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It was outside of a tattoo parlor in Newfoundland’s largest city where Molly’s faith in humanity was almost shattered… her bike was stolen.
It wasn’t difficult to figure out how the thief had made off with Molly’s bike—she’d left the keys in it! Always an idealist, her reasoning from years gone by was that if someone needed her stuff that badly, they could have it. Still, she never believed that anyone in St. Johns would take her bike—even in this rougher part of town.
One would think that tempting her fate like that would be the sign of a wide-eyed and naive traveler. On the contrary, she’d spent years traveling the globe with non-profit organizations in places like Madagascar, India, and Indonesia. While helping out in developing countries, she’d ridden many of the far-off corners of the planet—but never had her bike been stolen.
So here she was, on the trip she’d focused on for three decades, and no way to complete her dream. But, the next piece to the puzzle came in the form of unexpected advice from the police, “If you want your bike back, you should make an appeal over the radio.” Apparently, a local station hosted a call-in buy, sell and trade show in the mornings, and she could get her message out to the public through them. So, that’s exactly what she did, and within minutes her cell phone was buzzing with people who wanted to help.
Molly explained, “They were all saying they wanted to help, so many people, it was crazy! I started receiving texts and telephone calls from the second I made the announcement on the radio, and the calls continued for three days straight.”
News spread quickly across Newfoundland, and soon Molly was also asking for help on local television.
The bike was stolen on a Monday morning. By Tuesday night she received a mysterious phone call tipping her off to her bike’s possible whereabouts. Two locals drove her down to where they found her motorcycle chained to a fence in front of a house. The occupant denied any knowledge of the machine, and police said they couldn’t make any charges stick.
Even with hopes lifted once again, Molly’s trip wasn’t back on track just yet. Whoever had stolen the bike had stripped it of the handguards, the rack, and some of the luggage. She’d been staying with a couch-surfing connection which had saved her camping gear—but the panniers and their contents hadn’t escaped the fate. Still, she had no cooking utensils or clothes, and most importantly, no money. With what she still had she calculated that she might be able to finish the Newfoundland part of her adventure, but not Labrador.
While support from Newfoundlanders had already been overwhelming, the locals really stepped up their efforts. Aid poured in to get Molly back on the road, as local individuals and dealerships donated everything from new handguards, tubes, a chain, luggage and a rain suit. They also contributed local delicacies like blueberry jam and bottled moose meat. And, as luck would now have it, her luggage rack mysteriously turned up, too, thanks to the community’s efforts.
Although Molly had spent so much time helping others in developing countries, she wasn’t accustomed to being the recipient of such kindness. Now it was her turn. “I’m always telling others,” she said. “‘You’re doing me a favor by asking for help,’ because it’s such an honor to be able to give back. It was really humbling to have all these people just wanting to pitch in.”
