for biking (usually #1 or #2, depending on how pissy Portland is being that year). In fact, AAA is going to start offering roadside assistance for bikes in Hennepin county. And we have a very easy and affordable bike sharing system, which I use as my main means of bike transport.

The joke “hey- Nice Ride” never gets old…

I’m a huge advocate for the Nice Ride system (see the sexy blue and green bike pictured above). Living in Uptown, I’m a block away from a station. I bike two blocks to a bike boulevard, and from there, I can get onto the greenway, a bike “freeway” for bikes. It’s like a whole different world down there, with cute gardens and bike friendly restaurants. The path is lighted, there are emergency call boxes, and even a volunteer Trail Watch group that patrols the greenway.

From the greenway, I can go a great distance safely. I try to put in 7 miles a day. Sometimes this is to or from rehearsal, which has a Nice Ride station next door. Sometimes, this is to local businesses. Sometimes this is biking around a couple of lakes I happen to live near.

Now, there aren’t Nice Ride stations everywhere I want to go. I think my only complaint is that there aren’t more of them scattered throughout Minneapolis. But that’s a trade off I’m willing to make for my favorite reason to use Nice Ride- I don’t have to worry about the bike itself. Just pick out a bike at the station, check it out with my fob, and go. No taking it in to get fixed or even filling the tires. And absolutely zero worries about someone stealing it.

Which is what happened to Danny Lesh in Washington. Someone stole his bike. Cut the chain and took it. And then, Danny found the bike listed on Ebay. He called police, but they had more pressing engagements at the moment. So Danny did the only logical thing.

He stole his bike back.

He contacted the thief as an interested buyer. Showed up, looked it over, and asked if he could take it out for a test ride. And then just pedaled off with it. After 4 blocks, a sympathetic cabbie gave him a lift. By the time the thief called Danny to ask what was up, Danny was on the other side of town.

My favorite part is that the thief threatened to call the police on him. Okay buddy. You go ahead and do that.