Sydney barrister's awesome video in bid to track down her beloved stolen bike
Sydney barrister Talitha Fishburn had her beloved - and quite fancy - bike stolen while having dinner with some old university friends in the city last week.
“We were only metres away from the locked bike and yet it disappeared without a trace,” she said.
No one at the restaurant saw a thing and obtaining CCTV footage that sheds any light on the situation has been difficult.
After reporting it to police it became clear she would need to carry out her own investigation, so she is looking to harness the power of community.
“The police were actually quite nice and they came down to the scene,” she said.
“But the police are obviously busy.”
Despite costing nearly as much as a second-hand car, Ms Fishburn decided to stay positive and get creative in her attempts to relocate the bike.
“I thought it was good to respond positively,” she told Yahoo News Australia.
In addition to doing her own sleuthing on re-sale sites like Gumtree, she has put together a rather amusing video asking the public for help in finding the bike.
“They’re pretty expensive and cost over $7500. My partner and I bought two matching bikes when we moved into our first home together,” Ms Fishburn explained.
The barrister uses the bike to ride into the city from the northern beaches and back almost every day, and clocks up about 200 kilometres a week on the self-described “joy machine”.
“It’s carried me with legal briefs in its basket for various Courts, including even the High Court of Australia,” she said.
The Riese & Müller bike was imported from Germany and there are not that many of its kind in Australia. It requires a corresponding key and computer meaning without them, the bike is basically useless for whoever has it.
Ms Fishburn has shared the video to YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn where is has been viewed more than 12,500 times - with plenty of people offering help and well wishes.
“People have been really kind. I’m impressed actually that we have such a lovely and responsive community,” she said.
Ms Fishburn is offering a reward $1,000 reward - no questions asked - for the return of the bike or any information that leads to it.
She has even offered the monetary reward and free legal advice for the person responsible.
“They’re probably only going to sell it for a couple hundred bucks. This way they can get a bonus,” she said.
“I’m happy to assist them, give them free legal advice, I mean it,” she said.
If you have any information, Ms Fishburn’s email can be found in the video.
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