‘Someone has stolen my BBC bike in Amsterdam

I intended to make a normal afternoon – bag full, ready to roll – when I went down and was hit by a shock of disbelief.

The space where my freight bike should have been was empty, and the double lock that it had shot at my apartment wall of Amsterdam was hacked.

My daughter shot among the other bikes, convinced that someone must have moved it, but no, it was gone.

With bicycles deep embedded in daily life here in the Netherlands – part of the “Dutch DNA”, as we say – I have no car, so I used my bike for everything, from the school that ran into a store trip.

This was no ordinary bike. My colleague Kate Vandy and I have affected a mobile temporary employment studio, which we have called the Bike Bureau. I started “Dutch news from the cycle path”, a reporting series born on the school run after my daughter asked me: “Why don’t you just tell people now?”

The bike enabled me to reach breaking news scenes and broadcast live, my daughter by my side, which shows that working motherhood could be visible, joyful and real.

It opened doors for collaborations, prices and a community of people who saw themselves in our story.

I have no expectation to get the bike back, and the search for it has turned out to be fruitless. I immediately called the police and they opened a case, but shortly thereafter closed it due to a lack of evidence that would help to find the thief.

People online and in my local community have gathered to try to find it since I had appealed. Neighbors asked me if I was doing well, and told me that they love to see me enjoying their cycle paths and see their city from the perspective of my foreigner.

But why, my daughter asked, do so many people that our bike has been stolen?

Colleagues and friends responded to my Instagram reel about the theft. Legendary BBC camera Woman Julie Ritson called My Bike a blueprint for the future of journalism. Others said it was a related life hack who showed how one person could manage motherhood and career, and inspired to reconsider what is possible with a freight bike.

It was solar energy, which means that the need for satellite trucks with heavy equipment and the pollution that transport mode entails cut.

Research last year from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism shows that the public is not only interested in news about climate change – they are mainly involved by stories that highlight people who take empowerment action in response to the crisis.

Some people have expressed a surprise that “things like this” would happen in the Netherlands. What they may not realize is that bicycle theft is endemic here. Last year, more than 86,000 bicycles were stolen in the Netherlands, an increase of 1,000 compared to the previous year, and 10,000 more than in 2022, according to police figures. Authorities say that an increase in reports may have contributed to this.

Most bikes are stolen stripped for parts or are sold. My E -Cargo bike cost almost € 5,000 (£ 4,200) -more than our old car I sold.

I paid for the bike, so the BBC has not undergone a financial loss.

What it really bought me was independence – and in a sense it is losing it as if you are losing a friend. Apart from the impact on my own lifestyle, that bike gave my daughter a magical youth -filled youth: picnics in the dunes, detours to see highland cows, fairy tale lights in the winter, airy journeys to the beach in the summer.

The theft has led to conversations about urban safety, bicycle infrastructure and the roasting mothers still wear. But it is also proof of the community that we have built and the power of sharing authentic stories from the saddle.

I may not get my bike back, but nobody can steal what it gave us all.