Northern Ireland

Co Down mountain bike track saboteurs are told to ‘wise up'

Traps were laid at Kilbroney Park, Rostrevor for mountain bikers ahead of the Vitus First Tracks Endurance Cup
Traps were laid at Kilbroney Park, Rostrevor for mountain bikers ahead of the Vitus First Tracks Endurance Cup Traps were laid at Kilbroney Park, Rostrevor for mountain bikers ahead of the Vitus First Tracks Endurance Cup

THE organiser of a mountain bike event in Co Down has said he will be not be intimidated by saboteurs who threatened the lives of riders.

Traps were laid at Kilbroney Park, Rostrevor late on Friday night ahead of the Vitus First Tracks Endurance Cup, which took place on Sunday with 200 racers.

On Saturday morning, marshals reported that fallen trees had been placed across tracks and wire strung between trees at neck height.

The wire was especially hard to spot and could have been potentially fatal in a race situation where riders reach speeds of up to 40mph.

Rocks were also placed on the course, while signs were moved to direct riders into danger.

The organiser of the time-trial event, Glyn O'Brien, said despite the scare he would not be deterred from hosting future events.

"I would be very disappointed if it put bikers off coming back to Rostrevor," he said.

The Newry man urged those behind the sabotage to "wise up".

"The scary thing for us though is that yes, we were in a controlled environment over the weekend during an event where we had marshals, but there's nothing stopping them coming up now or next week, or next month or whenever and doing the exact same thing when there's no event and no marshals."

For future competitions marshals will be briefed specifically to check for debris on the trail and be warned to "expect anything".

The PSNI are currently investigating the sabotage and have taken items from the scene.

A spokesperson said: “This was an unbelievably dangerous thing to do. Whoever is responsible could have caused great injury to those participating had the route not been checked.”