Mountain Biker Booby Trap, Or Misunderstanding?
FRUITA, Colo. (CBS4) - A video that has gone viral appears to show a wire strung across a mountain bike trail, but now investigators say the video may not be what it appears.
The wire was found on the Western Slope near the popular 18 road trails near Fruita.
Bureau of Land Management officials spent an entire day riding trails out in the area of where the video was taken to investigate. They say now they are confident it wasn't a malicious act but a misunderstanding.
"It's the Mecca of mountain biking," said Chris Brown, who owns a bike shop on Main Street in Grand Junction. "I have trails within 15 minutes of downtown, so I can, on the way home, I can get an hour ride in."
Brown is used to hearing lots of tails from the trail in his shop, but this time, he can't believe what happened.
"He showed me his bruises and stuff. He had gone out the next day and filmed it, where it was, and he actually cut it (the wire) down," Brown said.
A cyclist shared his cellphone video. He said the wire across the popular single track was about three feet off the ground. He hit it and went tumbling over his handlebars.
"You hear about it once a year but it's usually not in your hometown, you know it's somewhere across the country -- somebody strings up a cable and someone gets hurt," Brown said.
But according to the BLM, it wasn't a booby trap. Investigators said they now believe it was actually an old farmers fence, and the trail was not an official part of the marked trail system.
The video shared by several online publications and on social media is real but just taken out of context, according to the BLM.
There was another recent report of a mountain bike trail being bobby trapped from Gunnison where wood was stacked on a blind curve. Luckily no one was hurt in that incident. It's not clear if the BLM is investigating that incident.
