Comment by IncreasePosts

I think it's even more classic hn to try to redefine a commonly understood word in an attempt to be pithy, and then get pissy when someone says that's not really right. I probably wouldn't have responded if your post was particularly clever. But it wasn't.

No reasonable person would say trying to get your bike back by seeing it's location and going there is stalking. Stalking has an element of intent and a pattern of behavior which simply isn't present by a property owner attempting to go to the location of their property.

Perhaps you could stalk to get your bike back, but it would be something like "I think Bob stole my bike, I'm going to follow him around and see if I can catch him with my bike".

Perhaps you could stalk your bike thief by NOT retrieving your bike, but instead letting a thief keep your bike, and you continually track and harass them with your knowledge of where they probably are with your bike.