Community rides to couple’s rescue after bike theft

A shared love of bike riding helped right a wrong Tuesday afternoon.

When Richard and Jackie Riordan of Salmon Creek read about the theft of Courtney and Harly Forbes’ bicycle, they both thought to give their tandem bike to the young couple.

“That’s a beauty, isn’t it?” Harly said as he examined the maroon Santana Arriva at the Riordans’ home Tuesday afternoon. He especially loves the speckled multicolored bar tape. “It’s going to get a lot of miles on it.”

Courtney, 21, and Harly, 22, were devastated when they woke Monday morning to find their tandem Peugeot bike stolen from the porch of their Vancouver home. They’re developmentally delayed and cannot drive a car, making the tandem their main means of transportation.

The Riordans had their tandem bike built when they lived in Southern California decades ago. The bike, however, has been hanging in the garage of their Salmon Creek home since they moved there in 1995. Harly and Courtney Forbes’ story came just in time, Jackie said.

“People in the Northwest are so generous, it’s starting to rub off on us, even though we’re from L.A.,” she said.

The neighborhood has been plagued with vandalism and car break-ins recently, Turner said. She’s dealt with theft at her home several times before and has had to replace the screen door’s security door handle.

With the theft in the past, Courtney and Harly look forward to blazing trails on their new bike.

They bike everywhere — to the grocery store, doctor appointments and the Waterfront Renaissance Trail, one of their favorite spots to ride.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s pouring down rain,” Turner said.

The Forbeses have been married just over a year after meeting in their life skills class at Columbia River High School and attending prom together.

“I think the greatest gift of all of this is the love and support that the kids have gotten from people that don’t even know us. It says a lot about the people around us,” Turner said. “There are so many good people out there. It just is really warming to the heart.”