Letters to the editor | April 7 edition

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Bicycle Peril

On Wednesday, March 30, at about 12:30 p.m., I chained my bicycle to the bike rack at Thriftway to do some grocery shopping. After riding two miles home, I wheeled my bike into the garage. As I moved it over the threshold, the front end made a strange sound, so I examined it. The quick-release lever for the front wheel was in the open position. On my ride home, the only things preventing the wheel from falling off and my getting injured were gravity and luck.

It takes a lot of pressure to open the quick-release lever. At the bike store in town, they examined the mechanism and concluded there’s no way it could open on its own. Maybe you’d call it a prank. I call it attempted manslaughter. So if you have left your bike unattended, be sure to check the quick release levers for the two wheels and the saddle before you ride off. At least one psychopath has invaded the island.

I spent half an hour trying to report this incident to the police using their online system. Impossible. I don’t think our police or the sheriff’s department knows what a bicycle is.

— Shelley Simon