Thin blue line works magic

READY TO RACE: AvantiPlus Pedal Power owner Stephen Humphreys (left) checks over Peter Winstanley's bike which he helped Constable Ben Dalton recover. PHOTO/DUNCAN BROWN

A series of coincidences and good police work saw a rider reunited with his bike the day before a big race.

Peter Winstanley has been gearing up for the Contact Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge for the past few months.

So he was devastated when he discovered his road bike had been wrenched from a locked car rack and taken.

The New Plymouth man and his wife arrived in Napier on Tuesday to spend time with family before going to Taupo for the race.

The couple went to bed that night thinking that Mr Winstanley's road bike and the two mountain bikes they had also brought along would be safe locked on the roof rack of their car. But, when they woke up the next morning, all three bikes were gone.

"They wrenched the jaws of the clamp ... I was devastated," the 68-year-old said.

He reported it to the police and started making plans to get a back-up bike so he could still race today.

Just by chance, the couple called into AvantiPlus Pedal Power in Taradale on Friday so Mr Winstanley could have a look at what he might replace his stolen bike with.

He was telling staff about the theft when one piped up about an email police had sent querying the make of a bike they suspected was stolen.

Owner Stephen Humphreys showed Mr Winstanley the bike. He confirmed it was his.

Mr Humphreys, a former police officer, got on the phone to constable Ben Dalton saying he knew who the bike belonged to and that yes, it had been stolen.

The call from Mr Humphreys gave police sufficient evidence to get a warrant and recover the bike from a Napier property, the Tactical Crime Unit officer said.

One person was being spoken to in relation to the matter.

Mr Dalton said thieves were active at this time of year so people needed to take extra care.

Mr Dalton said people have to be "very aware" of buying items off Facebook selling sites.

"There is a large amount of stolen property on there and people buying items run the risk of being charged with receiving."

Mr Dalton was pleased that Mr Winstanley would be able to ride his own bike in the race.

Mr Winstanley was grateful to have one of his three bikes back.

"To replace it was going to cost me a lot of money, being a pensioner."

He will ride 160km on his bike today.