Friends of a Tucson cyclist who was the victim of a bike jacking last month, recovered his stolen bike at a nearby grocery store.

Cyclist Dean Gray was attacked on the Santa Cruz river path. He was kicked and punched by three or four teenagers who then stole his prized Peugeot.

Gray sent an email yesterday saying his bike had been recovered.

Here is what he wrote:

I wanted you to know that I have got my precious Peugeot back.

The other night some friends of mine were at the Food City in the neighborhood where it was stolen and noticed my bike parked outside. They confronted the guy and he told them that he had bought it for $40. They paid him the forty bucks and brought the bike back to me.

Maybe it was good that I wasn’t there because although I’m not a violent person, I would have been livid to say the least.

The bike has some scratches and is missing my panniers, some bolts missing, the front rack bent–so on.

I got it back on the road yesterday and I’m sorting out minor problems one by one.

I would like to thank the Tucson cycling community for the support  that was offered me – that really meant a lot . Thanks to Dave Boston for the bike he so graciously gave me, Erik Ryberg for the wonderful parts and advice and others for their offers as well.

Thank you all so much for helping me get through this thing, you guys are great. —Dean

I’ve still got an email into Gray asking whether the police ever responded.