NEWS

Bicycle thief strips 22 years of effort

After trying to cycle his way into the Guinness Book of World Records through 30,000 communities throughout Europe over the course of 22 years, 61-year-old Christian Van Limbergen had his precious bicycle stolen in the port city of Hania on Crete, it was reported yesterday.

The unknown thief made off with the Belgian?s bicycle and personal belongings, though the most precious loot was his notebooks, which contained official stamps and signatures verifying the number of places he has visited on his European tour, which he began in 1989, and which has so far covered over 600,000 kilometers.

The traveler, who has spent 22 years trying to achieve his goal, made an appeal to the thief through the press for the return of his logs.

“By stealing my notebooks with the signatures, they have taken away my life,» he said. «I appeal to the person who did this to keep the bicycle, my clothes and the sleeping bag, but to return my notebooks to me.”

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