Charity rider’s bike theft anger
Joanne Knowles, who raises money for Help for Heroes with charity bike rides, has had her bike nicked from the back of her car
DEVASTATED charity cyclist Joanne Knowles is appealing for information after her £4,000 hi-tech bike was stolen from her car.
Joanne, 40, who has helped raise thousands for Help For Heroes, left the bike covered up in her car, outside her home on West Mead in Castleford on Monday night.
However thieves struck during the night, smashing her rear window to take the Giant Advanced TCR1 full carbon bike, which Joanne had nicknamed Dolores.
Joanne said: “It’s just gutting. It was just tiredness, when I finished work I took the satnav out but I just thought ‘the bike’s covered up, it will be all right’.
“It will be a right pain for me, because my car insurance only covers possessions up to £100 and it isn’t covered by my house contents insurance, because it was in the car. I’m really kicking myself.”
Joanne – who is a member of Strategic Riders Cycle Team, which has twice completed a 3,000-mile cross-America bike ride raising £35,000 for Help For Heroes – said the loss of her bike would affect her fundraising activities.
She added: “It’s a really light bike, because it’s all carbon, my old bike is heavier – I’ve just been out on her and it’s like going from a racehorse to a shire horse.
“It will really affect my training, because it’s nowhere near as fast and as a team the better you are, the more sponsorship and funding you attract, so we can raise more for charity.
“We’re in training for the cross-America race again next year, and you really need a high performance bike to compete.”
Wakefield CID is investigating the theft and a police spokesman said they are appealing for anyone who is offered the bike to contact them on non-emergency number 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.
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Weather for Wakefield
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 8 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North
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Temperature: 4 C to 14 C
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