A Cardiff man was thrown over his handlebars after his wheel was wedged in an unseen crack in the road
A HIDDEN crack on Albany Road sent a man flying over his handlebars, showing the dangers of potholes to Cardiff’s cyclists.
Steve Edwards said: “It was quite dramatic. One second, I was going along comfortably, and the next second I was lying sopping wet in a muddy puddle.”
The front wheel of his black, Trek road bike had become wedged in what he described as an inch wide, foot-long crack. He estimated it went about nine inches below the water level at the time.
Returning with a ruler two days later, after a day without rain, it was still about four-and-a-half inches deep and covered by water.
“I was just moving through the inside of the cars, it’s something I always do on other roads, but this time I came a cropper. It’s definitely not an obvious hole, but it’s very dramatic if you do go in it.”
Mr Edwards, of Roath, described himself as an unlucky victim to the crack outside the Principality Building Society branch but also says things could have been much worse.
“I was lucky I just got wet. You could fall off literally underneath the wheels of a car if you’d been unlucky and fallen the other way.”
Tori Jones, who lives just off Albany Road, says she would never cycle along the stretch where the accident happened.
“This road is much more intimidating than some of the others where cycle lanes have been made. If you have to dodge all the dangerous drivers, and then also a load of potholes it can’t be a good place to cycle,” she said.
Dave Hann, owner of Motörlegs, a Cardiff bike workshop, says he hadn’t noticed an increase in broken wheels, but that potholes can lead to punctures.
“If your tires aren’t fully inflated and you hit a curb or pothole it can cause punctures on both sides of the wheel. They’re called ‘pinch flats’ or ‘snake bites’, and we get a fair few of those,” he said.
Gary Brown, who works at the shop, fell off his bike three times in the last few months.
“The first two times were because of gaps in the road I couldn’t see, and the other time I came off hitting an exposed manhole cover which was hidden by a puddle,” he said.
“Potholes aren’t the city’s biggest issue, but they’re a pain when you hit one and you’re sat there thinking ‘Why am I on the floor with my bike on top of me again?’
“I think it’s always going to be more of an issue for less experienced cyclists.”
Mr Brown believes that as traffic increases with the growth of Cardiff’s population, the council will need to put more money into maintaining highways.
A spokesperson for Cardiff Council said: “The council uses the resources available to best effect by carrying out a variety of roadworks across the highway network including reconstruction, re-surfacing, surface patching and treatments as well as temporary repairs to potholes.”
Mr Edwards hasn’t let the accident discourage him from future cycling though
“A councillor has been in contact with me and said he’ll take it to the next meeting. As long as they fix it it’s fine, these things happen in life. You just have to laugh at it and carry on,” he said.
- Is Albany Road’s hidden crack Cardiff’s most dangerous pothole? If you think you’ve seen worse, please get in contact with The Cardiffian on welchd8@cardiff.ac.uk
