She Followed the Thief Across Europe and Recovered Her Bike in Serbia

Thanks to a GPS tracking device, this Swedish woman was able to follow her stolen bike's journey across Europe.

Even if you leave a bike locked with a thick chain on the street, there's still a risk of it being stolen, as any chain can be broken and any security system can be bypassed. Thieves target more expensive bike models, often transporting them to other countries, making them much harder to find. However, a GPS tracker can help, as this example shows.

One day, Ditte Holdensgaard went to a grocery store in downtown Malmö in Sweden, and when she came out, she discovered that her bike was no longer where she had locked it. The bike had been stolen. You can imagine how upset and sad she was, as she had paid around $2,800 for this high quality bike.

Fortunately, she had a GPS tracker on her bike and could see on her phone app that the bike was in one of the areas of Malmö. Ditte contacted the police, but they couldn't find the bike since the app shows the object's location only approximately. "The police did everything they could, but in a big city like Malmö, it can sometimes be difficult to pinpoint a specific location. In this case, it was a multi-story building, so it didn't work," she later told local broadcaster SVT.

However, she kept tracking her bike via GPS and, after a few weeks, discovered that her bike was on a ferry heading to Germany. She then saw the bike travel across half of Europe, passing through Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, and finally ending up in Serbia. "When I saw that the bike was at a fixed point in Serbia, I thought I now had the chance to get it back," Ditte said.

The woman bought a plane ticket and flew to Serbia. At the location shown by the GPS app, she discovered a stash containing several expensive bikes, including hers. Now she is once again riding her own bike around her city.

If you want to keep your bike safe from theft, always use a sturdy lock, such as a U lock or a heavy duty chain, and secure it to a fixed, immovable object. For added security, consider using a GPS tracker as above, to monitor your bike's location in real-time. Additionally, park your bike in well lit, busy areas and, if possible, take it indoors overnight.