PETER BUFFA
Do you remember your first bicycle? Of course you do. Kids and bikes
are a powerful mix.
What's the most important moment in a teenager's life? That's a
no-brainer: getting that driver's license, of course. Goodbye
childhood, hello world!
Your bicycle was just an earlier version of the same feeling. Your
first bike probably wasn't your favorite. But sometime after that,
you got your dream bike. It was fast and cool, looked just right and
had just the right stuff on it.
I can remember mine like it was yesterday, and needless to say, it
was way, way before yesterday.
Maybe that's why the recent spate of stolen-bike stories caught my
eye.
Meet the Krieghoss family -- nice people from Lake Forest, who
were vacationing for a few days at Newport Dunes. That's when 11-year
old McKinna Krieghoss, and her 13-year old brother, Austin, rode
their bikes to Fashion Island in the never-ending quest for ice
cream. Their aunt was with them and it was one those perfect summer
afternoons.
It was, that is, until they stepped back outside and found nothing
but empty space where their bikes had been.
Upset was not the word.
First of all, their missing wheels weren't just any wheels. They
were custom-fitted Trek bicycles. Trek was a big name in the bike biz
even before a guy from Texas named Lance Armstrong rode a Trek while
making the Tour de France look more like the Tour de Block six times.
"They were shocked and devastated," said their mother, Anne
Krieghoss. "Who would do this to innocent children?" Having their
bikes and riding them was even more important than you might think to
the Krieghoss family because, like Lance Armstrong, McKinna and
Austin's father, Darryl, is a cancer survivor. Watching the Tour de
France and cheering on Armstrong as he devoured one mountain after
another and a thousand other riders was a family affair.
"The bikes were special to them not only because Lance rode that
brand," she said. "The children have taken several trips on those
bikes with their dad."
Will they ever get their bikes back? Don't know. Can't say. Hope
so.
According to Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve Shulman, summertime
is the season of choice for bike thieves.
"We do get a lot of these during the summer, and the majority of
these cases involve children," said Shulman.
But here's the deal. If you register your bike with the local
constabulary, which very few people do, you at least have a fighting
chance of getting it back.
For the Krieghoss family, the unfortunate truth is that top-end
