Thread: trail booby trapped in Nederland

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booby trapped trail near Nederland - Rider injured
I don't have all the details yet, but a friend of mine who is an ER docter in Boulder, CO sent out an email about a Dirt Bike Rider he attended to who was severely injured dirt biking by a wire strung accross the trail at neck height up near Gamble Gulch in the Rollinsville area. The rider is in the ICU with a cut to the throat and neck injuries. I was told he's going to live, but it was very serious. THe Gamble Gulch area is just south of Rollinsville and west of HWY 119. There are some trails around there, but I don't know the exact location. I'm not sure if the authorities have been involved yet. I'm still waiting for a return call from my Dr. buddy. I'll post more details when I find out. Be careful out there!

Wow- all I can say- watch your neck because greenie really DOES want to kill us!!!

damn! Hope that dude is OK. Heard about that happening in with sleds in the midwest, crossing fields at high speed and running into wires but goddamn someone must be pissed at someone or a group.

Something similar happened here, a bear hunter put up a booby trap on one of the trails near here, claimed that we were ruining his bear hunting area, dumbass put up some white string across the trail, luckily a rider saw it before it got into them. I've also seen white string put up along trails in BC that have been used for RC land marking, but this one was definitely put up intentionally

Holy Fucking shit. I've had thoughts of that - like what if...? But shit man. That's horrible.

That's bullshit! Vibes and heal quickly!

I've seen that more times than I care to count. Never heard of anybody getting hurt tho (besides would-be saboteurs caught in the act).

Lame. Really what should happen is this should be treated like an attemted murder. Same with all the logs and shit people put on the trails here. Those fuckers are trying to kill someone.

I feel like I've heard of bikers doing this to trails to keep moto heads off them in the Minden, NV area. Sucks that things come to this either way.

Originally Posted by 50kLeg

I feel like I've heard of bikers doing this to trails to keep moto heads off them in the Minden, NV area.

You've got to be kidding me.

I hope this dude is ok.


On a slightly related topic, why is it ok to string barbwire across a stream that you know people boat down? Its not yours to prevent the use of. And it could kill someone very easily.

this "trail" is on private land with no trespassing signs though right? (or am i thinking of a different trail?)

If it's private property with no trespassing signs, I feel for the biker, but it's his own fault. If it's not, that's some fucked up shit, and the saboteur should be held accountable.(or at least beat down)

Originally Posted by gonehuckin

...On a slightly related topic, why is it ok to string barbwire across a stream that you know people boat down? ...

It's not. Not even in Texas.

^^^^In Colorado it is^^^^

Check out the S. Platte river above Rampart. Every 100m or so someone has strung barbed wire across the river.

Putting logs in a trail is much different than stringing a wire up. You can see logs and I don't think they would have any chance of killing someone. Has anyone encountered a wire across a trail? I wonder if a mt biker would have any more chance of seeing it than a moto due to speed alone. Before the pipeline trail from Betasso turned into whatever sanitized trail it is now, there used to be another trail (long long gone) that someone strung piano wire on several times. It caught one guy, but I think the others noticed it before it was too late. People have been messing with the trails all over our area (near where this happened) lately and not just on private land...some public, some kind of a mix. Be careful around Ned...people have been busy lately.

Originally Posted by marshalolson

this "trail" is on private land with no trespassing signs though right? (or am i thinking of a different trail?)

Even if it is private property, you cannot booby trap your land to keep trespassers off. That is called sef-help and is illegal. The classic example is a spring-loaded gun to protect your house from trespassers, burglars, etc. You cannot do it and it is murder/attempted murder.

Vibes to the dude. No need for that.

Originally Posted by mtnjam

damn! Hope that dude is OK. Heard about that happening in with sleds in the midwest, crossing fields at high speed and running into wires but goddamn someone must be pissed at someone or a group.

