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news
Mary Hampton (BBC via Twitter).jpg89-year-old cyclist suffers first bike theft but is overwhelmed with offers of replacements
An 89-year-old cyclist from Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire has been overwhelmed with replacement bike offers after suffering her first theft in 85 years of cycling. Mary Hampton now has a ‘huge padlock’ for the one she has been given having never locked up her bike before.
Hampton said that when she was five, her grandparents were against her having a bike because they thought it was dangerous, so she borrowed one from the boys next door, fell off twice, “and from then on, I’ve been riding ever since.”
The BBC reports that her Raleigh Shopper was taken while she was shopping at Waitrose last Thursday.
"It was an old-looking bike,” she said. “I didn't think anybody would be going to steal it."
Hampton typically makes the three mile trip to the supermarket once or twice a week, but fortunately found herself inundated with offers of replacement bikes from friends, family and strangers.
She eventually accepted a fold-up bike from Berkhamsted Cycling Club and people also clubbed together to give her enough money for a lock and a basket.
"I've bought a huge padlock. I've never seen such a big padlock," she said. "One bad action happened, but think of the wonderful kindness and caring that's come from it."
Mary’s daughter is children’s author, Sue Hampton. Writing on her website, Sue makes it clear that while Berkhamsted cycling club might have considered the bike a donation, her mother saw it merely as a loan. “She was happy to think that one day someone else would enjoy it.”
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
Latest Comments
- Geordiepeddeler 4 hours 24 min ago
Cycling infrastructure does not force drivers to break the law, drivers are the reason they break the law, no one else.
- chrisonabike 4 hours 37 min ago
Ah but taking pictures of things to defy the man (avoid a fine) is righteous. Taking pictures of people to grass on them to the cops (perhaps...
- ktache 6 hours 27 min ago
But getting paid for it is the very definition of professional....
- ktache 6 hours 35 min ago
Never had a Shimano QR fail on me. They just work. And the top end ones look good too....
- Backladder 7 hours 22 min ago
If you're only looking at the guy in front of you then you're going to crash whatever brakes you have, you need to look beyond them to anticipate...
- jaysa 7 hours 47 min ago
As a woman, this works great for me! My chain broke once, and a kind guy stopped with a chain breaker and sorted it all out for me. We stopped at a...
- andystow 8 hours 38 min ago
Same. I also have gone through a bunch of their tyres, and only the extralight disappointed (torn sidewall) but the standards are fantastic....
- chrisonabike 10 hours 36 min ago
Indeed - but it's no more inconsistent than our current road design - very often UK high streets are "for shopping" and also a busy through route....
- mike the bike 12 hours 6 min ago
If you ask the world's leading economic commentators how many people have been rescued from abject poverty by capitalism the average answer would...
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14 comments
@behindthebikesheds.
Know you not that a good man does nothing for appearance sake, but for the sake of having done right?
You utterly fail to understand the point I'm making, I'm not saying don't do it, I'm saying that there is a bias in all because of who the person/victim is not what act was done upon them.
this apparent all the time, if this were not an elderly lady, would this be highlighted/made news and would the local community chip in to find that person a bike. We already know that this is not the case for the vast majority of near 100,000 bike thefts in England and Wales.
Level of sympathy/court case outcomes are very often dictated by who, not what.
I'm banking on it, instead of a pension, when I'm old I'm planning on becoming a con artist.
What are you talking about, have you lost the ability to read and comprehend plain English?
What have I written got anything to do with your accusation that I'm calling her a con artist, are you off your rocker!!
no, I was just inspired, jeez dude, join the dots
No, celebrate all good deeds despite any perceived bias. A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal. Every kindness creates a ripple that can inspire others.
Whilst the gesture is nice the response replicates that in society when dealing with criminality especially people on bikes.
If this was your average commuter, teen/young man (which happens in the thousands up and down dale) people would not only be not made aware of it/not make the news but people wouldn't really care even the massive majority of people who ride bikes. How many of the community would have put to or offered a bike to others who had their bike stolen if they weren't an old gran/grandad or other perceived group that requires greater sympathy, what about other communities? We know what happened here, great generosity is not replicated that often simply because the vast majority aren't cases that would exude sympathy for the victim.
That the lady may in fact be in a better financial position than your average commuter/teen to replace the bike is by the by.
My point is it's not what happened but who it happened to that is more important to the response/outcome, but shouldn't be.
If Michael Mason had being a young child or a disabled person sitting in a black/red/brown/dark blue/green/silver car legally in the road with legal lights in a well lit street and they were killed after being rear ended by another vehicle we would have a killer behind bars by now.
Think about it, the inherrant bias is in most of us to some degree or another.
Is her name Hampstead or Hampton. I'm confused
That's an improvement.
If anyone close passes that lady I will personally beat the fucking shit out of them.
Ironic that a lady that, for some, would embody the spirit of Britain / Brexit etc., rides a devilish bike!
Kudos for the amount of wrong you've managed to squeeze into 19 words.
Eagerly awaiting Willo's contrarian take on this one
Willo would probably say it was her own fault for not locking it up, and besides she's not wearing a helmet or hi-vis so anything that happens to her on the road would be her fault too.
Fortunately, the majority of people are not like Willo or the bike stealing pond-dwelling scum that helped themselves to her original bike. There's hope for humanity yet.