Sunday, 12 March 2017 dawned in the usual fashion. Daylight savings time began in the U.S. overnight. (We do not move our clocks in forward in Mexico until April 2). The weather forecast for the day called for a high temperature in the low 80’s (Fahrenheit) with mostly clear skies. The Nitos Ciclistas en Movimiento club was planning to ride to Mitla and back — a worthy ride, indeed, but — at over 60 miles / 98 kilometers — farther than I cared to pedal today. So I put in an appearance at the Summit Cyclery shop to find out where their Sunday shop ride was headed. When everyone had assembled, we headed out in the direction of Huayapam. We rode 4.25 miles on city streets before catching a dirt road that links with the bike trail which runs along the base of the foothills north of town and connects San Luis Beltran, Donaji and Huayapam. From there we rode 8 miles into Huayapam and then out and back along the trail in Tlalixtac that wends up a mountain valley in the direction of El Estudiante and Tierra Colorada. Coming out of the hills, we arrived in Tlalixtac at about noon. I separated from the group at that point to take a more direct route back to Oaxaca and my home in San Felipe del Agua.
To this point the day’s outing was completely typical. But that was about to change, and rather drastically. On the last leg of my ride home I stopped briefly at a Pitico to grab an ice cream bar. I did not have a bike lock with me, but only planned to leave the bike for a minute or so. And that’s all it took for someone to grab my bike and ride away while I was buying my snack. So my favorite bike — a 2010 Specialized “Stumpjumper FSR Expert” 29’er — disappeared right under my nose. Ouch! You can now add my name to the long list of those who have had a treasured bicycle stolen. The moral of my sad tale is both simple and obvious: do not leave your bike unlocked and unattended for even a few minutes!
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