Sorry – What a sad holiday message… All biking tourists are warned not to leave their bikes anywhere during the holidays unless they are securely locked.

TRM have received several enquiries for our free bikes which have been freely available to inmates for the last 15 years. They were specially modified with rod holders etc. for anglers who used them to access the middle pools – such as Cattle Rustlers and Kamahi – 2-3 km up the Tongariro River Trail.

The following blog indicates how long TRM has endured the problem…

“23 December 2013 – No sooner had we promoted the Tongariro River Trail (TRT) ride than some local hoods pinched all our bikes. True! We opened up last Tuesday morning to discover all the bikes were gone? Just disappeared… Obviously stolen as the security wires had been chomped through with bolt cutters. So we immediately advised the local police.

Fortunately we could give them a full description. These are not any ordinary mountain bikes as all had been modified for TRM inmates. All have back carriers for pannier bags, wide comfy seats, special mounded hand grips, even bells. TRM had recorded their rego numbers. All bike frames have a rego number stamped underneath the pedal shanks.

But just before we ordered some more bikes the police phoned – what a relief – they had recovered one and hoped it would lead to the others. Then, Neale Saunders, the local chief cop called in to advise they had recovered them all, along with a few other stolen goodies. So it was a good result for everyone.

etc.”

But times have changed as society’s standards have deteriorated.

Since then, eight years ago, TRM’s “free hire” bikes have been attacked and stolen so often we have had to give up. TRM’s stolen bikes have since been seen around town, repainted and modified to disguise them. We would not want them back. So tourist bikers need to be aware.

All biking tourists are warned not to leave their bikes anywhere during the holidays unless they are securely locked.