An Irish club cyclist has been the victim of a home burglary in which five bikes -including his new whip for racing – were stolen along with an assortment of power tools. The victim, Kilkenny-based Fergal Kennedy, believes the thieves who targeted his garage had staked out his property in advance.
The sheer size of the stolen haul – which included power tools and generators – also suggests vehicles were used by the burglars to escape with the property.
Kennedy told stickybottle that in the days just before the burglary last Monday morning he noticed a side gate at his home, about 6km outside Kilkenny City, was opened. He thought nothing of it at the time and closed it both times without checking with family members if they had left it open.
But he now believes the people who robbed him had come onto his property last week to check his garage before they returned to carry out the burglary some time between 9.30am and 1.30pm on Monday.
“I raced in the vets’ (IVCA) in Summerhill on Sunday and I came home and put the bikes away, and then Monday is an off day for me, I don’t do much on the bike,” he explained. “But on Monday night I went out to the garage to see if my bike needed a clean and when I went out the garage was empty. Then I checked had anybody left the gate open those couple of times last week, and they hadn’t.”
While the garage that was broken into is joined to the family home, the alarms were not on as it was daytime. The thieves forced up the garage roller door and took anything of value inside.
“The bikes were chained to a work bench and they broke that and took three racing bikes, my mountain bike and my son’s mountain bike. And they also helped themselves to as many power tools as they could.”
Kennedy said if his new Cervelo R5 racing bike, which he had built to his own spec (all details below) was to be replaced, it would cost about €10,000. And he estimated the entire haul of stolen bikes and power tools was worth €20,000.
“The Cervelo is the best bike I’ve ever had and I only have it a few months; it’s an amazing bike,” said Carlow Road Cycling Club member Kennedy.
However, he’d received “a massive amount of help” from people in the cycling community, including riders in his own club offering him the use of his bike.
Well known road racer Nikki Taggart has organised a replacement bike for him for the time being via Chainreaction; the company loaning him a Vitus ZX-1 EVO CR. Kennedy said he had been very pleasantly taken aback by the support from so many people in Irish cycling.
Gardai in Kilkenny are carrying out the investigation and can be contacted on (056) 7775000. They are also appealing to cyclists to keep an eye out online for the bikes being offered for sale.
The power tools included a Loncin generator, Flex battery drill, SWA hydraulic crimping tool, Honda generator and a Bosch kango hammer.
The stolen bikes are as follows:
- Cervelo R5 custom build. Zipp 404 wheels, Dura Ace GS, Praxis Works 165 carbon chainset, Power to Max power meter, Sworks Power saddle, FSA carbon handle bars.
- Zanatta Z82, Detec carbon wheels, Ultegra GS, Praxis Works 165 Zyante chainset with a 4iii power meter, white Specialized power saddle.
- Trigon TR437, front Shimano RS51 wheel, 10-speed Ultegra GS.
- Cube Mountain bike
- Giant Mountain bike
- Campagnolo Scirocco wheelset with 25mm Michelin Pro4 Endurance tyres and 11-speed cassette.
1/2 Please make to hot to handle, all my bikes taken today.
Cervelo R5 custom build. Zipp 404 wheels, dura ace gs, praxis works 165 carbon chainset, power to max power meter, sworks power saddle, fsa carbon handle bars.
Zanatta z82, detec carbon wheels, ultegra gs, praxis works pic.twitter.com/psP5AZCQXR— Fergal Kennedy (@f_dunmore) April 11, 2022
