Like many disgruntled bike owners in Nijmegen, graduate student Emanuel Tejada wants his bike back. However, his bike is not stolen, he sold it. Two and a half years ago.

According to Emanuel Tejada (27) from Mexico, bicycles can create bonds with people. Two and a half years ago, having finished his master’s degree at Radboud University, he sold his so-called ‘Giant’ and moved out. Now that he is coming back to Europe, he says he is determined to reconcile with his old Dutch bicycle.
From lurking in old student Facebook Groups to asking help distributing posters around campus, Tejada is making a great deal to find this two-wheeler and buy it back. What makes this bicycle so darn special?

Okay Emanuel. Did you hide a diamond in the thing?
‘No, no diamonds, the bicycle is the diamond.’

You didn’t name it, did you?
‘I figured calling it Giant, its brand’

Tejada says that The Netherlands ‘reinvented transportation’ and that he misses the days he cycled here. ‘In the Netherlands, a bike is the main option if one wants to commute to work or to exercise extra on the way to the gym. It is good for almost everything’. And even though he also cycles in Mexico, he misses his Nijmegen bike because of the ‘context’.

Why did you leave your bike?
‘It was not special back then. I had to leave and sold it like anyone else would. But I sold it on the day I presented my thesis, my last day in Nijmegen. In retrospect, this bike is special and it brings back a lot of memories.’

Is this the bike of your dreams?
‘Now I think so, in some way I have a bond with it.’

Although very tangible, bicycles touch people’s lives in many ways, they ‘create bonds with its human’ as Tejada puts it. The Netherlands can become very special for international students, as there is hardly a similar place where you can get the same cycling experience.

Are you coming back to Europe just to get it back?
‘No, I will move to Spain with my girlfriend but I will definitely pay The Netherlands a visit, so I intend to try and get it back.’

‘The possibility to get it back is exciting’, says Tejada. He thinks that the first time you notice a sentiment for your bicycle is in the winter, ‘One can feel how the bike becomes more delicate with the cold, just like oneself’. He also shares the most significant story with his bicycle. ‘My most memorable story is when it snowed. Giant and I were given the opportunity to be the first to create paths in the snow, we showed the way to other bicycle-human teams’.

Emanuel… I know it can hurt, but have you considered that maybe, … Giant doesn’t want to see you again?
‘Yes, yes, good point. I haven’t considered that, but I have considered the possibility of not being able to find it. I just hope someone is using it right and caring for it like I did.’

Internationals like Tejada, who never cycled regularly until they came to The Netherlands, can become very affectionate towards their bikes after they leave. The realisation that walking is too slow hits them hard in the face. Tejada hopes that he and his bicycle reunite before the National Cycling Day, the second Saturday of May, and he says he has already found friends in people wanting to help with his mission.