I’m a little behind today. We need to take off and go road race in just a bit. It is weird how quickly the morning of race days goes.
Anyway, a couple days ago Bill and I found a squished iPhone on the road. It was pretty smunched. I put it in my pocket, figuring it was worth something. When I got back to Ann’s house, all of us had a discussion on if I put it on eBay, what it would bring. The guesses were anywhere from nothing to $45. So, I went ahead and listed the phone on eBay, saying it was a iPhone 4 or 4s and it was broken badly. Within 5 minutes someone emailed me and offered me $45. It has just escalated and this morning it was $150. The phone is really destroyed, but obviously people know way more about it that we do.
I’ve found some pretty weird stuff throughout the years. My brother, Kris, seems to find way more stuff than me. He found a broken iPad last year. Bill once found a router in a box, brand new. He found a camera last year, a really nice one, listed it on Craigslist in Lawrence and someone claimed it. It seems like a lot more people are leaving their phones, cameras, etc. on top of their cars nowadays and driving off.
The first year I came down to Austin, we were driving out to Pace Bend and Trudi saw some money blowing across the road. We stopped the car and there was a lot of bills blowing around. We picked them up and eventually found a wallet. So, when we got back from the race, I called the guy whose wallet it was. He came over to put it up and when I gave it to him, he accused me of stealing some of his money. We’d put all the money we found blowing around back in the wallet, but didn’t get it all I guess. He’d left it on top of his boat while he got gas driving out to Lake Travis. He was a prick, at least that day, never once saying thanks or anything.
One of the weirdest discoveries was when one time a group of us were riding MTB and someone broke their chain and we didn’t have a chain too. We were way out, without an easy way to get home. Then someone looked down on the ground and said, “hey, there’s a chain tool.” Laying at our feet was a chain tool. It was like god had thrown one down for us to use.
Big things are the worse to find. Last year I found a 2 foot long screw driver. I just put it on my handlebars and road home with it. I found a 3 foot pipe wrench once. I stashed it in the bushes and got it later.
Anyway, I think the discovering of lost stuff is just an added benefit from riding around on a bicycle. You never know what is out there.
This is it, the million dollar phone. Pretty beat.
I found a riding crop. When I brought it home and showed it to my daughter she told me to go back and find the horse it went with.
Steve,
It seems a small investment for someone to make if they know how to extract info from a chip inside the phone. They might end up with bank or credit card info…who knows what is stored and retrievable
I stop for tools always.
Smashed technology never although I am now rethinking this.
Good tip.
Scan the ground in front of bus stops as you pass them. You’d be surprised what people drop getting the fare card.
I found a lady who had been missing for a few weeks dead in a ditch last December. Weird thing was I had ridden by that spot a bunch of times and never saw her. Now I find myself looking in the ditches a lot more.
If someone’s willing to pay that much money for that beat up phone you can bet they’re up to no good.
I found a really nice Buck pocket knife on a ride. Michael was really jealous and tried to convince me to give it to him many times. I still have it and it usually is in one of my bike bags.
The most interesting thing I found were bank bags which had been taken during a bank robbery. Unfortunately for the bank they were empty when I turned them in.
I used to ride with this guy who would always stop to pick up bungee cords. He found hundreds of them over the years. He moved away years ago, but every time I see a bungee cord laying in the street I think of him.
I found a cash drawer once downtown.
It was full of change still.
I found a chain stretcher once – it weighed about 30 lbs. I carried it to the next town and gave it to a random farmer I came a across. He was overjoyed.
Tools and money. I have found lots of both. Never $100 dollar bills, but lots of the other denominations. I have also lost a bunch of stuff while out there pedaling away. From sunglasses to house keys, somehow the stuff just disappears!
Rad- I see bungee cords all over the place too. I have never stopped to get one. I assume the ones on the ground, and not attached to a vehicle, are probably defective!
Jody,
That cannot be topped. I’m going riding now, to see what I can find.
Found a new loaf of raisin bread on a long ride once. Guess someone put it on top of the car after grocery shopping. Tasted great!
How about items that fall off of cars you see laying at stop lights? Spark plugs, freeze plugs, accessory or timing belts, brake pads. How do people keep driving without these essential items?
Many years ago, before cel phones, I was riding in the eastern part of San Diego County and we came across a human arm. We notified the sheriffs but never herd anymore of the incident.
If you get money for that phone I going to have a good laugh… But hey it will pay for some up coming races.
I’ve picked up several measuring tapes and a couple rachet wrenches; those were easy to carry home. I came across a really nice fiberglass ladder once; too big to carry home on the bike, so I left it. Never found any cash…still looking.
You should take the sim card out of the phone before you sell it.
Found a bag of weed once. I waited until I got home to spark one. It was pretty good stuff.
i always seem to find porn. out in the middle of nowhere, on country roads, there will be a playboy, or hustler or something just flapping in the wind on the side of the road. not just once or twice either, this has happened dozens of times over the years.
Yes lots of road porn.
looks like Rothe find something worth to stop for the other day…
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