Stolen bike replaced for local athlete

A dark day saw a bright ending for a Kalispell man and Special Olympics medalist who woke up Thursday morning to find someone stole his beloved bicycle.

Charlie Rickard was getting ready to make the usual ride to work at Flathead Industries when he found his bike was gone.

“I went out to my garage and opened the garage door. No bike. Went out back to where my back fence is. No bike. Went out to the front porch. No bike. I go, “Gosh darn it, someone just stole my freaking bike,’” he said.

The thief or thieves had come during the night, cut a padlock off the shed and made off with the red and white Mongoose mountain bike Rickard kept inside.

Rickard was distraught. He was ready to scour the town for a bike he uses not only to win races in the Special Olympics each year, but also to get to work and around town and to visit his mother in Columbia Falls.

“I was just going, “I’m not going to work until I find this bike,’” he said.

Friends and co-workers at Flathead Industries were just as dismayed to see Rickard without his bike and shocked someone would steal it. They were trying to figure out what they could do to get his old bike back or get him a new one.

“We were all getting ready to pitch in, other staff and I, and all of Charlie’s teammates, because they work, were going to put in some money, too,” said Tom Murphy, a program analyst at Flathead Industries.

“Charlie lives and dies by his bike. This is his primary transportation, this is his fun, this is how he wins his medals. This is a central part of his life.”

Rickard wouldn’t be without wheels for long. What thieves can take, friends can more than replace.

Sgt. Tony McDonnell of the Kalispell Police Department came out to make a report about the stolen bike. McDonnell couldn’t stand to see Rickard without a bike and decided to help.

“Charlie was doing everything right, locking his bike up, and still someone victimized him with this theft.

And with him riding in the Special Olympics, and it being his only mode of transportation and how he gets to Columbia Falls to see his mom, I couldn’t bear the thought of going home tonight without Charlie having some set of wheels,” he said.

McDonnell made a couple phone calls and lined up a new bike for Rickard with help from the Kalispell Police Association and Target.

“I approached them and said I’d like to spring for a bike for Charlie, and Target and the officers at the KPD were happy to help,” he said.

The new bike was presented to Rickard in front of Target on Thursday afternoon. A surprised Rickard hopped on and went for a ride through the parking lot as his friends cheered and yelled, “There he goes!”

The search continues for Rickard’s stolen bike. “We still hope at some point in time we can recover Charlie’s other bike and then he can have a spare. But in the meantime at least he’s got a way to get around,” McDonnell said.

Murphy said he hopes whoever stole the bike feels guilty and brings it back, “no questions asked.” But the outcome Thursday was more than a happy ending to a bad day.

“This is just a fantastic way to end the day. We’re way more than happy. This just shows what Kalispell is all about, what our community is,” Murphy said. “To have this replaced by the generosity of our small town — I’m not surprised it happened, but I’m thrilled it happened. This is just fantastic.”

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.