Rail trail fright

By Tania Martin
A MOUNT Evelyn woman is too scared to use the Lilydale to Warburton Trail, fearing rogue bicycle riders are making it too dangerous.
Pat Walton, 53, has every reason to be terrified after an incident seven years ago left her with a fractured pelvis.
She is now calling for stricter rules for bicycle riders on the trail.
Ms Walton believes a speed limit should be placed on bike riders.
This comes as the Mail was last week (6 April) inundated with calls from concerned residents following its page three story, Riding Roughshod, which called for a rider etiquette campaign on the trail.
Evelyn Liberal MP Christine Fyffe told the Mail cyclists were often seen speeding along the trail without giving fellow users the courtesy of any kind of warning.
Ms Walton spoke out last week about her experience, which saw her thrown from her horse while on the trail in January 2003.
She hasn’t returned since.
Ms Walton was ‘toddling’ down the trail when two riders sped up beside her, spooking her horse.
“My horse swung around and I fell off and landed on my back on a rock, I screamed but they kept going,” she said.
Ms Walton’s horse had spooked and run off home.
Winded and in pain, she crawled back to her house just 500 metres away, unaware that she had broken her pelvis.
Home alone for the weekend, she managed to crawl up the path to her home and pulled herself into bed.
She stayed there for more than three days, only managing to crawl out of bed for glasses of water and visits to the toilet.
“It took three days for me to get into the car before I could even think about driving myself to the hospital,” Ms Walton said.