An end-of-school bike trip for some Mount Pleasant School students was almost ruined Tuesday when a number of bicycles ended up with punctured tires from scattered tacks.
Principal Graham Purcell said staff and parents who were accompanying the nearly 100 students “improvised” and saved the excursion.
“The kids still had a wonderful day,” he said.
“The staff and parents shortened their distances because of the worries of the air pressure in some tires and the kids rolled with the punches,” he said.
“Challenge is always part of our day and kudos to those who focused on the positive and still made it fun.”
Purcell estimated that between 15 and 20 bikers picked up tacks in their tires along the TH&B Rail Trail, which runs through Brantford and into Mount Pleasant.
“The kids learned valuable lessons about vandalism,” he said. “Some of these kids just had their bikes tuned up and were ready for summer.”
The bikes of two of Tanya Cole’s children, Piper, 12, and Christopher, 10, were both damaged.
She said children were disappointed when their trip was cut short.
“The teachers, volunteers and kids were all talking about vandalism and how it hurts people,” said Cole, noting the tacks were placed along a trail section between Shellard Lane and Donegal Park.
Mount Pleasant mom Kristi Finch, who is part of a dog-and-cat rescue operation in the area, said the vandalism goes beyond Tuesday’s incident.
“So many dogs are walked on that trail and local vets are backed up with wait lists so people need to be aware of the danger.”
Finch said she contacted A1 Cycle in Brantford on Tuesday about trying to do some quick repairs and learned this isn’t the first such incident along the trails.
Mike Longhurst, owner of A1, said an out-of-town rider came to him weeks ago with several tacks in his tire. Another bike shop posted on Facebook that a customer had come in with the same damage.
On Tuesday, a cyclist arrived at A1 with a damaged tire and tacks, saying he found them deliberately placed in two gate areas where riders enter and exit the trail system.
“I feel like it’s an adult and maybe someone in a car, driving around and sabotaging the transition areas,” Longhurst said.
“But why? Why would somebody do this? What could possibly be the reasoning behind not wanting bikers, dog-walkers, families with strollers and roller-bladers there? Bikes are not disruptive on a trail system designed for them.”
Purcell has the same question.
“I don’t understand why someone thinks that’s an OK thing to do or what anyone gains from it.”
The vandalism was reported to Brant OPP.
Brant Mayor David Bailey joined an online discussion about the problem.
“Someone could get hurt and it just doesn’t make sense,” he said.
“But Mount Pleasant is a very engaged community that solves a lot of its own problems. And now the OPP is aware, so it will get addressed.”
@EXPSGamble