My touring bike stolen :o(

Oh, my sympathies to you! Its funny how we can become very attached to a bit of steel tubing and rubber.

Sounds to me like either you either had a weaker lock than the others (sometimes thieves know immediately what lock they can attack, and go for that one regardless of the bike), or it is indeed true, touring is getting more fashionable than mountain biking.

There is only one way of overcoming your loss (short of hunting down the thieves like dogs and castrating them with a rusty nail clipper), and thats to get planning your new, perfect bike. Chose right, you'll love your new steed almost as much. Ah, we are so fickle.....

Buy a new baby soon-and keep it in your bedroom.

I know the feeling, just a month after a cycling trip from Laos to Malaysia through Thailand a couple of years ago, I just stopped at Peter Jones on the Kings Road in London to pick something up, locked the bike up with a d lock to the railings, was gone no more than 10 minutes and when I returned, my bike and the lock had vanished! I did feel a prat having to get on the tube in my cycling gear but anyway the insurance money provided me with an even better bike so the story has a happy ending...in fact that is the 4th bike I've had stolen in London, each time I have managed to upgrade via the household insurance policy...so long as you specify the bike and its value, and cover away from the home, the insurer has to pay up (and so long as the bike was locked to a secure object and you have reported to the police)....cover well worth paying for.

I can empathize, had a mountain bike stolen in downtown toronto while i was at the pool (sigh). I guess one thing to do is look ahead to bagging new countries on a new, fresh bike... as they say the best way to get over an old "loss" is to get on a new one... ;-)

Oh crap OP, sorry to hear about your loss.

I'd say take Cats advice. Or you could an old "beater", then go out and really trash it, if it survives the torture, you'll feel like you have a "new" friend.

It works for me usually....

Thanks for the advice & warm words guys. It does help :o)

I'd forgotten how much I hate public transport! I think I'll buy a new rack this weekend and try to kit out one of the others to ride to work. While I'd like to rush out and get a new bike, I'm not quite ready :o(
Also I think I'll wait until I go on my next tour so I can see what's out there at that time.

Karma right? Now I just hope that whoever has her loves her and rides her a lot.

I think you need to try for some perspective on it. It's a bike - you can get another one - perhaps with a bit of financial pain along the way. Compared to getting injured or losing your health it's not too disastrous. I used to be sentimental about my bikes, but enough really bad things have happened to me that I now see bike theft for what it is - no more than an irritation.

On a more practical level, I suggest you don't use your touring bike for commuting. I use a very old very cheap second hand bike for that which I'm happy to leave anywhere. It's not likely to get stolen and if it does, I haven't lost much. My tourer, which is pretty expensive (but very battered) lives in the house and only gets used for touring. If you're short of space you can always partly dismantle it and find a little corner for it.

my condolences. My 3-year-old Trek was stolen on tour in 2001 in a locked room in a locked hostel in Madrid. (probably an 'inside job' as appears to be the same in your case). I had just arrived from the airport; it was still in the bike bag. Having little choice, I bought what has turned out to be a much better bike, a Cannondale. A silver lining.