One of the bikes stolen from Donegal and found at a cash converters in the North
A Donegal-based triathlete who had his race time trial bike and a Boardman training road bike stolen from his home has recovered the property at a cash converters, or pawn shop, following a campaign on social media site Facebook.
“I posted some photos on Facebook more in hope than in any expectation of it actually working out,” said Mark Nicholas.
The 40-year-old father of three lives in Burnport near Dungloe in Co Donegal and is a member of the ‘Letterkenny 24-7 Triathlon Club’.
After his two bikes were stolen he posted some photos of his distinctive Orbea TT bike with Planet X deep section rims on Facebook on Thursday night to encourage people to look out for the gear.
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His post got an immediate result, tracking down the bikes within 24 hours.
“I’ve around 180 friends on Facebook and a lot of them would be triathletes. Most of them shared the photos and so a huge number of people involved in the sport would have seen the notice and the photos. A friend of mine on Facebook messaged me to say that a friend of his on the site had seen the bikes being taken out of a motor home and into a cash converters shop; he recognised the wheels, which are quite distinctive.”
When Mark was alerted to this, the person who had seen the photo on Facebook and the bikes being taken into the cash converters was able to supply the location of the shop, across the border in Northern Ireland.
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“I rang around all the shops in that area and one of them confirmed that he had the bikes in the shop, I couldn’t believe it. He had taken them in on Thursday.”
Mark then rang the PSNI. They called to the shop to collect the bikes and then reunited them with their grateful owner this morning, Saturday. He was able to supply a serial number to prove the bikes were his.
Mark said he had only noticed the bikes were gone from his shed at home when he was locking away his children’s bikes on Thursday night. He had not used either since last Saturday and so could not be sure when they were stolen.
“I rang the gardai and they came around but I just didn’t think I would get them back. Then I downloaded the photo from the laptop onto Facebook on Thursday night and everyone started sharing it. The bikes had already been seen earlier that day but obviously the person who saw them didn’t realise they were robbed until he saw the photos on Friday and then I got the message right away.”
His initial post with a photo of one of the bikes was shared 324 times.
His Orbea TT is kitted out with Ultegra and Planet X 101 and 82 wheels and has an estimated value of over €2,000 while his road bike is a Boardman Comp worth around €800.
Originally from Hertfordshire, the electrician has been in Ireland for 12 years and has been competing in triathlon in Ireland and England since his mid 30s. He rides all distances and in July took on the Outlaw Ironman in Nottingham.
Moral of the story? Take photos of your bikes and make sure you have the serial numbers.
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