In disturbing news today, the Denver Post is reporting that someone recently planted nails in single track trail areas dangerously targeting mountain bikers. Tim Fishback and Nick Kostecki were riding the new Little Scraggy Trail system in the Buffalo Creek area southeast of Gunnison, Colorado when both of them flatted in a smooth section of trail.
Upon investigation, Fishback found nails that had been mounted in bricks, then buried in the single-track trail that were specifically set for mountain bikers. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Someone manufactured these things. It took some effort to dig those holes and put those in there and they were spaced out a good bit. Somebody was trying to do some real harm and they were targeting bikers,” said Fishback
The Buffalo Creek area has long been part of the mountain bike culture in the area and most of the trails were constructed by cyclists.
The Forest Service is investigating the incident. But conflict in mountain biking areas is nothing new. Hikers often become annoyed with the sport’s practitioners as cyclists sometimes travel at high speeds that can throw some people off. And some of them take their anger too far.
In 2014, spiked boards were found in the Prince Creek network near Carbondale, Colorado. A BLM investigation failed to find any concrete leads. A 64-year-old women who is an avid hiker was convicted in Vancouver, British Columbia of criminal mischief after she repeatedly set traps for mountain bikers and was caught on film. A 57 –year-old was convicted in Oregon for setting booby traps for mountain bikers while an Oakland, California man was arrested for digging pits and concealing them on a trail near the Bay area.
All of these acts could cause serious harm to mountain bikers carrying speed. And it seems it has become an alarming trend. “It happens enough now that I would say there is a worrisome aspect, where people can see these as passive attacks on different user groups,” said International Mountain Biking Association spokesperson Mark Eller. “The factual way of looking at it is that this happens a few times a year now.”
