Trooper: Nails littered on RAGBRAI route could be intentional

A state trooper said he believes someone intentionally tossed nails out on a road RAGBRAI riders traveled on Sunday.

Trooper Keith Duenow of the Iowa State Patrol said he was at an intersection northeast of Soldier when bikers approached him and said they found nails on the road.

The nails were littered along Iowa highways 37 and 183.

Duenow said he found about 40 to 50 of them lying on a stretch of road. Every few hundred feet, he would find another 40 to 50 nails spread out. The affected area was about six miles, Duenow said.

“Every year, as much as there are many people who love RAGBRAI, there are just as many who don’t,” he said. “It seems pretty intentional, as if someone was tossing them out while driving.”

Duenow said the city of Soldier, population 174, sent out a tractor and swept the nails onto the side of the road. The nails were then picked up.

Each nail was about an inch long.

“That could pop a vehicle tire or a bike tire,” Duenow said. “As thin as bicycle tires are, that could cause a blow out. It could have really hurt somebody.”

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