Bicycle racers crash, tacks thrown onto course

[Susan126]

What is wrong with some people?!

Bicycle Racers crash after tacks were thrown onto the course.

[aicabsolut]

i was one of the ones who crashed due to a flat tire...about 3 or 4 laps from the end of my race.

[Bike Chick]

That's terrible! I hope you are ok.

[Susan126]

aicabsolut I'm sorry that you crashed! I hope you weren't seriously injured and that you are recovering! Take care.

[XMcShiftersonX]

Argghhh that's bullshit! That pisses me off. Sue, I don't know if you did STP a few years ago when someone threw tacks out on the route by UW? My brother-in-law did it that year and I guess a whole bunch of people got flats. I don't know the extent of injuries or anything though. But obviously that was intentional, someone thought it would be funny to cause harm in an area where 10,000 cyclists would be riding by. It's too bad that our world is filled with a bunch of assholes.

[aicabsolut]

I'm ok. Got bruises and road rash, but I'll be fine. I think my bike is ok. Need to have the shop assess the front rim (the wheel that flatted--I scraped and dented the rim some when I tried to make a sharp turn with no air), the carbon handlebars and seatpost. All major things like my frame and noggin seem to be just fine. I am pretty upset about the whole thing, though. There were just so many people going down throughout the day from flat tires (or pileups behind people crashing with flats). Some people had much more bike and bodily damage than me, though I think there was only one bad injury--broken collarbone. Could have been a lot worse I guess.

My team got an email from one of the moto officials today. Apparently the refs were pulling multiple tacks out of their motorcycle tires after the races too. Luckily, none of them got flats because of it.

[bikerchic]

What kind of a sick *astard would do something like that?

Karma ~~what goes around comes around!


♪♪may your wife be blessed with runners in her hose♪♪

[bmccasland]

Any chance of catching and prosecuting the dang JERK(s) that pulled the evil prank?

May I suggest a bed of nails?

[aicabsolut]

I dunno if they'll catch anyone. There are cameras in the downtown area where the crit was held, but not many because it is a small town. The county police are taking it very seriously, though. I've been in contact with them about it. Although I fared better than many (didn't go to the ER, bike is probably ok and even if the rim is toast, I have Mavic insurance on this wheel), I hope that everyone who had an incident speaks up. The hard part for the police is to identify suspect(s).

A few of the locals spoke to me during my trainer warmup, and they seemed very friendly. One woman asked if she could take my picture--felt like we had some good fans! Many cyclists ate at the local restaurants and otherwise had a positive impact on the local economy. I heard that the milkshakes in town were the best. It's really too bad that there was an evil person in attendance too.

I also hope that the volunteer EMTs got some nice donations for their hard work. They did a good job.

[TrekTheKaty]

Seriously?! If someone had taken a header into that shed, they could have been killed. WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? Was someone inconvenienced on their way to work? No, obviously it was premeditated--unless they always carry tacks in their car! Which means they must have stayed to see their carnage. Unbelievable. Criminal charges--I hope they catch the guy!

aicabsolut, I'm glad you're ok.

[Catrin]

This is just sickening, why would someone even THINK of doing such a thing, let alone carry it out. Hopefully they can find and make an example of those responsible.

[MM_QFC!]

Argghhh that's bullshit! That pisses me off. Sue, I don't know if you did STP a few years ago when someone threw tacks out on the route by UW? My brother-in-law did it that year and I guess a whole bunch of people got flats. I don't know the extent of injuries or anything though. But obviously that was intentional, someone thought it would be funny to cause harm in an area where 10,000 cyclists would be riding by. It's too bad that our world is filled with a bunch of assholes.

Well, I know it didn't just happen a few years ago as, when I rode my 1st STP in 1999, I recall hearing people say to watch out for tacks in/around Chehalis as it was well-known that it happened frequently in that area. Chehalis area residents were quite vocal about inconsiderate even rude STP cyclists blowing through their area, not heeding any traffic laws, using lawns as bathrooms (ick!), littering and generally acting in a way that reflected very negatively on all of us...too bad. I did keep a watch out for tacks, especially on my 4 one-day STPs, and didn't have any problems with tacks, myself, but know a number of riders who did...and Cascade has done a good job of reminding riders to behave as good neighbors while riding through every community from Seattle to Portland...

[spokewench]

You just never know; we had a mountain bike race here in town and some yahoos went out and remarked the trails so that a bunch of people got lost and off track. Guess, what, the YAHOOS were local cyclists (who later could not keep their mouths shut) who didn't want anyone but themselves riding the trails. They thought the trails belonged to them and no one else!

Jerks is the only word I have for them.

spoke

[sfa]

On my commuting route there's a section where I've had to avoid odd debris several times. I say "odd" because I'm still not completely convinced that it's intentional. The first time was small nails in the road (on the right where cars aren't generally driving). Those were cleaned up eventually, and I figured they had just fallen out of someone's truck. Second time, same general location--nails again. That time I got suspicious because it seemed unlikely that the same thing would be spilled in the same place. Third time was this past weekend when I had to swerve to avoid a bunch of razor blades in the road. They were actually pretty harmless since they were all flat on the road--I probably could have ridden over them with no problem. But still, who loses a box of razor blades out of their car or truck? The razor blades were about a mile beyond where the nails were before. But I don't see why someone with a vendetta against cyclists would choose that road to target--I see other cyclists on it from time to time, but it's not heavily traveled by cyclists, and I don't know of any group rides that use that road.

Sarah

[OakLeaf]

There was a year or two that I rode TOSRV where someone had done that.

Just last week here, someone threw a full cup of ice at a paceline training for a big charity ride. I guess it was "lucky" that it only hit the last person rather than causing a pileup ... but she broke her pelvis. And of course the throw-er skipped out.

What I always say ... the 5% of cars that see you at all, are aiming for you on purpose.

Aicabsolut, glad you're not hurt worse.