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news
Wire trap (via Ian Davies on Twitter)Cyclist seriously injured after wire stretched across bike path
A cyclist from North Wales has been seriously injured after he crashed into a length of wire stretched across a cycle path.
Ian Davies, aged 41 and from Pentre in Deeside, was knocked out as a result of the crash, which resulted in him being thrown over the handlebars on his bike, hitting the ground head-first, reports the Daily Post.
The impact left him concussed, and he also sustained a broken collarbone and three fractured ribs in the incident, which happened at around 4pm on Tuesday 21 February on the Chester Millennium Greenway near Deeside Industrial Park.
The trap, which was at waist height, was made from wire from an adjacent fence and according to Mr Davies follows a similar hazard in the same location around three weeks ago, with no-one injured on that occasion.
Heal up well Ian. I ride that route a lot and it's disgusting that this has happened. The Greenaway is well used by cyclists, walkers and families enjoying a leisure ride.
— Paul (@Charliee1972) February 22, 2023
He told the newspaper: “The next thing I know I’m on the floor and waking up surrounded by three or four people telling me not to move.
“My helmet was split and I had grazes on my legs but at that stage I didn’t know what had happened. As I came round, I began feeling pain under my cycling top.”
Mr Davies was attended to by a passing runner who has first aid training, as well as a colleague who was riding by and who happened to be a colleague of his at the Airbus plant in Broughton.
Due to industrial action, no ambulance was available and instead Mr Davies’s wife came with a car, with the cyclist being helped 300 metres from the location where the crash happened to the vehicle, before being driven to the Countess of Chester Hospital for treatment.
“It’s quite frightening when you think what could have happened,” he said. “I’m quite a big, fit, middle-aged guy and I dread to think if a kid had been cycling there: at the height it was, it’s quite likely the wire would have caught them around their necks.
“I don’t think people realise the consequences of doing something like this. It could have killed someone. It’s worrying to think of the lengths some people will go to steal a bike or to film an accident for their own amusement.”
He added: “Ironically, yesterday was my first outdoor leisure ride of the year. I’ve had accidents before, on mountain bikes, but I’ve always kept riding.
“In a way, I’m quite glad I don’t remember anything about this accident – it will make it easier when it comes to getting back on the bike.”
Moments before the crash, Mr Davies had overtaken another cyclist, a 66-year-old woman named Val, who said: “One second he was cycling past me, the next he was on the floor. I thought, ‘Oh God, what’s happened here?’
“He was travelling quite fast and hit the wire with some force, landing on his head and shoulder. I dread to think what would have happened if he hadn’t been wearing a helmet.
“I think he was knocked out cold as, initially, he was unresponsive. After a while, he was able to say his name and date of birth but he couldn’t remember what had happened.
“He overtook me just before we reached the corner where the wire was,” she added. “If he hadn’t gone past me, it would have been me going over that wire.”
Officers from North Wales Police attended the scene and the force confirmed that the wire had been removed. They added that a witness had seen three youths on bikes heading away from the location where the crash took place shortly before it happened.
Anyone who witnessed the information, or who has information about it, is asked to get in touch via the non-emergency telephone number 101, quoting reference A026360.
We’ve reported on a number of incidents here on road.cc in which cyclists have been targeted by wire, branches or even pieces of wood with nails protruding from them on trails and bike paths, often resulting in injury to the rider.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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15 comments
Sorry but this is pure terrorism, but no equivalent police action will be probably taken.
"Officers from North Wales Police attended the scene and the force confirmed that the wire had been removed. They added that a witness had seen three youths on bikes heading away from the location where the crash took place shortly before it happened."
Who are these witnesses that saw "3 youths heading away from the location" ?
Seems quite convenient - perhaps the cops can now wash their hands with no further action👎
Is this normal Martin behaviour? I've never seen this level before.
Not new. Just getting a lot of attention recently.
Sorry, it's been a slow day at work for me and replying to Martin has kept me amused.
Yes and no. He does seem to have got confused about some of the character traits firstnamenumbers has, now he's tried out the new Nice but Dim Posh Bloke with BO routine.
He's really upped the ante. He did the same on another thread the other day. Straight in, full on with his first post. Maybe he forgot his medication or the missus gave him a ragging before he left for work. Who knows.
While I live in London, I use the cycle route in question a lot. My parents-in-law live on the southern, Cheshire part of the Wirral and I get to their house by putting my bike on a train and riding to their house from Chester Station, along that cycle track. I also do a lot of leisure riding when at their house, often along that tracks.
I often arrive at Chester late at night and ride that route in the dark. I shudder to think what would happen if I hit a wire like that and were knocked out. It might be a long time before I was discovered.
It doesn't bear thinking about – but of course you have to think about it. Two suggestions that my wife and I use religiously if we are riding alone, firstly we always text each other to say when we are setting off and what our ETA is (and we send additional texts if there are punctures or whatever that extend the ETA) and we make sure that the trackers on our phones are turned on (iPhones can do this automatically through the Find My app, I'm sure there is a similar function in Android). Overkill and paranoia possibly but even in an urban setting one can imagine plenty of scenarios where one could crash and end up in a position where one was not visible to passers-by.
We rely on Garmin crash detection to a large degree. Or what happens in reality, the over sensitive system decides I've crashed when I've just stopped; Mrs K gets the notification; she then checks Live Track or Life 360, sees I'm still moving and ignores it.
I gave up on Garmin crash detection as in gloves I found it impossible to interact with the cancellation. Worse was when it starts going off for no apparent reason when you are cycling along at a pace in a group.
Mrs S and I stalk each other with Google Maps so she knows which pub I'm in at the end of a club ride and I know whether to make one or two coffees as she may be returning from her walk.
Mrs K checks where I am on my ride home from work to work out whether or not to serve up my dinner with the rest of the family. Basically, we have about 3 different ways of seeing where we each are at any time. Not sure how anyone could have an affair these days!
I use this route a lot and often in the dark. Share a lot of the same thoughts as you. May try and avoid it for a little while if wire has been found before this incident. Looks like a lady called Val was quite fortunate. Hope the rider recovers well
Can Rod Little and Matthew Parris account for their whereabouts in the leadup to this shameful incident?
Words have consequences
(p.s. get well soon, and get back in the saddle, Mr Davies)
Don't forget Jeremy Clarkson. We can see how long his hatred of cyclists goes back on this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jUTYDeEgnE - about one minute in.
Cyclists featuring on the "Hate wall".