One week after his bike and almost all his possessions were stolen, cyclist Bob Viens got a pleasant surprise Saturday morning.

Police called to tell him that a mountain bike had mysteriously turned up on the front lawn of a local residence in Amherst.

"Sure enough, it was my bike," Mr. Viens said in a phone interview Saturday evening. "It just had a broken mirror and the speedometer was ripped off, but otherwise it’s in perfect condition."

Unfortunately, the bags that had been attached to the bike, which contained most of his equipment and provisions, were not returned.

Mr. Viens had just arrived in Nova Scotia after an exhausting 1,520-kilometre ride from his hometown of Brattleboro, Vt., when his bike and bags were stolen from outside the Amherst public library.

Mr. Viens was left with only his camera, cellphone and debit card.

News of his plight quickly circulated in the media and soon he was being bombarded with offers of money, rental bikes, free camp sites and other forms of support from throughout the province.

By Friday, he had received enough money to purchase new equipment and replace his stolen bike with a brand new one.

"I couldn’t have imagined this," said Mr. Viens, adding that he plans to keep the newer bike and auction off the recovered one on EBay, with all the proceeds going to benefit a local cause in Amherst.

He said it’s his way of giving back to the community that rallied around him when he was left with virtually nothing.

"With all of the attention that this has gotten, I think this will raise a lot of money."