A German cyclist who rode from Land’s End to John O’Groats this summer says he feels “embarrassed” and “naïve” after his bike was stolen from a Newcastle metro station just days after completing his 1,000-mile ride.
Christoph Held’s bike was locked outside West Jesmond station, just north of Newcastle city centre, when it was taken by thieves.
“I couldn’t believe it,” the 48-year-old, who spent a few years working as an assistant teacher at a school in Newcastle in the early 2000s, told the BBC.
Held said he devised his plan to cycle the length of Britain in order to see more of the country. Starting at Land’s End, he rode through the Lake District before heading making his way to the Highlands and John O’Groats, the northernmost point of mainland Britain.
He also took time of his rest days from the bike to climb Snowden, Scafell Pike, and Ben Nevis.
“I have always liked the UK, I like seeing the different parts of it,” he said. “I wanted to see more of the country after my time in Gosforth, and my plan was to climb the three tallest peaks on my way.”
Held noted that the people he encountered during his trip had been “so friendly”, allowing him to camp out in their back gardens and inviting him for lunch, a level of hospitality he now regards as “ironic” following the theft.
“People have been so friendly, what is different to Germany is that people really wanted to help – they didn’t just offer,” he said.
After reaching John O’Groats, Held then travelled to Newcastle to spend a few days relaxing before returning home.
“I locked up my bike at the station but when I came back someone had taken it,” he said.
“I felt really embarrassed, I didn’t know if I had just been naïve. If anyone sees my bike I hope they will report it to the police.”
Held, unfortunately, isn’t the only cyclist to have a long-distance ride ruined at the last by some British bike thieves.
Most famously, in 2022 a British adventure cyclist who says he spent 835 days cycling around the world “through countries people repeatedly warned were too dangerous to visit” returned to the UK only to have his home tour abruptly curtailed outside a Reading branch of Wetherspoons, where his girlfriend’s bike was stolen.
Josiah Skeats says he has covered over 40,000km by bike but was on only his second day of bike touring in England when he arrived in Reading.
Skeats was part way through cycling the new King Alfred’s Way route with his girlfriend, when the theft happened five metres away from where they were sitting outside the Hope Tap in Friar Street.
The 29-year-old and his partner were inside the branch of Wetherspoons drinking coffee with their bikes outside propped against the window, when the thief pounced. Skeats said that he gave chase for half a mile before giving up.
He told road.cc at the time: “I was actually taking my girlfriend on her first bike tour around the UK ahead of a planned trip across South America this winter.
“I was excited because it was one of my first tours in the UK too. She had her bike stolen which has kind of dampened our confidence for that trip!”
Our story on Skeats’ Spoons-based misfortune made the Archbishop of Banterbury social media page soon after, though we’re not sure how much of a consolation that provided.
