This is why intervals matter! In New Zealand, some cyclists were in Invercargill for the New Zealand criterium championships, and having some kebabs afterward for a snack. As they did so, a man came up and swiped Zakk Patterson’s $15,000 racing bike.
Patterson, who raced for the Canadian XSpeed United Continental team in 2022, said they were grabbing a bite, not thinking of it when it all went down.
An innocent kebab stop goes south
“We were getting a kebab at Mevlana Kebabs, just one street over from where we were staying. We thought we’d go get a feed after the race. It was late and an easy dinner,” Patterson told New Zealand’s Stuff.
However, two of Patterson’s buds–including Nick Kergozou De La Boessiere, who rides for the Continental team, St George Continental Cycling Team–were not going down without a fight. The duo jumped on their bikes and chased after him.
De La Boessiere, who placed 6th earlier that day in the crit and has won a stage of the Tour of Thailand, would prove no match for the thief.
Team pursuit time
“We parked our rides out front. We were sitting inside opposite our bikes and never thought someone would come and try and steal them, but I guess we were quite wrong,” Patterson said.
The other rider worked with New Zealand national member De La Boessiere and went full gas to retrieve the stolen bike.“The chairs flung backwards and we all raced outside. The other two guys jumped on their bikes and I started sprinting down the road, but was like, ‘what am I going to do now as I couldn’t keep up,’” Patterson said.
The race was over fast
“I grabbed the guys’ stuff and just chucked it inside, and luckily the kebab owner was pretty cool about it. He locked up the shop and told me to jump in the car and we started chasing them down the street,” he said. “We got there about a minute or so later and there were three cop cars and the dog squad already there, and the guys had caught him.”
Patterson said the duo caught him pretty quickly, and that the two riders are pretty quick on the bike, “so he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”
Once the two riders caught the thief, they tackled him and kept him pinned until police arrived.
Thief needed more miles in his legs
A report from Southland Police said, “Two of the cyclists mounted their trusty bikes and went into pursuit of the man. The alleged offender did not stand a chance against the…
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