Bike-riders warned to watch out for bindies
Students who ride their bikes to school should watch out for bindies, a thorny burr that can puncture bike tyres, according to Umina Beach Public School principal Ms Karen Wardlaw.
The bindii burr has a pyramid shape with one thorn always pointing upward.
"We wish to alert our school families that we have experienced a high number of deflated bike tyres over the past few weeks, despite not being able to find any obvious sign of damage," she said.
A local bike shop helped solve the mystery, saying it had had more than 30 punctures caused by the burr.
"It had multiple reports of these burrs causing punctures in local areas such as the skate park, grassed reserve areas, local pathways, at the beach and surrounding grassed areas around the school.
"They can be widely found outside our school and are very hard to see in the grass," said Ms Wardlaw.
"These burrs are small enough to be hard to spot but strong enough to puncture a tyre, despite not leaving a puncture mark.
"In response, we have checked our bike rack area and have been regularly raking and blowing leaf litter.
"We haven't spotted any burrs on our school grounds, and it seems likely that students are unknowingly riding over these burrs on the way to school.
"The burr will pierce the tyre undetected, leading it to slowly deflate during the school day so that it is unable to be ridden by the end of the day."
SOURCE:
Newsletter, 3 Apr 2024
Karen Wardlaw, Umina Beach Public School