Cyclists incensed after bike pedal blamed in Sierra wildfire
By Kurtis Alexander, San Francisco Chronicle
A lot of things can start a wildfire: lawn mowers, gunfire, smoldering cigarettes. It makes sense in a state dried out by drought.
But the latest culprit — a bike — is largely unheard of as a source of ignition, and is being met with disbelief in some circles.
U.S. Forest Service investigators say a bicycle pedal that scraped a rock and shot sparks on a mountain bike trail was responsible for a 122-acre blaze in the Eastern Sierra last month, a finding that unleashed a firestorm of incredulity on the Internet.