Tacks On Road

[Nanci]

Nice. I'm at 3-State 3-Mountain Saturday. It's a Century with 9600 feet of elevation gain, going over three mountains, one each in Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. The first climb is about 4-5 miles at 6%, starting at about mile 12. On the way up, we hear a report of a rider who crashed on descent, unconscious, with an ambulance in attendance. On my way down, (I love descending!!) I notice there are LOTS of people off to the side with flats, in groups- not just one rider. When I get to the SAG at the bottom, they are announcing "Check your tires for tacks!" Some mean person had thrown tacks all over the road on the descent. I hope that is not why the guy had the bad crash. Some poor guy is standing there, saying it was the worst day of his life. I guess, me being near the back of the pack was a good thing that day. I just can't believe someone would do a thing like that.

Nanci

[Surlygirl]

I've read this is a common ploy by people who oppose the rail trails. There are always a few nuts out there. I personally think they ought to prosecute these people for malicious intent. The problem is catching them. Idiots!!!

[Brina]

that is just awful. I hope they catch the bastard.

[Lise]

Incredible. I cannot fathom that. Wishing quick and full recovery to those injured. Lise

[Aggie_Ama]

I heard this happened in the 2004 (or maybe 2003) MS150 Houston to Austin. There is a route that goes through some state parks with some steep hills. The roads are not the greatest and there are always a few wrecks to begin with. I don't know why anyone would do that? :confused: My guess is they believe it will only cause flats, at least I hope they do not intended on harming people.

Glad most people escaped serious injury! Hopefully the other rider(s) will recover fully and quickly.

[Running Mommy]

There is a special place in hell for those people!! :mad:
But somehow being in the south, it doesn't surprise me! All I can say is THANK GOD we moved to Phoenix instead of Birmingham as previously planned!! :rolleyes:

[DrBee]

They should find the people that did it and impale them with the tacks. That would fix 'em! That is just so wrong. I'm wishing those injured a fast and easy recovery. Glad you made it through unscathed Nanci.

[Geonz]

I hope it gets press and that the perp has enough of a soul left to regret it.

[kaybee]

Nanci, I was in a bike shop in Chattanooga Saturday morning, when a gentleman in an SUV with a SAG sign on it came in and bought about a dozen tubes. We heard him say that someone out in Suck Creek had thrown tacks on the road. That tells you quite a bit about the mentality of some people. Hope you didn't end up with a flat, and on behalf of all the sane people in the Chattanooga/North Georgia area, our apologies.

KB

[Pedal Wench]

Arghhh. This is unfortunately more common in Northern Georgia than any of us wish to admit. There is a gorgeous century, appropriately "Beautiful Backroads" that is beautiful and on gorgeous backroads through rolling farms and hills. They've had a problem with tacks almost every year, even with police watching and sweeping for the problem. There are group rides out of the Budweiser factory up there, and they regularly report problems with tacks. I've wanted to ride up there again, but I'm afraid to - we got two flats withint 100 yards from them last year. It's awful and dangerous, and if a rider gets injured as a result, criminal charges must be brought.

[Trekhawk]

Nice. I'm at 3-State 3-Mountain Saturday. It's a Century with 9600 feet of elevation gain, going over three mountains, one each in Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. The first climb is about 4-5 miles at 6%, starting at about mile 12. On the way up, we hear a report of a rider who crashed on descent, unconscious, with an ambulance in attendance. On my way down, (I love descending!!) I notice there are LOTS of people off to the side with flats, in groups- not just one rider. When I get to the SAG at the bottom, they are announcing "Check your tires for tacks!" Some mean person had thrown tacks all over the road on the descent. I hope that is not why the guy had the bad crash. Some poor guy is standing there, saying it was the worst day of his life. I guess, me being near the back of the pack was a good thing that day. I just can't believe someone would do a thing like that.

Nanci

Mate thats terrible. Glad to hear you were ok. Its scary knowing people like that exist.

Keep Safe out there.

[Nanci]

Nice, yet another thing to worry about...

Kaybee, how come you weren't on the ride?? It was SO FUN!!! I'm for sure going next year.

Nanci

[cinderly]

That behavior is so low it doesn't even qualify as human! I've never understood those who seek to harm or destroy those they don't agree with or approve of.

The responsible parties should be served for both bodily injury and property damage. Willful, malicious behavior is NOT OK.

Please keep us posted on the injured rider's condition.

