Bicycle racers crash, tacks thrown onto course

[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.

[XMcShiftersonX]

Imagine if you had crashed and fallen on the razor blades though... that would have not felt good.

Wow, and I can't believe she broke her pelvis! That's a horrible injury that will probably haunt her for the rest of her life with pain, could affect her if she was interested in having kids, not to mention that if she cut her main artery in that area she could bleed out and die within minutes. People need to stop ****ing around. I swear, sometimes I hate the people I have to share this planet with.

[aicabsolut]

The road guards kept sweeping the corners throughout the afternoon. The running theory is that the saboteurs stuck around and replenished the tack supply on the road from time to time. It's kind of odd that no one noticed anything unusual going on.

[Aggie_Ama]

Someone did this one year in the Houston to Austin MS150. The route passes through a state park known for its narrow, hilly roads. They put tacks down just to cause flats. It wasn't as though the roads are heavily traveled. At a recent mountain bike race some equestrians were upset the trail was closed so they moved tape in sections. The race had been posted for over a month and was one hour from being over. It is suspected the horse riders did it because they threw a fit at the entrance gate and to a park police.

I am glad you are okay, that is one sick person.