Bicycle theft strands South Korean cyclists in Edmonton

A South Korean couple cycling across Canada had to hit the brakes in Edmonton after a roadside theft on Sunday.

Mulkyeol Choi said she cycled ahead of her husband on a stretch of the Yellowhead Highway near Wabamun Lake. She stopped on the shoulder to let him catch up, walking about 10 metres away from her bike.

When she turned back, Choi said her bike had disappeared along with all the valuables strapped to it.

"I was angry, for sure," Choi said. "I was worried very much because my bike had all of my stuff like passports, my money, my laptop, even my clothes." 

That's when her husband wheeled his bike around the corner with a flat tire.

After spending almost an hour stranded on the side of the highway, the couple managed to hitch a ride into Wabamun, about 70 kilometres west of Edmonton.

From there, Choi called a family they knew in Edmonton to stage a rural Alberta rescue. 

"It's been amazing until this theft," she said about the trip.

The two had planned the three-month trek from Vancouver to Quebec, before heading through the United States to South America.

Choi said she worked as an engineer in Seoul, South Korea's capital, for five years to save enough money. She and her husband then quit their jobs, and traded their home for two bikes.

Almost everything they owned was strapped to Choi's bike when it disappeared.

Choi, who's been left wearing her husband's spare clothes, is still in Edmonton.

The couple can't afford anything as expensive as her last ride, a $3,000 touring bicycle, but said they notified RCMP and are hoping to get it back in time to finish the trip.

"I'm not going to be away from my bike," she said. "Never again."

More importantly, she added, they must go to Ontario to pick up new passports from the South Korean embassy.

Choi said she's depending on her bike to get there, so she's hoping for a reunion.