A very meaningful bicycle has been stolen and its owner is pleading for help to get it back.
Portland artist Matt Hall posted to his Instagram page on Sunday that someone broke into his studio in St. Johns and stole a bicycle that once belonged to Brett Jarolimek. Jarolimek was just 31 years old when he was riding on North Interstate Avenue and was killed in a collision with a truck driver on October 22nd, 2007. He was very well-known and loved in our community as a friend, a bike racer, and an employee at Bike Gallery. Jarolimek’s death, came less than two weeks after another young bicycle rider was killed in a right-hook collision just a few miles away. It was a watershed moment in Portland bike history that led to an emergency meeting in city hall, the right-turn ban at Interstate and Greeley and the implementation of bike boxes citywide.
Jarolimek was a dedicated bike racer who participated in a cyclocross race just weeks before his death. Matt Hall raced alongside Jarolimek and has kept his friend’s old bike on a shelf in his studio as a memorial. The bike is a red frame with the name “Cardinal” on the down tube and seat tube (it was hand made by former Portland framebuilder and close friend of Hall and Jarolimek, Matt Cardinal). “Jarolimez” is written in white letters across the top tube.
“The most precious object was stolen,” Hall wrote on Instagram. “My dear departed friend, Brett’s bike. I am utterly heartbroken. Please, please, please keep your eyes out for around town. I don’t care about possessions but this is an irreplaceable totem, and I’m crushed that it’s gone.”
Portland has a strong community that has recovered thousands of bikes over the years. Please keep your eyes open for this one.
Or perhaps word will spread to the thieves that this bike has tremendous sentimental value. That’s what happened in February 2008 when a thief stole Jarolimek’s ghost bike. In that case, the bike was returned with a letter written by the thief: “I sincerely apologize for what I have done- I did not realize what it was until after the fact.”