Have You Seen My Bike?

It was a rough start to my week, as I discovered this morning that my bike (or most of it) has been stolen.   

This was the second bike of mine that has been stolen outside of the College of Technology in the last few months. 

"Shelly" as I called her, was such a tremendous bike.  Fun, outgoing, pink.  She was the type of bike that all bikes wanted to be around.  She was so stunning that when I rode her across campus, heads would turn and people would start to whisper (presumably about her beauty and custom white grips). 
You can see my beautiful bike in all her glory here:

Look at how proud she is standing there.  She's almost calling out to me to jump on and take her for a spin while enjoying her heavily cushioned fully spring loaded seat. 
 
Flash forward a few short months and you can see the aftermath here:

My face says it all.  Sadness. Disgust. Bitterness. Maybe a little hunger too.
It's hard to believe that she's gone.

Dismantled by someone that obviously needed parts of her more than I did.  Another victim who leaves us too early.  Cut down, disassembled and stolen during her prime bike years.   

I can only hope that the thief appreciates her as much as I did. 

She had so much bike potential and now I'm left with only this.  As my mind runs circles, I'm sitting here wondering why it happened to her and who could perpetrate such a heinous act. Maybe a student, staff member, or jealous ex bike?

It's time like this that you think of all the what ifs. 

"What if I would have ridden her more and showed her the inside of the building storage care that she deserved". 

"What if I would have told her that I loved her more". 

"What if I would have dropped some weight so she wouldn't have had to put additional stress on her sweet whitewall tires". 

"What if I would have purchased a separate bike chain for each part that was stolen instead of being a selfish tight wad and only purchasing one chain for the frame".

Maybe....just maybe she would still be here today. 

While I’m out another bike, it’s hard not to appreciate the humor in what is now left of a once glorious beach cruiser.  

R.I.P. Shelly