Burglary at Blues Backyard BBQ 🙁

He rode the bike 4,300 miles in 1981, now someone 'gutless' has stolen it
BY DANIEL SHEA (DAILY NEWS STAFF)
Published: October 21, 2011
ST. CROIX - A local businessman whose prize possession - a 10-speed bicycle on which he rode from California to New Hampshire in 1981 - was stolen from his barbecue restaurant sometime Thursday morning, is pleading for the bike's return.

David Lineham, known to many as "Porky," the owner of Blues' Backyard BBQ in Estate La Grande Princesse, choked back tears Thursday as he spoke about the theft.

"They could have taken anything off this property. They could have stole everything, and I wouldn't care. But they went and they stole my bicycle," Lineham said. "I'm heartbroken."

The 10-speed, gold-colored Moto Becane bicycle that Lineham bought for $375 in 1978 holds great sentimental value, he said.

"Alone, I rode that bicycle from California to New Hampshire: 4,300 miles in 43 days," he said. "When you sit on a little thing and ride it across the United States to my hometown and get there on the Fourth of July - my parents' anniversary - you get very attached."

Lineham rode into Sanbornville, N.H., on July 4, 1981, with a police escort, he said. Lineham and the bike appeared on television and in newspapers, which documented his travels.

It was a trip he took because he was an athlete, and it was a challenge.

"I wanted to see the country first-hand and one day at a time," he said.

Lineham's family and friends gathered at Backyard BBQ on July 4 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the completion of his trip, he said. He rode the bike up Northside Road and back to the restaurant, where a ribbon had been strung across the gate. The anniversary ride is the reason the bike was in the restaurant's storage shed.

Lineham arrived at the restaurant Thursday about 8:15 a.m. to find the door to the shed flung open and the interior trashed, he said. A window had been pried open overnight. Lineham has a refrigerator, meat, beer, tools and a pressure-washer inside the shed, but whoever broke in took the bike and just one other tool, he said.

The restaurant remained closed Thursday. Its sign said it all: "Gutless thieves have closed us today."

Lineham asked anyone with information to call him at 513-1521. He said he is willing to pay a cash reward - no questions asked.

- Contact Daniel Shea at 774-8772 ext. 457 or email dshea@dailynews.vi.