'This is my entire life': Germantown racer says her bikes were stolen while away at a competition

 

GERMANTOWN, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Zaria Martens left her Germantown home on Friday, July 30 to head to a bike race in West Virginia.

Little did she know, that would be the last time she saw her most prized possessions.

The 19-year-old has spent her entire life as a bike racer, starting when she was only four.

“This is my career,” Martens told CBS 58’s Ellie Nakamoto-White. “This is my entire life.”

When Martens returned just days later, she headed to her garage.

“I went to go grab something and I noticed our door handle was missing,” Martens said. “It looked like somebody had tried to break in.”

On the garage door were new scuff marks and other damages.

The wood was broken, and the paint was chipped.

But it was what she didn’t see, that was her worst nightmare.

“I noticed that all three of my bikes were gone, my two race bikes and my pit bike,” Martens said, noting they are all custom and cost around $30,000 total. “It was probably the worst feeling ever. My heart sank. I couldn’t even believe it because we’ve spent so much time and money and our sponsors and our family have spent so much time and money putting this whole program together, getting those bikes ready. A couple weeks ago I actually just finished them, so they were ready for my race season.”

Martens spoke with neighbors and filed a police report, but until her bikes are recovered, her race season is forced to pause.

“I can’t go racing until I can get more bikes and then I have to have them completely built up and so it’s going to take a while,” Martens said. “To see such a big part of me gone was just devastating.”

Now she’s attempting to rebuild her entire racing program from scratch.

“They mean everything to me,” Martens said. “I work every single week at this, that’s the heart of my program. I can’t go racing without them.”

Martens created a GoFundMe which currently sits at just below $2,500 dollars.

If you want to donate, click here.