Blogs are very useful to gratuitously vent one’s disappointments out into the Ether…

Dear Bicycle Thieves,

As a thief you’ll never consider that you are taking peoples belongings, not just “objects” to convert into cash.

I don’t even consider myself particularly materialistic, but I did love my bike.

You’ve not made me angry - you’ve made me sad. The amount of inconvenience you’ve just caused me is huge.

The bicycle is my main mode of transport - I don’t own a car (never have).

If I could give you the cash that you’ll no doubt make from selling it, I would - it’s worth that much to me. In fact if anyone does help return it in good order, I’ll offer a £100 (no-questions asked) reward.

I love cycling. My bike was fabulous to ride. Very comfortable, light, strong. Front-suspension.

It had a beautiful form and I loved the colour. It weighed under 9kg.

I bought it last year for a substantial sum - £900. I bought my last bike in 1993 so this was a big update (I was lucky enough to have saved enough to afford it at the time).

Of course, I don’t have insurance. Why? Well - at £110/year plus the most ridiculous restrictions on what constitutes a claim makes it wholly unrealistic for anyone who actually rides a bike. At least I know I had a good lock - you had to remove the steel fixings from the brick wall that I was tied to and take the lot. Looking at the Terms of some of the insurers I don’t think this would even have been fully covered.

I have the bike shop searching for another, but they don’t make this one any more - Koga are based in Holland.

A Koga Miyata Terraliner with carbon wheels. Whoever ends up with it will be quite noticeable.