CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The Chicago Police Marine unit said it’s fished five Divvy bikes out of Lake Michigan in the past year: Divers get some training time in -- and Divvy renters catch a break by not having to pay for a lost bicycle that the wind blew into the water.
North Avenue seems to be a prime spot for losing a bike in the lake.
Officer Dave Salzman with the Chicago Police Marine Unit talked to WBBM Newsradio about one man who was living too close to the edge.
“He put the kickstand on, I think, too close to the water. He kind of related to us he was going to chalk it up as a loss,” Salzman said.
Salzman said the man called Divvy to say where the bike was.
“And I believe Divvy pretty much said to him, ‘You’ve rented the bike, you lost it, it’s going to be on you.’ And they were going to charge him. So we were able to at least help him out,” Salzman continued.
The hardest part of retrieving a bike?
“The issue is not getting the bike up from the bottom. The biggest issue would be trying to find the bike, depending on the clarity of the water,” he said.
Salzman said the conditions for the most recent bike retrievals have been pretty ideal.
“They saw all the water to the bottom and they saw that big baby blue bike. So they tied up the boat and used it as a training opportunity to get a dive in,” he said.
Salzman said one woman ended up riding the bike into the lake. He said the woman, the bike - and the woman’s car keys made it out OK.
