Was a Dangerous Booby Trap Set for Mountain Bikers at Fort Custer Recreation Area?
What kind of person would do something like this? Someone may have set a trap targeting mountain bikers at Fort Custer Recreation Area.
On Thursday, July 26, a reddit user posted a warning about a wire strung across one of the many mountain biking trails at Fort Custer. The original post has since been deleted but the discussion makes clear that a rider was on the red route when he was thrown from his bike as he he hit a wire strung across the trail.
Isn't that dangerous? How does this happen? Wouldn't someone see the wire and stop? Yes, it is incredibly dangerous and could easily cause an injury. Imagine you are riding near 20 mph and then your bike stops; momentum and gravity do the rest as you fly over the handlebars. In this case, the rider reports that the wire was near knee level and thankfully did not clothesline him. Imagine the cable strung at a higher level and you can see how it might sweep someone completely off their bike, even garrotte them.
So, you ask, what kind of a person would do this? What kind of a person would just make something like this up? That may be exactly what happened here as Southwest Michigan Mountain Biking Association President DS Warnaar shared this report on the West Michigan Trail Conditions Facebook page:
I am the current SWMMBA Chapter President and have been working with the DNR and local authorities. There has been no reported notifications to the Kzoo County Sheriff’s office, nor any other police department in the area of this incident. I have confirmed with staff at Fort Custer Rec area that neither did they field the complaint nor do they have any knowledge of anyone from their staff performing any trail searches, like the original poster (in Reddit) claimed. At this point we (SWMMBA) believe this to be a complete hoax. SWMMBA, and the local authorities will be monitoring the trails very closely at the Fort to ensure that nothing develops. Please share this information with fellow riders, and proceed with caution. If anyone hears about anything related to this supposed incident, please feel free to communicate with SWMMBA, or your local authorities. Ride on peeps!
I was at Fort Custer 3 days after the report of a wire across the trail and rode without incident. So, as Waraaner suggests above, "ride on" and enjoy biking one of the best trails in Southwest Michigan.