I haven’t talked about this much, but at my age and fitness level I see my upcoming Pacific Crest Trail hike barreling at me. My wife tries to convince me that I have six months and plenty of time. But I see the evening darkness and prevalent rain kind of crimping my style. Living in the elements is part of the deal but I sure don’t want to get hit by a car because it is dark and cars can’t see me.

I am trying to get my walks in during the daylight. In order to do what I can, I am packing weight. I need to be able to pack a full load up to twenty miles. This is between water sources on the trail so it is pretty much a necessity. Anyway, I am worried that I am not doing enough, fast enough.

The bike in the picture below used to belong to my eldest son. He was in sixth grade when we bought it for him for Christmas. It was replaced by an e-bike three years ago. So then, this bike went to my younger son. Despite constant cajoling about locking the bike up, one day it was not in the bike rack after school.

How do I know that it was son’s bike? Well, there are quite a few things. First, it was the bike that my son was using when he was hit by a car. We replaced the petals. One crank was worn out so we bought a mis-matched crank that was used. The most telling part is the last time my son put on tires, we put road tires on a mountain bike. It meant that they didn’t wear out so fast.

Part of me was kind of glad the bike got stolen. I was hoping that the lesson would sink in about our guidance was for a reason. It was also hoping that walking to school the rest of the year would be payment enough. As a result, no police report was filed. No record of the crime exists.

One day I was walking and I saw the bike. There it was sitting in front of a house. I don’t know them though I am pretty sure the house has kids. I never expected to see the bike in one hundred years. When my locked bike was stolen in college, I never saw it again and I lived there three more years. I always looked for it.

My walks are part of my mechanisms to keep an eye on what is happening around town. I check on the progress of the new sidewalk work happening on my street. I walk into the new neighborhood to see what lots are starting to get built and what houses are finished and no longer empty. I see the new places homeless people hide their tents. And apparently, I see where my son’s stolen bike ended up.

End Your Programming Routine: There was a small part of me that wanted to get on the bike and ride off. There was another part of me that wanted to confront these people. But then, I have no proof that we ever owned the bike and no record it was taken. It has been gone years now, my guess it that they probably need it more that we do at this point. Keep your eyes open, you never know what you will see.