Cyclist injured by homemade nail trap, warns local riders of hidden danger on popular trail after suffering puncture wound

A mountain biker in Scotland has raised the alarm about homemade nail traps deliberately hidden on a popular trail, after he was left with a puncture wound from a trap which also slashed both his tyres.

It is the latest report of cyclists seemingly being targeted with traps maliciously laid on off-road trails or paths, this website reporting on numerous similar incidents across the UK in recent years, sometimes involving wire strung across routes or homemade traps such as this one.

Tich Kent shared a photo of the nail trap online, warning riders that it had been "buried at the bottom of one of the steep chutes" on the Philipstoun Bing trails in West Lothian. While riding the trails last weekend, both his tyres were slashed and his "rear wheel flung it up with so much force it went through three layers of clothes" and caused a puncture wound.

> "Why would someone do this?": Police investigate as boy's neck cut after cycling into wire hung across path next to school

"I'm still somewhat in shock that someone actually welded this thing together and put it on a trail, [it] could have caused genuine serious injury," he said. "Such a shame, I like the short and steep trails up there for a quick blast but will be unlikely to go back now. Police have been notified but suspect there's little they can do other than note the incident."

Another local rider, Craig Spence, also found another similar nail trap hidden on the trail and said it "looks like the work of the same person". Mr Spence said in his case it was "lucky nobody got hurt, but a friend destroyed a tyre". "Someone is determined to hurt people," he said.

Mr Kent agreed it looked "like the same culprit" and that it is concerning that they do not know "how many other devices are up there".

Commenting on Mr Spence's photo of the trap buried under gravel, he added: "That explains why I didn't see anything prior to hitting it at speed, suspect the one I hit was similarly dug in and hidden. First thing I knew was something hitting be from behind and instant pain from the nail going in, and feeling confused as to what just happened. Glad your friend is OK and I feel their pain regarding tyres. Might need to start carrying two spare inner tubes instead of just one..."

The traps have been reported to the police, speculation from some who live nearby suggesting they may, in fact, have been laid to target motocross riders which, Mr Kent said, are "an ongoing annoyance up there for the locals".

There has been a concerning increase in such incidents in recent years, numerous cases across England, Scotland and Wales being reported since the Covid pandemic.

In December 2021, a cyclist in Wales was left needing 17 stitches in his neck after he rode into a barbed wire trap on a trail in the Rhondda Valley. 

 Earlier in the same year police in Northumbria investigated a horrific "medieval" trap using sharpened stakes that was placed on a mountain biking trail near Newcastle.

More recently, a cyclist in North Wales was seriously injured, suffering a concussion, a broken collarbone and three fractured ribs, after being brought down by a wire trap stretched across a bike path.

In September, a Berkshire cyclist shared photos of trail "sabotage" on a popular bridleway in the county, a rope and bramble trap laid on the route.