2004 Bianchi Milano

What happened

I had stopped to use the bathroom at the North Ave. Beach House and wheeled my bike inside to lean against the wall - unlocked as I've done safely in the past. Although it was in eyesight, a stall door swung open or I just wasn't paying attention and I turned to leave and - Poof - it was gone. I ran out to the bike path but couldn't see the thief. I quickly asked around and was told "a guy in a white tshirt" was hauling ass southbound towards Oak St. and Navy Pier and who knows.... I caught up with 3 plain-clothed CPD cops about 10 minutes later who said they'd head south down LSD in their car to try to intercept(?), and filed the police report. Obviously I'm bummed, pretty screwed actually, so any help will be greatly appreciated.

Bike details

Type

Other (describe in detail below)

Color

Black

Size

20"

Condition

The Milano is designed to be a city commuter bike and has a number of distinct features: a gently curved top tube, a Shimano internal 8-speed hub, 26" wheels, fenders front and rear, chain guard. I've added more items to make this really a one-of-a-kind: wider than usual flared Nitto Albatross handlebars taped end to end in black, Alias 15 watt front light w/frame mounted battery, mirror on left end of handlebar, bell on right end of handlebar, Specialized split seat w/red blinker on seat post, a Jandd black rear rack. To make things far worse, I also had two Jandd packs clipped to this rack: an empty-and-collapsed-shut black "grocery bag" pannier, and a black "commuter" pannier - brief case style w/3 zippered compartments. This second bag was full of my stuff from the day: a Motorola flip cell phone, Dell Axim PDA, wallet w/the usual, 6 folders chock full of personal papers, clothes. A few other unique features are two stickers on seat tube: one is "Cafe Racer" and another "Purchased at On the Route Bikes".

Serial #

H3M84120

Theft circumstances

Date

May 22, 2007

Lock type

Other

Locked to

Bike not locked.

How locked

Other situation, please describe below.

How defeated

Other situation, please describe below.

Duration

5 minutes

Area

Other situation, please describe below.

Police report #

HN359083