Alyssa Chrisman learned the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished.

The Central Michigan University student, who passed through Davis on Thursday during an 81-day trek for Bike & Build — an organization whose participants pedal across the country to raise funds for and help build affordable housing projects — had her $1,500 bicycle stolen from a downtown sidewalk.

“We really wanted to explore Davis,” Chrisman, 21, said in a phone interview Saturday. She locked her red Giant Avail 2 on Third Street between E and F streets while her group checked out the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame and several local bike shops.

When she returned to Third Street at about 5 p.m., her bike was nowhere to be seen. The lock, she discovered, had been cut.

“I was pretty distraught,” said Chrisman, who had fundraised in order to purchase the bicycle for the Bike & Build trip back in March. “I was kind of freaking out about what I would do.”

Chrisman said the Davis Bike Collective hooked her up with an $85 Cruiser in order to complete the final three days of her trip, which ends Sunday in Santa Cruz.

While it hasn’t been the same as her specialty road bike, “at least it’s something. I’m glad to be on the road.”

The Bike & Build group has traveled 4,179 miles since May 26, stopping along the way to help build homes for Habitat for Humanity and other affordable housing organizations in South Carolina, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, Idaho and California.

“It’s been amazing to see the country,” Chrisman said. “It’s been a really eye-opening experience, and people along the way have been amazing.”

Except for the bike thief, perhaps.

Chrisman filed a police report about the theft. Anyone with information about the stolen bicycle, which has orange handlebars and 27-inch wheels, is asked to call the Davis Police Department at (530) 747-5400.

— Reach Lauren Keene at [email protected] or (530) 747-8048. Follow her on Twitter @laurenkeene

Alyssa and bikeW

Alyssa Chrisman has been biking across the country to raise funds for and help build affordable housing projects. Her bicycle was stolen during a stop in Davis, but a local group, the Davis Bike Collective, hooked her up with this bike to complete the final three days of her trip, which ends today in Santa Cruz. Courtesy photo

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