BBCI used to be planning an peculiar afternoon out – baggage packed, able to roll – after I bounded downstairs and was hit by a jolt of disbelief.
The area the place my cargo bike ought to have been was empty, and the double lock that had bolted it to my condo wall was hacked.
My daughter darted between the opposite bikes, satisfied somebody should have moved it, however no, it was gone.
With biking deeply embedded in every day life right here within the Hague and throughout the Netherlands – a part of the “Dutch DNA”, as we are saying – I’ve no automobile, so used my bike for every little thing, from the college run to a buying journey.
This was no peculiar bicycle. My colleague Kate Vandy and I retrofitted it to change into a cell broadcasting studio, which we named the Bike Bureau. I began “Dutch Information from the Cycle Path”, a reporting sequence born on the college run after my daughter requested me: “Why do not you simply inform individuals the information now?”
The bike allowed me to achieve breaking information scenes and broadcast stay from wherever, my daughter by my aspect, displaying that working motherhood might be seen, joyful and actual.
It opened doorways to collaborations, awards and a neighborhood of people that noticed themselves in our story.
I’ve zero expectation of getting the bike again, and trying to find it has confirmed fruitless. I referred to as the police instantly and so they opened a case, however closed it shortly afterwards due to an absence of proof that may assist discover the thief.
Individuals on-line and in my area people have rallied spherical to attempt to discover it since I put out an attraction. Neighbours requested if I used to be okay, telling me they cherished to see me get pleasure from their bike lanes and see their metropolis from my foreigner’s perspective.
However why, my daughter requested, achieve this many individuals care that our bike was stolen?
A life-hack and a lot extra
Colleagues and pals responded to my Instagram Reel in regards to the theft. Legendary BBC camerawoman Julie Ritson referred to as my bike a blueprint for the way forward for journalism. Others stated it was a relatable life-hack that confirmed how one individual can handle motherhood and profession, and impressed them to rethink what’s doable with a cargo bike.
It was solar-powered, slicing the necessity for satellite tv for pc vehicles with heavy gear and the air pollution that mode of transport brings.
Analysis final 12 months from the Reuters Institute for the Research of Journalism exhibits audiences aren’t solely serious about local weather change information – they’re significantly engaged by tales that spotlight people taking empowering motion in response to the disaster.
Some individuals have expressed shock that “this type of factor” would occur within the Netherlands. What they could not realise is that bike theft is endemic right here. Final 12 months, greater than 86,000 bikes have been reported stolen within the Netherlands, up 1,000 in comparison with the 12 months earlier than, and 10,000 greater than in 2022, in line with police figures. Authorities say an increase in stories might have contributed to this.
Most bikes stolen are stripped for elements or bought on. My e-cargo bike price practically €5,000 (£4,200) – greater than our previous automobile which I bought.
I paid for the bike, so the BBC has undergone no monetary loss.
What it actually purchased me was independence – and in a method, dropping it’s like dropping a pal. Apart from the influence alone life-style, that bike gave my daughter a magical, nature-filled childhood: picnics within the dunes, detours to see highland cows, fairy lights in winter, breezy rides to the seaside in summer season.
The theft has sparked conversations about city security, biking infrastructure, and the burdens moms nonetheless carry. However it’s additionally a testomony to the neighborhood we have constructed and the facility of sharing genuine tales from the saddle.
I may not get my bike again, however nobody can steal what it gave us all.
