stolen Giant

My bike was stolen from my shed in the cully neighborhood sometime between April 30-March 2. Description: Blue and silver Giant Left peddle intact (no right peddle) Black with white rubbery handlebars - mountain bike handlebars Two black PVC "crutch sheaths" in back Fixie Two Bike swarm and Cascadia stickers Hybrid road and mountain bikeQuick release wheels Back rack Water bottle holder that's crooked Small black tool pouch on back that says "Five Points, GA" Twine wrapping a rubbery piece of material on the frame (a cut up prosthetic liner) I ask of you... 1. Have you seen my bike? 2. Can you offer support as far as helping me design, build or acquire a new one, or parts? 3. To share this post far and wide. My Bike and Me: This bike serves as a mode of transportation and a mobility aid. Several years ago my entire right leg was suddenly amputated, leaving one inch of femur. My family was told if I lived I would never walk again. I spent seven months in the hospital, two of which in the ICU, teetering on the edge of death, and at one point actually dying. I survived a coma and a series of painful operations. Still, the hardest kind of pain was not physical, but was the pain which manifested itself upon my return home; it was awareness that my life would never again be the same. I was a second year law student at the time. Someone suggested I go to the YMCA. Which I then did. It was through the support of the YMCA, and a sister organization, the Ultimate Sports Institute, and the folks at Getting2Tri, that I gained my strength back. With the help of family, friends, community I slowly learned to walk, and bike. I learned first on a stationary bike, then practiced clipping in on road bikes. I later learned to ride with my prosthetic leg draped and twisted over the frame, however, usually rode with one leg (with slight ambi-turning tendencies). The fruit of a long collaboration and friendship, a friend in the biking community designed and built this bike for my specific purposes. It is a light-weight, fixed gear hybrid. Later other friends improved upon my system for carrying my crutches, two sheaths made of PVC pipe were fashioned one night at Community Supported Brew. I organize with Bike Swarm, the Valkyries, Rising Tide, National Lawyers Guild, Trans and/or Women Action Collective and Food Not Bombs. Biking gave me hope in my darkest days, and was the only familiar physical activity at a time when everyday actions, such as showering, using the bathroom, getting from point A to B, were unfamiliar and utterly challenging. I've participated in many rides including Midnight Mystery Rides (a grueling all night ride with few women and even fewer disabled folks), bike swarm actions, and pedapalooza rides. I helped organize and revive the women and/or trans caucus of Bike Swarm, the Valkyries. We organized a Smash the Patriarchy ride in response to Aaron Mesh's Willamette Weeks article and as a reclamation of space in a cis male dominated bike community. The community had become entrenched in patriarchy, and nearly two dozen call outs on one individual's pervasive sexual assault and abuse brought these issues to the forefront, as well as encouraged a cascade of similar call outs in the radical community. This ride provided a powerful glimpse into what an inclusive biking community felt and looked like, and a women and/or trans vanguard emerged within the biking community. I've provided support for folks organizing with Don't Shoot by scouting, corking, Legal Observing and doing on-site media for numerous demos and rallies, and it was my bike which enabled me to participate in these roles and marches to begin with. It is physically impossible for me to keep up with a fast paced, all weather and terrain march on crutches. Crutches wreaks havoc on my wrists and obliterate any ability to carry simple everyday objects. Due to my short amputation I've been undergoing fittings for a prosthetic leg for the past year and a half and must rely only on crutches until it's completion. My bike is absolutely central to my participation. Much of the organizing I just described hinged on my relationship with my bike. Having a bike and having the ability to bike is something deeply important to me.