Plateau resident says she feels 'hopeless' after borough appears to have seized her bike
Lucy Earle is spending a lot more time on her feet these days.
An avid cyclist, Earle’s bicycle became a lifeline during the pandemic as a break from being locked down at home. She says she took it everywhere.
She did, at least, until the sidewalk in front of her Plateau home became a construction site. That’s when, she says, everything changed.
“My roommate and I had bikes locked to a bike rack right outside of our apartment,” she says.
Earle says the surprise came after the work had moved up the street.
“We realized that the pole that the bikes were locked to, as well as our bikes, was just gone.”
Left: Montreal resident Lucy Earle's bicycle is seen in this older photo locked to a pole near her apartment in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough (source: Google Maps). Right: Earle stand beside the same spot on Friday, July 9, 2021, where the pole no longer stands. (Luca Caruso-Moro, CTV News)
Left: Montreal resident Lucy Earle's bicycle is seen in this older photo locked to a pole near her apartment in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough (source: Google Maps). Right: Earle stand beside the same spot on Friday, July 9, 2021, where the pole no longer stands. (Luca Caruso-Moro, CTV News)
She says she asked a worker for help, who she says told her the bikes would be returned soon.
“One week passes and we don’t hear anything, another week passes, still nothing. So, I start to get a bit anxious about it,” she told CTV.
The City of Montreal’s website says that if your bike is seized you need to make an appointment to retrieve it.
She found the number she was supposed to call and dialed it in -- no answer.
“(I thought) maybe they’ll pick up, maybe they’ll call me back,” she said. “I kept leaving my number, I kept describing in French, but nothing.”
Earle says she’s called numerous times in the weeks since she last saw the bikes, and nobody has ever picked up.
TIME IS RUNNING OUT
So, where is her bike?
A borough spokesperson told CTV News that if they do have the bikes, they’re probably being stored at warehouse on Bercy St. in Sainte-Marie, and that she needs to call that number she found to retrieve it.
What’s more, time may not be on Earle’s side. The borough will only hold on to a bike for 60 days before it gets recycled.
Earle says the bikes were taken in late May, meaning she has less than a month left before that deadline.
The last stop for bicycles seized in the Plateau is SOS Velo – a charity that collects and recycles used bikes – where many are eventually sold.
“We’re getting close to that 60-day mark now. I’m feeling pretty hopeless about getting my bike back,” said Earle.
“It was just the time that I was looking forward to getting that yearly tune-up and getting to go on those bike rides again,” she said. “Now I feel kind of robbed of that experience.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
WATCH Video shows dramatic police takedown of carjacking suspects chased through parking lot north of Toronto
Police have released video footage of a dramatic takedown of a group of teens wanted in connection with an attempted carjacking in Markham earlier this month.
After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
DEVELOPING G7 warns of new sanctions against Iran as world reacts to apparent Israeli drone attack
Group of Seven foreign ministers warned of new sanctions against Iran on Friday for its drone and missile attack on Israel, and urged both sides to avoid an escalation of the conflict.
WHO likely to issue wider alert on contaminated cough syrup
The World Health Organization is likely to issue a wider warning about contaminated Johnson and Johnson-made children's cough syrup found in Nigeria last week, it said in an email.
Tesla recalling nearly 4,000 Cybertrucks because accelerator pedal can get stuck
Tesla is recalling 3,878 of its 2024 Cybertrucks after it discovered that the accelerator pedal can become stuck, potentially causing the vehicle to accelerate unintentionally and increase the risk of a crash.
'It was all my savings': Ontario woman loses $15K to fake Walmart job scam
A woman who recently moved to Canada from India was searching for a job when she got caught in an online job scam and lost $15,000.
Families to receive Canada Child Benefit payment on Friday
More money will land in the pockets of some Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit installment.
After COVID, WHO defines disease spread 'through air'
The World Health Organization and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time on what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives.