bamabikeguy
Active Member
Southside: Arroyo nails plague riders
(there was a picture here of a guy staring at his bicycle flat)
Larry Vargas is shown repairing a flat tire that his son received when biking through an arroyo in Tierra Contenta in Santa Fe, NM. The family believes that the flat tires were cause by someone dumping an box of nails in the arroyo to discourage the use of ATV's. (Ramsay de Give/The New Mexican)
By Tom Sharpe | The New Mexican
July 18, 2007
Cyclists say they're become victims in an apparent bid to discourage ATV use
Somebody has been dumping roofing nails into an arroyo near Tierra Contenta, apparently to discourage all-terrain vehicles and other off-road vehicles.
But the main victims so far have been bicycle tires.
Larry Vargas, his wife Paivi Panttila and their two children, Joel, 10, and Josephine, 8, found out about the nails when they ended up with flats on their bicycles this week.
"My kids were just really irritated that somebody would do something like that," Vargas said. "There were at least three boxes of them spread around in various places."
The roofing nails have large square heads that cause the pointed ends to stand upright when tires roll over them.
Vargas said the person who spread the nails in the southwest-side arroyo probably was trying to puncture the tires of ATVs or motorcycles that have plagued open space around Santa Fe for years. Besides puncturing bike tires, the nails could also injure pedestrians, dogs and other animals.
"There was another guy I saw riding a horse, and the horse reared up, but I don't know if the horse had stepped on something or not," Vargas said.
Santa Fe Police Capt. Gary Johnson said he doesn't recall hearing about anyone putting out roofing nails before. But Councilor Carmichael Dominguez recalled other police talking about the tactic during a recent neighborhood meeting.
Dominguez, who represents the far southwest end of Santa Fe, is sponsoring an ordinance that would prohibit the use of off-road vehicles within the city limits, except in a "designated off-highway motor vehicle course, track or trail."
A companion resolution would direct city staff to look for areas to designate as off-highway vehicle trails, such as the U.S. Bureau of Land Management acreage adjacent to the Municipal Recreation Complex, west of N.M. 599.
Dominguez said he expects the ordinance and resolution to be heard at the City Council meeting Wednesday.
City ordinance already bans motorized vehicles on city open space, parks and trails, with fines beginning at $51. Earlier this year, city crews put up five road signs between Airport Road and Interstate 25, warning that riding on trails, parks and open space is illegal.
State law also bans the use of ATVs near private dwellings.
City police recently bought several ATVs so they could chase down errant ATV drivers in Tierra Contenta, along the Arroyo Chamiso Trail in south-central Santa Fe and in other parts of town. Dominguez said some of police ATVs had their tires punctured by the roofing nails.
"The complaints (about ATVs) have decreased," he said. "There's been some enforcement and some measures that have helped alleviate that. Part of it, I think, is that residents realize that there's only so much that can be done right now."
But as for spreading out roofing nails, "We encourage residents not to do tha" Dominguez said. "It puts the people's safety at stake, especially the police."
(there was a picture here of a guy staring at his bicycle flat)
Larry Vargas is shown repairing a flat tire that his son received when biking through an arroyo in Tierra Contenta in Santa Fe, NM. The family believes that the flat tires were cause by someone dumping an box of nails in the arroyo to discourage the use of ATV's. (Ramsay de Give/The New Mexican)
By Tom Sharpe | The New Mexican
July 18, 2007
Cyclists say they're become victims in an apparent bid to discourage ATV use
Somebody has been dumping roofing nails into an arroyo near Tierra Contenta, apparently to discourage all-terrain vehicles and other off-road vehicles.
But the main victims so far have been bicycle tires.
Larry Vargas, his wife Paivi Panttila and their two children, Joel, 10, and Josephine, 8, found out about the nails when they ended up with flats on their bicycles this week.
"My kids were just really irritated that somebody would do something like that," Vargas said. "There were at least three boxes of them spread around in various places."
The roofing nails have large square heads that cause the pointed ends to stand upright when tires roll over them.
Vargas said the person who spread the nails in the southwest-side arroyo probably was trying to puncture the tires of ATVs or motorcycles that have plagued open space around Santa Fe for years. Besides puncturing bike tires, the nails could also injure pedestrians, dogs and other animals.
"There was another guy I saw riding a horse, and the horse reared up, but I don't know if the horse had stepped on something or not," Vargas said.
Santa Fe Police Capt. Gary Johnson said he doesn't recall hearing about anyone putting out roofing nails before. But Councilor Carmichael Dominguez recalled other police talking about the tactic during a recent neighborhood meeting.
Dominguez, who represents the far southwest end of Santa Fe, is sponsoring an ordinance that would prohibit the use of off-road vehicles within the city limits, except in a "designated off-highway motor vehicle course, track or trail."
A companion resolution would direct city staff to look for areas to designate as off-highway vehicle trails, such as the U.S. Bureau of Land Management acreage adjacent to the Municipal Recreation Complex, west of N.M. 599.
Dominguez said he expects the ordinance and resolution to be heard at the City Council meeting Wednesday.
City ordinance already bans motorized vehicles on city open space, parks and trails, with fines beginning at $51. Earlier this year, city crews put up five road signs between Airport Road and Interstate 25, warning that riding on trails, parks and open space is illegal.
State law also bans the use of ATVs near private dwellings.
City police recently bought several ATVs so they could chase down errant ATV drivers in Tierra Contenta, along the Arroyo Chamiso Trail in south-central Santa Fe and in other parts of town. Dominguez said some of police ATVs had their tires punctured by the roofing nails.
"The complaints (about ATVs) have decreased," he said. "There's been some enforcement and some measures that have helped alleviate that. Part of it, I think, is that residents realize that there's only so much that can be done right now."
But as for spreading out roofing nails, "We encourage residents not to do tha" Dominguez said. "It puts the people's safety at stake, especially the police."
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