Couple ends up with two tandem bikes - decides to 'pay it forward'
VANCOUVER, Wash. - A few days ago, a local couple received a generous gift from someone in their community and now they are paying it forward.
Courtney and Harly Forbes are both developmentally disabled and cannot drive. Their only form of transportation is a tandem bike, which was stolen from their front porch on Monday.
The story of the theft touched the community and some folks in Salmon Creek decided to donate their tandem bike to the Forbes.
Then, in a somewhat odd twist, the tandem bike that had been stolen showed up at the couple's home with a note attached that read "I bring this back 2 you because I am truly sorry and hope you can forgive me. I am trying to do the right thing. Guilty."
Now here is where the 'pay it forward' comes in.
The couple now has one tandem bike too many and they have decided to donate the old one to the Washington State School for the Blind in Vancouver. They chose that particular place because Courtney's cousin is blind and has never rode a bike.
Both of the tandem bikes do need some repairs but a local director of a bike racing team has pledged to donate his time to fix them.
Awesome! I love how they wanted to pay it forward. Good for them!
Nice story with a happy ending. Kudos for the director of a bike racing team. You are a good person....
this is the type of story that just makes your heart melt.Â
Great story.... This is how we should treat each other..
What an awesome turn of events! Win-win for everyone.
Very cool story - and VERY nice of Courtney and Harly Forbes to donate their extra tandem bike to the School for the Blind..! Â Â The schools rarely have money for "extras" these days, so I'm sure that gift will be MOST appreciated..! Â :-)
"Has never rode a bike?" Did you mean "Has never ridden a bike?" Aren't you guys supposed to be journalists?
There is ollways one that needs to pick apart any story that they read.....
 @Robert Wilmoth  Yes, they is perfessionalsand yer just s'posed to take whatever they feed you without asking questions.
Great Story:)
Don't feed the Trolls
Some repairs? That sucker looks completely stripped even of the paint, and crumpled up like tinfoil. *cough*
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Very nice that they are passing on with thier newfound fortune and if that guy needs any help, I'd be glad to turn a wrench.
 @Peregrine What picture are you looking at? I see a bike that is purple in color in the picture and doesn't look stripped down to me.
 @scoreboard That was kind of my point. After certain people were all going off about how it was stripped and the guy only returned it to add insult to injury. Next time I will be sure to add /sarcasm, ok?
 @PeregrineÂ
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"How do you know THIS pictured bike is the replacement?"
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I forgot: if you read the original story you would remember that the stolen bike was an old Peugeot. The bike above is clearly a Santana. Elementary my dear Watson.
 @PeregrineÂ
Excuse me? How do you know I passed on faulty information? Just because you couldn't find it? Here is the story on NPR which includes the information that the bike was too damaged to ride:
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http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/01/10/169048168/couples-tandem-bike-is-stolen-and-returned-after-thief-feels-guilty
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I find it Ironic that you assumed that my attitude was arrogant just by the words I chose. In your above post the guy took you seriously when you were being sarcastic. Perhaps we shouldn't jump to conclusions about what a person is saying when we don't have the voice inflection and facial expressions to clarify our meaning?
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Now, as far as accuracy in media goes; having dealt with both the printed and TV media for over two decades, I know very well how they get things wrong or flat out mislead just to make a story more "readable". I think what happened in this case is that the media wanted to portray the return of the bike as a perfect end to a typical crime story. We won't include the fact that the bike was too damaged to ride because that would detract from the feel good nature of the story.
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I love feel good stories and am the first to go gooey when i read them, but I want the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. If they won't give us that then it really is just a "story".
 @Scotty9 No, you weren't one of the idiots. You passed on faulty information that was presented elsewhere. Can't really blame you for that. The ones who were corrected yet still stuck to the false information were the ones I took issue with.
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Now, what I will take issue with your slightly arrogant and assuming response is, How do you know THIS pictured bike is the replacement? You may be trying to be accurate, but unless you actually KNOW facts, don't be all assuming that everything you read, especially on some of the local stations that are a little lax in thier reporting accuracy, are valid.
 @Peregrine  @scoreboardÂ
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No, you got yourself bent. I simply passed on information from a newscaster and expressed my opinion, which you disagreed with and you just can't get over it.  This is clearly the replacement bike and we don't have a picture of the returned one. Just trying to be accurate.
 @scoreboard Np... This story just had me kind of bent with all the idiocy being spouted by some people in that last story.
 @Peregrine Gotcha. You know hard it can be to tell sometimes.
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This is a sweet story. How cool...a tandem bike so that blind people can feel what it's like to ride a bike? Thanks to the guy from the bike racing team for helping out.
 @LongTimeLocal Blind people can ride bikes by themselves as many are not totally blind.  My ex-wife is blind (65%), but she could still drive the car in an emergency. Â