I've been cycling since I was a kid; used to pedal to work in Chicago in the early '70s, in most weather, on my then-new Schwinn Suburban 10 speed (it was Chicago, remember!).
The bike was root beer brown with gumwall tires and white Britannia plastic fenders. One day when it was about 6 months old, I was eating lunch at a coffee shop, I had it chained to a post across the street, and a bus pulled up to disgorge its passengers, blocking my view of the bike. When the bus left, the bike was...GONE.
I had the serial number memorized (MF02430), and posted it on the fridge.
Over two years later, my brother thought he saw it being ridden by an old classmate of his. Pretty distinctive bike. I rounded up a friend who was a Chicago police detective and we went a-knockin'. The 17-year-old gave up the bike without a struggle--he was trembling. Serial number matched and there wasn't a scratch on it.
I sold the bike eight years later, when I moved to California to Chicago. Lately, I've been biking a bit here and there on a $100 Huffy mountain bike, while my "Gentleman's Tourer" is being built by my good friend Tom, who owns 4130inc. Bicycles. It will be similar to #8 on his website, except with a 10-speed setup and front basket. Once it's complete, I'll be doing lots of riding around the hills here.
http://4130inc.com/
