Three cheers for anonymous cabbie!

[jefmcg]

My partner is working at two sites, one pretty close to home (12km) so he's experimenting with cycle commuting once a week. Yesterday he left work with a satchel containing wallet, keys, notebook - oh - and Macbook bungeed to the rear rack. When he got home after cycling through Shepherd's Bush, Chiswick and Brentford, it was gone

We retraced his steps, but of course found nothing. Chiswick police station was closed, Brentford police station no longer exists, so we went home. Insurance line is 8-6, so there was nothing we could do. He'd cancelled his credit card outside the police station, and when we got home he changed the passwords he could so if the person who had it managed somehow to access his browser or iTunes they wouldn't be able to spend any money.

We didn't really expect to find it on the road. The first person to see it would pick it up, now we were at the mercy of whether it was an honest or dishonest person. Plus it had our keys and his drivers license so if we were going to have the change the locks.

Subject says it all. About 10 minutes after we get home, there is a knock on the door. Policeman with satchel, completely intact and in good condition. A cabbie had found it, called the police and met them at Chiswick Police station. Yay cabbie! Yay police!

Partner has learned his lesson. He'll find a better way of carrying his luggage. Panniers aren't an option as it's a 20" wheeled folder. I told him the simple trick of throwing strap around seat post. Actually, he is lucky he didn't have an accident. It was a bungee net with 6 or 8 hooks, only one still attached. It could have easily caught in his spokes.

 

[Tim Hall]

Top marks for that cabbie!

I've got a 20 inch folder (oooer missus), that has a rack and can take a pannier. What model does he have? Mine's a Trek (rebadged Dahon I think) and I'll have a gander at the rack when I get home.

 

[jefmcg]

Top marks for that cabbie!

I've got a 20 inch folder (oooer missus), that has a rack and can take a pannier. What model does he have? Mine's a Trek (rebadged Dahon I think) and I'll have a gander at the rack when I get home.

Decathlon Hoptown, also a rebadged Dahon, I believe. I tried panniers on my 16" folder, and couldn't find one that was of a useful size that didn't get heel strike.

Of course, panniers aren't panaceas. I once found a brand new Altura pannier with nothing but a pair of shoes and a pair of jeans on Blackfriar's Bridge. Which, btw, I took to a police station. We may have just had a moment of karma, come to think of it.

 

[ScotiaLass]

That's great!
I wear a backpack, doesn't suit everyone (and I don't commute) but I know where my stuff is
Glad he got everything back - big well done to both police and cab driver!

 

[vickster]

I wouldn't personally want something heavy and hard with sharp corners like a laptop on my back, especially when riding in lots of traffic

Yay to cabbie and plod

 

[Ganymede]

I realised the other day I was cycling along with a very expensive bottle of wine just propped up in a basket strapped to the rack of my bike. I was at the station propping up the bike, staring into the middle distance but surrounded by people waiting for the train, and suddenly thought: feck, anyone could just pull that bottle out of the basket and I wouldn't know. So I became extra-vigilant after that.

It was a nice ride, friend has a new house which I hadn't cycled (cycle-n-trained) to before, and the wine was a house-warming present (and, did I say? Very Expensive!).

 

[ScotiaLass]

I wouldn't personally want something heavy and hard with sharp corners like a laptop on my back, especially when riding in lots of traffic

Yay to cabbie and plod

They aren't that heavy, don't have sharp corners (well mine doesn't) and the specific bags are well padded.
I'd prefer that to losing it

 

[vickster]

My work laptop weighs over 2.5kg with charger. it's also big, doesn't fit in a 15" padded case! Plus clothes, lock etc, I reckon my panniers weighed 6+kg last night, no way I'd carry that lot on my back. I reckon I'd break my neck in a fall! But each to their own Also get very sweaty in 13-14 miles of commuting in London with a backpack

 

[stu9000]

Just goes to show there is a silent majority out there who believe in community and doing the right thing. I'm reminding myself of this almost daily at the moment as I get punishment passed by burley men in vans.

 

[jefmcg]

I realised the other day I was cycling along with a very expensive bottle of wine just propped up in a basket strapped to the rack of my bike. I was at the station propping up the bike, staring into the middle distance but surrounded by people waiting for the train, and suddenly thought: feck, anyone could just pull that bottle out of the basket and I wouldn't know. So I became extra-vigilant after that.

It was a nice ride, friend has a new house which I hadn't cycled (cycle-n-trained) to before, and the wine was a house-warming present (and, did I say? Very Expensive!).

And that is why you need this

 

[Glow worm]

Great story and top marks to the cabbie. I'd be tempted to send him a nice bottle of something as a thank you (or maybe a copy of the Highway Code! )

I've been very lucky with stuff I've dropped off the bike over the years. 2 phones, both were returned, and my wallet which a guy picked up near Cambridge airport on the cycle path and returned completely intact.

 

[Saluki]

What a great story. What a lovely cabby. There are lots of honest people about, we just don't hear about them often enough. So pleased for your partner that all the stuff has been returned.

 

[Sara_H]

Decathlon Hoptown, also a rebadged Dahon, I believe. I tried panniers on my 16" folder, and couldn't find one that was of a useful size that didn't get heel strike.

Of course, panniers aren't panaceas. I once found a brand new Altura pannier with nothing but a pair of shoes and a pair of jeans on Blackfriar's Bridge. Which, btw, I took to a police station. We may have just had a moment of karma, come to think of it.

I've got a pannier rack on a Hoptown. I use my Basil shoulder bag with it.

 

[jefmcg]

I've got a pannier rack on a Hoptown. I use my Basil shoulder bag with it.

Just googled Basil Shoulder Bag. He is a metrosexual, but I don't think he's going to use one of those :-)

http://www.basil.nl/gb/assortment/ maybe. Thanks

 

[Sara_H]

Just googled Basil Shoulder Bag. He is a metrosexual, but I don't think he's going to use one of those :-)

http://www.basil.nl/gb/assortment/ maybe. Thanks

Ha Ha! When my OH uses the folder he uses a laptop pannier that's very "man about town". Its got zipped up Pannier fixings. He's got big feet though, so he does get a bit of heel strike so not ideal, but better than a back pack.