Bike thief’s touch stings former first couple

If you see our nation’s 39th president hoofing around the center that bears his name, feel sorry for the guy. Someone snatched his bike.

Jimmy Carter’s bicycle was stolen earlier this month from the Carter Center. The thief made off with former first lady Rosalynn Carter’s cruiser, too.

These weren’t rattly old machines, either. They were made by Specialized, a fancy bike-building firm. Each was a Globe model, eight-geared and ready for Atlanta’s potholed streets and sidewalks.

Peter Wicker, owner of Outback Bikes, in November 2007 presented the bikes to the Carters after he learned they like to two-wheel around Freedom Parkway when in town and not doing something important.

In 2007, the center sent Wicker the couple’s worn bikes for maintenance. His wife, Cate Rockett, suggested he give them something more befitting a duo who has built houses for Habitat for Humanity and consistently urges us to conserve energy. And there is that Nobel Peace Prize.

Wicker gave the Carters cruisers that each retail for about $1,000. Wicker also told Carter he ought to easily outpedal the Secret Service agent pumping along behind on a crummier bike. That seemed to please the ex-chief executive, he said.

Now, the bikes “have probably been sold for a $10 rock of crack,” Wicker fumed.

No arrest has been made.