Swansea cyclist catapulted from bike by string

[oyster]

A very unpleasant story. Why would anyone do this:

Swansea cyclist catapulted from bike by string
A cyclist was thrown from his bike after riding into a piece of string tied at neck height across a Swansea cycle path.

David Stacey suffered head injuries and spent a night in Morriston Hospital after being knocked unconscious at about 17:40 BST on Tuesday.

He was cycling from Killay to Gowerton on the Clyne cycle path near Oakwood Drive.

The incident is being investigated by South Wales Police.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-44396411

The original story includes a picture of the path and a bit more text. A colleague at work is a regular user of that very path.

 

[Fat Rat]

Thats a really crap thing to do
I hope they catch whoever did it allthou they will be hard to catch .

 

[LeighPing]

The only clue that detectives have right now is a yo. Like a yoyo but without the string.. Sorry.

 

[Fat Rat]

The only clue that detectives have right now is a yo. Like a yoyo but without the string.. Sorry.

Its going to be like that is it
I could add that when they catch them they should be strung up
but I wont

 

[TZC]

I'm sad to hear that after all the guy was knocked out, could have suffered brain damage for someones sick game.

And this is something I heard about a few times in my life, at one point I was worried about riding because of these few and far between incidents.

That said. I hope the heddlu can TIE some evidence to the perpetrator(s)

They should KNOT get away with it

 

[LeighPing]

Off with their heads! Seriously though, what's the world coming too? I hope they have some cam footage of them, in the area, and nail them before the next innocent person gets hurt!

 

[Fat Rat]

Off with their heads! Seriously though, what's the world coming too? I hope they have some cam footage of them, in the area, and nail them before the next innocent person gets hurt!

Here’s hoping

 

[flecc]

It could have been worse. A few years ago we had an 11 year old lad killed by a wire strung across a pavement by one of these morons, never caught of course.

The wire caught the lad across the neck as he was going downhill quite fast and it broke his neck.
.

 

[Fat Rat]

It could have been worse. A few years ago we had an 11 year old lad killed by a wire strung across a pavement by one of these morons, never caught of course.

The wire caught the lad across the neck as he was going downhill quite fast and it broke his neck.
.

Bloody hell
That’s serious

 

[mike killay]

The problem is that the perpetrator is probably not some nut case dog walker with a grudge but some mindless yobs who 'thought it would be a laugh.'
Unlikely to be found.
First clue to investigate is where the string came from, i.e. was it picked up lying at the side of the path, or was it deliberately carried there with intent.

 

[mike killay]

Now, how do I fix this to the front of my bike in a vertical position?

 

[cyclebuddy]

There have been various similar cases reported.. in Bristol, thugs stringing wire across cycle-paths to demount you and steal your bike, and in Surrey/Sussex, both wire across cycle/walkways, logs across the paths, and glass/nails, all (it is suggested) in an attempt to stop cyclists speeding along those routes and scaring the walker pedants.

 

[flecc]

There have been various similar cases reported.. in Bristol, thugs stringing wire across cycle-paths to demount you and steal your bike, and in Surrey/Sussex, both wire across cycle/walkways, logs across the paths, and glass/nails, all (it is suggested) in an attempt to stop cyclists speeding along those routes and scaring the walker pedants.

We have definitely suffered from anti-cycling types in our area, North-east Surrey-London border. Logs are often dragged across paths in our nature reserve to obstruct them so the suspicion is that the occasional wire stretched across has the same sources.

The overwhelming majority of daily visitors to the reserve are dog walkers, the remainder mainly elderly people who have enough trouble dragging themselves along, let alone large logs.
.

 

[mike killay]

We have definitely suffered from anti-cycling types in our area, North-east Surrey-London border. Logs are often dragged across paths in our nature reserve to obstruct them so the suspicion is that the occasional wire stretched across has the same sources.

The overwhelming majority of daily visitors to the reserve are dog walkers, the remainder mainly elderly people who have enough trouble dragging themselves along, let alone large logs.
.

Seems like the answer is to make an official looking notice,
'No Dogs'

 

[flecc]

Seems like the answer is to make an official looking notice,
'No Dogs'

Unfortunately they are in there with permission, since the bylaws have conditions for dog walking, such things as maximum 4 dogs per person, pick up poo, should not be out of control etc. They break all of them of course. We have a sign for some bigger animals:


.

 

[cwah]

Get a windshield
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/302501753647

 

[mike killay]

Unfortunately they are in there with permission, since the bylaws have conditions for dog walking, such things as maximum 4 dogs per person, pick up poo, should not be out of control etc. They break all of them of course. We have a sign for some bigger animals:

View attachment 25152
.

I would just copy that No Horse Riding sign and fix it below.
Take weeks before officialdom would react.

 

[flecc]

I would just copy that No Horse Riding sign and fix it below.
Take weeks before officialdom would react.

Not in our case. Many of the dog walkers are members of our Friends of the Reserve organisation, paying membership fees and donations and with an active Facebook group. There'd be an instant fuss!
.

 

[TZC]

Somebody once left a tree trunk across this, I mean literally it was about 2 1/2 foot high and wide, and covered almost the entire width of the underpass. I have no idea how many were involved in this prank because it weighed a ton, I doubt 4 teens could move it let alone one. The lights in the walls were out and it was night time.

I came through there around 13 mph n my front sus hardtail, and didn't even see it.

Hit hard and fast, the suspension took the hit and bounced straight up into the air while I got rammed forward, and my chest met the handlebars midway - I snapped the bell off with my sternum.

Meanwhile the back wheel had hit the tree and leapt into the air too, my ass and feet left the bike and for a moment I was doing a superman and I don't know how I didn't hit the ceiling!

It felt like slow motion - I swear I was thinking mid air 'find the pedals or else your balls will be next' and I looked down at the pedals spinning, somehow managing it, reflexes like spiderman.

Finally the front wheel came down and the bike was at a scary angle but somehow I didn't go over the handlebars. The suspension did its job again but I did take another hit to the chest on the handlebars. My right foot stayed on the pedal upon landing, left foot slipping off. Nuts intact.

I must have sat there 5 minutes just looking back, wondering how it got there and what the hell just happened. And how I got away with it.

With stuff like this I cant understand it twofold. First of all the idea of trying to cause strangers malicious harm but second of all they are not even there to see it.

This story though - I really wish somebody had seen it. Must have been one in a million staying on that bike!!!