Cyclist dies after riding into chain on way back from watching Tour of Britain

A cyclist in North Wales has died after being thrown from his bike in Caernafon on Monday evening when he rode into a chain strung between two bollards. Rhodri Hughes-Jones, aged 69, had been returning home with friends after watching the Tour of Britain in Llandudno.

A transport expert and cycling campaigner says the council had been warned of the danger posed to cyclists by the bollards, and has urged Sustrans to carry out an audit of such hazards.

Bollards with chains strung between them are often used by local authorities and private landlords alike to spearate motor vehicles from pedestrians, but the latter can often find them a hazard and trip over them, especially if distracted and the chain is at low level.

The potential consequences for a cyclist travelling even at moderate speed are - as thei case would appear to prove l- ikely to be more serious.

The incident took place at around 7pm as the victim rode home with other members of the cycling club he belonged to, including trained first aider Dylan Bee, who desperately tried to save his friend’s life.

Mr Bee recounted the evening to the Daily Post, which has video of the location where the crash happened – the chain has now been threaded through traffic bollards to warn people of its presence.

He said: “Myself, Rhodri and four other members of Clwb Beicio Menai were returning from Llandudno. We’d had a great day and a good ride.

“We came into Caernarfon and had gone over the red bridge in Victoria Dock and he hit the chain between two bollards. He’s gone over the bollards and banged his head.

“I jumped off my bike and he’d landed in a sort of recovery position. I rang 999.

“There was blood coming from a cut in his head. He was unconscious and totally unresponsive. His fingers had turned blue. It sounded like his heart had stopped. I tried to talk to him and pinched his fingers.”

He went on: “I gave him cardiopulmonary resuscitation before the ambulance arrived. They were with him for 15-20 minutes and the paramedic said: ‘We’ve got a pulse.’ Rhodri was taken to hospital.

“I jumped into the car to go and explain to his wife what had happened. It was 11pm when I left Ysbyty Gwynedd. I felt better that he had a pulse. The police later told me Rhodri had injured his back and was being moved to Stoke.”

Yesterday, news reached him that his friend had lost his life, to Mr Bee’s shock. “Until I had a call to say that he had died this lunchtime, I thought he was better,” he said.

“I saw the chain. It’s difficult to know if Rhodri had,” he concluded.

A spokesperson for the Welsh Ambulance Service said: “We had a call at 7.03pm on Monday to reports a cyclist had taken ill on Church Street in Caernarfon.

“A man in his 60s in a critical condition was taken to Ysbyty Gwynedd.”

Police are not treating the fatality as suspicious but have asked witnesses to contact them on 101.

Transport expert Dave Holladay, who among other things acts as an advisor to CTC, said on Twitter that the council had failed to recognise the hazard that the chain being placed between the bollards placed to cyclists, and that warnings about this and other badly placed bollards had been ignored.

He added: “This is not first serious crash because of #bollards & #chains officially placed to create #hazards for cycling,” and added, “As a #matterofurgency I'd suggest @sustrans carries out an audit on #bollards to identify & address this hazard.”