Cyclists on Dallas Trail Warn of Potential Booby Traps

The SoPac Trail in Dallas' Lakewood neighborhood is one of the city's newest hike and bike trails.

"We just love it," cyclist Martha Parks said. "It's one of the best things the city has ever done."

Lately, avid cyclists have noticed a disturbing hazard; twine strung across the trail.

"You're not necessarily going to see it," Parks explained. "I mean it's very thin wire, thin twine."

The twine appears to be coming from an unfinished lighting project along the trail.

"The hardest part for me is the day that I saw the rope," Ginny King said. King is a 3-time USA Cycling Masters Nationals Criterium champion. "I race and I know the risks and I know there's chances of me crashing, but those are on my terms, out here, somebody's doing that, that's not on my terms."

King used her cell phone to document some of the booby traps she cut down on the trail. She posted them to social media.

"Just to let people know," King said. "You can't let it go and hope that it goes away."

King and Parks believe it's someone's idea of a prank. "Oh, look! Here's some string. Let's string it across the trail and see how many cyclists we can catch," Parks said.

"Kids might be kids and they think it's funny," King said. "I would probably go straight up and over the bars."

King said she knows of one person who got snared in the twine, but was not seriously injured.

"Nobody prepared for that," King said.