(Enlarge) Marvin Yaker, 78, of Bare Hills, stands with his bike in front of the Monkton station on the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail Sept. 27. Yaker wondered if the notice he heard about two weeks ago, stating nipple covers were required for those not wearing shirts, applied to him. As it turned out, the notice was a joke that rangers later pulled from the train station bulletin board. (Staff photo by Sarah Nix)

Donna Avila and her brother-in-law, Charlie Avila, thought Maryland officials had quite possibly lost their minds.

When they stopped at the Monkton train station for water two weeks ago while riding bikes on the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail, they passed a bulletin board filled with notices. One caught their attention -- big time.

"It said something like, 'Effective January 2009, all runners on the trail wearing no tops will have to wear nipple covers. If they don't, they will be asked to leave the park'," said Donna Avila, who lives in Freeland.

"Charlie and I just looked at each other and laughed. We couldn't believe the state was enforcing something like that."

As the two rode north, they passed several people without shirts. Each time, they laughed and talked about the upcoming anti-nipple edict.

They got into discussions about pasties, the kind that can twirl and the more sedate ones.

They wondered who would be responsible for enforcing the new law. Would the state hire nipple police?

It was almost a letdown when they found out the notice was a joke. Rangers at the train station saw the flier and took it off their official bulletin board, not knowing how many had seen it and taken it seriously.

When he heard about the sign, bicyclist Marvin Yaker, 78, thought he might have contributed to its creation.

You see, Yaker likes to ride his bike bare-chested.

"If it's 80 degrees or more, I take off my shirt," said Yaker, who appropriately lives in Bare Hills. He has been riding on the trail at least three times a week for the past 20 years.

"I'm not the only one out there bare-chested, but I wondered if somebody saw me and thought it wasn't too attractive," he said.

With the end of warm temperatures, Yaker and others who favor the exposed look are now completely clothed.

But next spring, rangers at the Monkton train station said they will check their bulletin board daily for bogus notices.

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