February 1, 2021
Day F7: Shakedown in Shekou
Almost Lost the Montague Again
The Montague has been through a lot. It has climbed 5000+ meter mountain passes, ridden through restive military zones in the deep south of Thailand, survived an attempted theft in Cambodia, got rescued from a lockdown last year in Thailand. Just now it was abandoned at the top of a mountain and retrieved.
Eventually the bike would return to its safe haven in Thailand but there were still some tough parts ahead. What I didn't expect for a potential downfall was the bicycle parking issues in Shenzhen. This city didn't strike me as very bike friendly all along, and it seemed that certainly extended to the parking issues.
I rode out to Shekou for the covid test and it was inside a gated compound where bikes were not allowed to enter. So I parked the Montague outside on the street and locked it to a pole. After the covid test, I walked outside to where the bike was and saw a cop lurking around the area. He sprung up quickly and started to approach me as I was making my way to the bike. This was definitely not good. Time to think on my feet, quite literally.
I just kept on walking and didn't show any indications that it was my bike. Once out of eyesight, I stood off at a distance and watched to see what the cop would do. He went back to sit on his motorcycle, most likely waiting to see if I or someone else would move towards the bike and unlock it. And what would happen in that case? Who knows. Besides, what is even the issue? It's possible that you can't park bikes on the street in certain areas and this city enforces it strictly. But then where are you supposed to park it? My best guess was that if I went for the bike they would approach me and try and issue a fine for illegal parking or whatever. Not wanting to know for sure, this turned into a waiting game.
As this waiting went on, it was apparent that my hiding spot was picked rather poorly. I saw a few police cruisers pass by and there were indeed people watching me watching the bike. Other security guards were beginning to gather also in that area where the bike was, including the compound staff. This wasn't looking good at all.
If I kept waiting for too long, then they might call for backup and send someone to cut the lock and impound the bike. But if I went back too quickly, they would know it was me and my bike. To be honest they probably already knew and it wasn't a good idea to just keep on standing there either.
So what I did was go back inside the compound by another entrance. Then I walked around the building, changed my appearance by taking off the jacket, put on a hat, took out the cell phone, faked making a call, and went out by the same main gate I used earlier. Once I could see there was nobody near the bike, I held the phone on my ear and unlocked it as quickly as I possible. The strategy and timing was indeed done very well.
I could see the security guards off to the side, and the main police motorcycle was no longer there. But another officer was there, however, and with his back towards my bike. As I quickly unlocked the bike and took off, I could hear him shout 'Hey!' so indeed I was right all along!! With the fake phone call being made, I just ignored him and took off.
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That was too close of a call for comfort. I managed to chill out in the Sea World area and have a massage to calm down a bit after that scare. Not long after that it was time for a social meetup at the Blue Frog restaurant and bar. This included 2 for 1 happy hour deals on both burgers and drinks, and then it was quite a tipsy bike ride back to the Futian area where I was staying.
Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 582 km (361 miles)
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3 years ago