This is the absolutely true story of how I lost my bike, found my bike, got internet fame, and then watched it fade away — all in three days.

It happened in 2010, during August, when New York City is hot, empty, and often unbearable. I was a struggling writer. I'd had three books come out that no one had bought, and I was broke. A friend offered me free tickets to an Arcade Fire/Spoon show at Madison Square Garden. I rode my bike, a yellow Schwinn with a basket, to the subway. I locked it to a street sign post and then took the train into the city. Arcade Fire was awesome, as was Spoon. I came back late, and found that my bike had been stolen. I kicked the curb, sad and dejected. Goddamn, I had loved that bike. Also, now I had to buy a new bike. With all my imaginary money.

The next morning I woke up and got on Craigslist. In 10 minutes I found an ad for the perfect bike. It looked just like mine… because it was. An hour later, with the help of my friend Maura, we ascertained that the bike thief lived just blocks from my house. An hour after that I called the cops and convinced them to help me bust the guy. By noon, we had organized a sting and caught the thief, a tall, skinny, white junkie with dreads.

I came home and documented the events of the previous few hours on my blog. I wrote breathlessly, sloppily, but with a pure fire. I tweeted the link. People instantly started forwarding the story. I had 5,000 hits within the first hour; 50,000 within five. Some people cheered me on because they, too, had had bikes stolen, and they related to my story. Others cheered me on because they were just grateful for a happy ending. Everyone else was just bored: It was August, after all.