In these days of multispeed, titanium-framed, shock-absorbed mountain bikes, it was no ordinary bicycle. It had a modest three speeds and a hub brake. It weighed 56 pounds because its frame had been reinforced against fractures, and its spokes had been thickened to cope with the rugged terrain, according to a Web posting by Mr. Stücke (http://bikechina.com/ct-heinzstucke1z.html).

Image Heinz Stücke, without his bike in Portsmouth, southern England. It was later found. Credit... Chris Ison/Associated Press

It had an extra set of handlebars so Mr. Stücke could modify his riding position to ease shoulder pain. It had crossed the Syrian desert to set a personal record of about 200 miles in 12 hours "with the help of strong tailwinds." It had been to high altitudes in India and Tibet, across Afghanistan (in 1978) and above the snow line in the mountainous African kingdom of Lesotho, not to mention below street level in the rutted tracks of less elevated Africa.

Friends and supporters had donated cash to keep him going. Even Haile Selassie, the emperor of Ethiopia who died in 1975 — "whom I had the honor to meet" — was listed as a donor of $500.

"All that matters to me is traveling on my bike," Mr. Stücke, 66, told the BBC. "That bike has sentimental value. In the past I have cycled up to 100 kilometers a day on it." That's about 62 miles.

The police were concerned at the bike's disappearance. Constable Paul Jones even went through the police lost-property store and found a bike to lend him. But Mr. Stücke never abandoned hope that his trusty two-wheeler would be returned.

"I expected it to be found, because it's not a flashy one, it's not an expensive one," he said.

And it was.

An unidentified person found it abandoned in a park. And it was handed back to him, to his relief.

"Hallelujah, praise the Lord — I have got my beautiful bike back," Mr. Stücke told reporters. "Is there any other bike like this in the world? It's the one thing I have to have for my life and my livelihood. Now I can rejoice and my journey can continue."