Trouble on the trails

Bicyclists report finding booby traps on local trails

Submitted This photo was on the Mojo Cycling Facebook page along with a warning about booby traps on the Blowing Springs mountain bike trails.
Submitted This photo was on the Mojo Cycling Facebook page along with a warning about booby traps on the Blowing Springs mountain bike trails.

David Neal of Mojo Cycling in Bentonville took to social media last week to warn bicyclists of a potential hazard on the Blowing Springs mountain bike trails.

On Aug. 29, he posted a photo of a two-by-four with several nails pounded through it, along with the message about booby traps on the trails.

"I found some logs on blind corners," he said in a phone interview last week. "They placed them in the trails strategically on the blind corners. I was lucky I was able to get around it ... barely."

Neal said he could actually see the tracks were someone had dragged the logs out of the woods to put across the trails. It was his brother who found and photographed the nail-studded two-by-four. It had been placed in a channel that was dug out to help hide it.

A customer in Neal's Bentonville shop reported fishing line strung across the trail at head and chest level.

"With the speeds we've been getting, someone is going to end up in the hospital," Neal said.

Clem Morgan, the Bella Vista Property Owners Association's recreation manager, heard about booby traps via Facebook, but when he walked the trails last week, he didn't find anything. But he wants to be informed if anyone finds a problem on the trails.

"If we identify where it's at, maybe we can identify who is doing it," he said.

Historically, there have been few problems on the Blowing Springs trails, Morgan and Neal agreed.

"I have been involved in that trails system for seven years," Neal said. "It's been a great interaction with local people. This is an isolated group and probably not a cyclist. No cyclist would do that."

When he discovered the problem, he didn't call the police, Neal said. He wasn't sure if Bella Vista police would respond, so he put the alert on his Facebook page and in emails to his customers. His post already had more than 11,000 views last week, he said.

Capt. Tim Cook of the Bella Vista Police Department said as long as the problem is inside city limits, his department will respond to the trails. If they have to, they'll take an ATV out to access the area. There are state statutes that apply to anyone placing booby traps, even on their own property, he said.

No one can say why someone would booby trap the trails. It's possible that it's a case of criminal mischief -- someone who thinks it's funny to see a crash. Or it could be a nearby homeowner, Neal said.

He's read about cases in other areas where someone feels proprietary toward the trails and doesn't like the public using them. But those were not local. He hasn't heard about many similar incidents on other area trails.

Sports on 09/10/2014