Yep, though the wire fence thing is a little different out west, a similar booby trap thing happened on a widely used snowmobile trail here in Maine few years back on the inter-urban (old rail line) through Gray which I'm pretty sure is still deeded public access, but with all the development going on, some yuppies got pissy with the sleds / atvs screaming by. (and not necessarily fast, with all the road crossings, and some bumpy terrain -you're lucky to hit 50 in most spots)

Unfortunately, the cable did take the life of someone my sister went to HS with. he hit it at night on his sled no flags marking it, though at night, he prob. wouldn't have seen it- got it in the throat the same way, but didn't make it, even with lifeflight coming to get him.

not sure what happened with the access after that.

This is fucking bullshit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Vibes ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++

dang thats messed up vibes to the victim, and I was just thinking to myself today how I needed to go ride ned again this weekend....such a bummer since its so beautiful up there

Bullshit....That's fucking low.

Originally Posted by 50kLeg

I feel like I've heard of bikers doing this to trails to keep moto heads off them in the Minden, NV area. Sucks that things come to this either way.

I have also heard of this happening here in Colorado as well as in Wyoming. Unfortunately its a case of somone thinking that they are better than somone else. As a dirt biker I get it all the time, usally from mt bikers actually. Most hikers that we encounter are cool as hell to us. And I am in no way saying that its every mt biker or even most, but its a whole lot of em. Whoever did this really deserves what is coming to them.

Originally Posted by 50kLeg

I feel like I've heard of bikers doing this to trails to keep moto heads off them in the Minden, NV area. Sucks that things come to this either way.

Hey fo real though.........pm some trail locations (more like 'zones' I know) about this if you're serious. I've done a buttload of building out there and I curse the dumbfucks on motos that screw up our trails every year but trying to decapitate someone is insane. It also endangers all the work some of us have done out there. If it's the small area we work on, I'd like to know about it.

If it's the other miles and miles of trails, these idiots need to know that the singletrack that most mtbrs ride out there ARE genuinely created moto trails. (that's right....I said it )

Originally Posted by LaBelle23

Before the pipeline trail from Betasso turned into whatever sanitized trail it is now, there used to be another trail (long long gone) that someone strung piano wire on several times.

experimental? that trail ruled. i tried putting it back in a few (well like 5-6) years ago, and it didn't work. plus there was still cord hung.

and i am just trying to figure out which trail, i am not condoning the actions.

Originally Posted by drboudreaux

Even if it is private property, you cannot booby trap your land to keep trespassers off. That is called sef-help and is illegal. The classic example is a spring-loaded gun to protect your house from trespassers, burglars, etc. You cannot do it and it is murder/attempted murder.

Vibes to the dude. No need for that.

Easy there, dude. Go back to your roommate's law school texts and re-read them. It's not called "self-help." It's not murder/attempted murder.

Shadetree lawyering is cool and all, but it sucks when you don't know what you're saying and you try to convince others that you DO.

The problem basically is that the force is excessive compared to the value of what's protected. That's how the cases go. Land cannot be protected with lethal force, but a person's life CAN, if the fear of lethal force is well-grounded and reasonable.

"Self-help" is a section of pop psychology books at Barnes & Noble.

I crashed due to a wire booby trap back in '91 or so on the peaks trail between breck and frisco. Someone had written all this anti-mtb stuff on all the trail markers and then i hit this wire that was connected to some 2x6's and I went over the bars at speed. Kinda sucked, to say the least.

A dirtbiker hit an unmarked wire that a rancher (for his cows, not a booby trap) had strung in Hartman's outside gunny going 50 and I don't think he made it.

Fuckin' weak. I hope the rider has a full recovery. Would this case be at all like someone slipping on the ice on your sidewalk, from a legal standpoint, if the rider WAS on private property? Any recourse? Anyone know what kind of speed the rider hit the wire at? Or what kind of area it was on? (Flat pedaling vs. descent?) Many good vibes++++++++++++++++++++++++