An ultra-cyclist whose mountain bike was stolen in Leeds has had their bike returned three days later.
Justyna Jarczok’s had competed in the Dales Divide bikepacking event in Yorkshire and was riding back to her hotel on Easter Sunday when she stopped at a BP petrol station. Whilst inside her gold-framed Kona mountain bike, complete with Restrap luggage bags containing most of her possessions, was stolen. Jarczok was left with just her wallet and passport that she had taken into the petrol station.
> “Everything I own is gone”: ultra-cyclist’s bike and belongings stolen after winning tough race
Fellow ultra-cyclist Richard Stoodley shared the bike theft on Instagram, writing that West Yorkshire Police “had been informed” but “didn’t call back.”
View this post on Instagram
Stoodley added that Jarczok, who won the women’s event and finished 16th overall, is “a talented young lady who came to visit the UK to race a bike, and although she won, she leaves with nothing.”
“This epic win by a great rider, lovely girl and good friend should not end like this.”
Now, after her belongings were found strewn in a park near the petrol station, Jarczok has shared on Instagram that her bike has now been found. She also told road.cc that the police “was not involved at all” in the bike being found and returned.
“Thanks to amazing friends and especially the Restrap family. The amount of people who got involved – media, shares, comments, messages – was incredible.
“Wrong place, wrong time – but the response showed the power of this community. So many people willing to help, share, and keep an eye out. It was stressful, but also genuinely uplifting.”
Jarczok had been hopeful the bike would be found before confirming the news, writing in a post “The bike will show up. I f*****g know it.”
Despite its name, the Dales Divide extends beyond the Yorkshire Dales into Cumbria, comprising a 600km loop from Arnside on the Morecambe bay to Scarborough in the east and back. Despite battling the fiercest elements of Storm Dave, the weather was no obstacle for two-time Olympic triathlon gold medallist Alistair Brownlee. The 37-year-old set the second fastest known time of 34 hours 46 minutes, just behind the record held by Angus Young.
View this post on Instagram
Jarczok, for her part, dubbed her race a ‘Dave Divide’, writing there were “times when a DNF felt very close. But there was also calm, focus, steady pacing, eating on time, drinking regularly. I enjoyed every second of it. From start to finish it felt special.
“So proud of this ride – the training paid off, the weather worked (for me lol) and everything finally clicked.”
7 thoughts on ““Stressful but also uplifting”: Ultra-cyclist’s bike returned to her days after it was reported stolen from Leeds petrol station”
Although it comes from a negative place, this is good news. Maybe it’s the only kind of good news we get now.
We should not have to lobby the police but since we do please, please, reach out to your local force. In London you can sign up to Met Engage, link below.
https://www.metengage.co.uk/
Don’t just whinge on the internet or bore your other half, sign up and tell the police where your priorities lie. You can rest assured that cabbies, bus companies and the wider motor lobby are already doing so.
Don’t just whinge on the internet or bore your other half, sign up and tell the police where your priorities lie
Is this the ultimate definition of Cloud Cuckoo Land?! This joke Met website will be completely worthless. People already ‘engage with the police’, and the police determinedly ignore it.
ttps://upride.cc/incident/sk19evu_stagecoach42_closepass/
ttps://upride.cc/incident/yx68uwz_stagecoach42_closepass/
There has been no response to these (note: I have omitted the initial ‘h’ on these links as an experiment to see if I can eliminate those space-wasting items on the threads. Just copy and put the ‘h’ back!). Do you think signing up on a website will make them change their behaviour?
They won’t respond to yesterday’s dangerous double white line crossing before a blind humpbacked bridge by a taxi driver. Whatever it is, they don’t do anything about it- in traffic law, at least
Perhaps I should remind people that the local Garstang Neighbourhood Policing Team put out their email address for ‘local people’ to tell them about crime. They won’t deal with MOT offences, they won’t deal with phone driving, they won’t deal with VED offences, they won’t deal with red light offences (well, I haven’t gone out to collect any for them yet, but they are now refusing to reply to anything). All they will use websites like that for is to tick some box for community engagement when the Police Inspectorate is about- they won’t actually DO anything because it’s too much effort.
Register on the Met Engage website and then you will be invited to attend sessions where you will meet the local senior officers. These are in-person events. You can submit written questions or put your hand up and speak directly to the police.
I have attended one of these events and spoken with officers. Local politicians turn up too, they can figure out the likelihood of people bothering to vote and will amend their offerings.
The internet is great for many things but it is not a replacement for real life interactions. The police are ignoring us but the more we are in their line of sight the greater chance of change.
And UpRide has reminded me (must be AI!) of an offence in the same direction and in almost the same position over a year ago:
Nothing was done about that either- that’s the true face of police ‘engagement’