Scrambling bikes noisily riding through the countryside can be annoying, but one thing is being annoyed by them and another is trying to kill them.

Such was the case of a 45-year-old biker from Beas de Granada who fell foul of a booby trap on a forest path, in the form of a wire stretched across it.

Fortunately, the wire was set at wheel height and not neck height, which would have led to his decapitation. As it was he ended up with four broken ribs and a perforated lung.

The incident occurred on the 27th of April, just after nine in the morning when the victim was on his way to work at the Puerto Blanco Quarry in Beas de Granada. The forest track that he was using only leads to the quarry and thus does not have that much traffic.

The culprit, whoever it was, had strung the steel wire across the track one metre above the ground and tightened it so that there was no slack or give.

The wire stopped the bike dead and the rider was catapulted over the handlebars landing heavily on his back. He also had the further misfortune of the bike coming to rest over his legs, trapping him there.

And there he laid for five minutes unable to move before finally wriggling free – bear in mind that he had four broken ribs and a punctured lung so any movement must have been very painful.

He then managed to phone his workmates, who came to his rescue and took him to the nearest hospital, where he was treated for 48 hours in the ICU.

The police are investigating the incident and so far have concluded that the trap was set up Thursday afternoon as the victim had travelled along the same track the day before without incident.

The victim doesn’t have any ‘enemies’ that he is aware of but the question remains whether it was set for him personally or for anybody that uses the track.

Lastly, the wire was painstakingly set up and tightened to perfection; had it been a teenage prank, it would have been less elaborately done.

(News: Beas de Granada, Altiplano, Granada, Andalucia)