[bikerchick68]

people are idiots... there's just no arguing it anymore... anyone who would do something SO stupid and think it's justified is... just an idiot.

Hope the injured rider recovers well...

[Lise]

Why would people do such a thing? Is there any (warped) reasoning behind it? I remain baffled. :confused: :(

[Nanci]

I'm kind of horrified to find out they do that in Georgia, too. I hope Six Gap isn't a usual target...

Nanci

[Bike Goddess]

Nanci- aside from the tacks, I trust you did fine. 9600 ft is no small feat (no pun intended)!

Re tacks- This seems to be a regular occurence on the Seattle to Portland ride near the one big hill we all do about 20 miles out. No one has ever been caught. Since there are 8500 riders, ample opportunity to get a flat in that stretch if you don't know about it. The 2 times I have done the ride, there has been support staff in the area warning us to keep an eye out for tacks.

This kind of behavior reminds me of arsonists- the people who deliberately set fires for the drama of it. How sick and how sad.

[Nanci]

Can you even see tacks???

You know what, after doing a 600k, everything else will always seem easier. Unless I do a longer ride!! I got _such_ great conditioning from the brevet series. I'm not even sore at all today, can run up and down stairs, my _knees_ don't even hurt!! When I was at the SAG _before_ the last big climb, everyone is all whining and scared and whatever, and I was thinking, oh you guys don't even know what hard is...Yeah, it's steep, but it's only 2.25 miles! Try staying on a bike for 374 miles!!

[skibum]

I'm kind of horrified to find out they do that in Georgia, too. I hope Six Gap isn't a usual target...

Nanci
I've never heard of any tacks on the Six Gap route. I ride in that area all the time and find it to be pretty cycling friendly. No need to worry...

[Bike Goddess]

That's right Nanci! Between you, Sarah, Veronica, and ..... we have quite a crew of strong riders here!!!!!

[annie]

Mean, nasty, sadistic people throw tacks on the road to purposely annoy/hassle/ irritate and even injure cyclists. I cannot comprehend it, either, but it definitely happens. It's happened on RAGBRAI numerous years. They try to sweep the road, but by then, it's too late and there are tons of people with flats. I remember one year a stretch of road was so bad that they made people get off their bikes and walk. Even then, it was hard to avoid the tacks! How do you see the tacks, Nanci asks? You don't usually, until they are in your tire and you are removing them. :mad: :( :eek: If it were not such an awful thing to do, I would almost feel sorry for someone who found pleasure in such an act. What kind of a person must they be and what kind of a life must they lead to either not realize or, worse, not care what mischief and damage they cause? I cannot understand it.

annie

[KnottedYet]

Happens almost every year on the DALMAC, too. I was lucky, people around me on one stretch were all getting tacks. They were little black carpet-style tacks, so there was no way you could see them on the black road surface.

I don't know if I just managed to miss them, or if the heavy tires I was using saved me some trouble.

That stretch of road had been clear a couple hours before, so someone driving during the ride (and amongst the riders) must've thrown them out a window along several hundred yards.

[Pedal Wench]

I'm kind of horrified to find out they do that in Georgia, too. I hope Six Gap isn't a usual target...

Nanci

I agree with SKibum -- I've never heard of it being an issue in the Six Gap area. I think people are very supportive of the cycling people who pour money into the economy all summer long.

[Tuckervill]

The idea that someone would throw tacks for cyclists to hit brings up a very painful memory for me. If this were to happen to me, it could cause me to stop riding all together.

When I was about 6, my parents took me with them on some errand somewhere. It was a summer night and I had already had my bath and was in my pajamas and sponge rollers. When we got home, I ran up the stairs, sprinted across the living room and leapt onto the sofa, as I always did. As I hit the sofa I felt terrible pain and looked to see that there were straight pins sticking out of the soles of my feet.

Of course I started screaming and my Daddy grabbed me up and took me into the bathroom and pulled them out and washed my feet. Meanwhile, my mother berated my older brother for putting the straight pins there. Through my tears and the yelling I heard him say, "You don't want her to jump on the couch! I was trying to teach her a lesson!"

I can't even describe how profoundly angry that made my 6-year-old mind (and this 44-year-old mind, too). This story about the tacks brings up the same kind of feeling.

Karen

[DirtDiva]

Ain't big brothers grand... :rolleyes: Glad mine never did anything that bad to me - he was more into psychological torture. ;)