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LUZERNE – A late evening bike ride along the Back Mountain Trail nearly turned disastrous for a local man thanks to an apparent booby trap set along the trail.
David Bass, of Forty Fort, decided to head to the trail for a quick ride after Wednesday night’s stormy weather cleared the area.
He was near the end of his ride on the trail, “about 1/2 mile” from the trail’s entrance, when he ran into a rope that was stretched across the trail. The rope hit the handlebars of Bass’ bike and sent him crashing to the ground. He was left with some bruises and scrapes.
“I’m doing OK,” Bass said. “I was very lucky. It could have been much worse.”
The rope was tied to a tree on one side of the trail and angled down across trail to the other side. It was across the trail in an area where there is no guard rail. Bass said he was fortunate that he did not go down the steep embankment on the side of the trail.
“If I had been clipped (into my bicycle’s pedals) differently … ,” Bass said. “I don’t even want to think about it.”
Bass said he was going about 20 miles an hour and didn’t have much time to react. He was riding out and back on the trail and it was clear on his way north toward the Back Mountain, he said.
“I was riding for a half hour and saw nothing on the trail,” Bass said.
Bass reported the incident to Luzerne police, who told him this was the first incident of its kind they’ve heard about on the Back Mountain Trail and are reportedly investigating.
Despite the incident, Bass has no intention of not using the trail.
“I’ll probably be nervous,” he said of the next time he’s on it.
He added that he hopes the Luzerne police can start bike patrols of the area to help prevent future incidents.
