Triathletes sabotaged with thumbtacks in Colorado

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. - Authorities in Colorado are searching for vandals who are targeting cyclists after tacks blew out the tires of a group of triathletes over the weekend, reports CBS Denver.

It happened Sunday morning along a stretch of road outside Steamboat Springs during the biking portion of the Steamboat Triathlon.

Race organizers said they knew something was wrong when an unusually large number of competitors wound up with flat tires.

"All the sudden I see two flats, and I'm saying, 'There's something is going on,' " Dr. Jim McCreight said, according to the station.

McCreight sponsored the triathlon and competed in it, and wound up with a flat.

"The case -- what it came down to, were tacks. And in this case a number of tacks," he said.

The station reports that it's part of a trend. Both competitive and recreational cyclists say they have gotten flats from tacks on a stretch of Highway 131.

"I think Highway 131 is definitely tagged," McCreight said.

Race organizers say they swept the course before the race and never had a problem during that race in years past.

McCreight said some of the tacks were spray-painted to look like the road surface.

"This has been going on for some time, this is not isolated to just Sunday," he said. "... Somebody is going to get hurt."