Following an incident on Monday while out on his daily lunchtime ride loop our friend and colleague Mat was badly injured on a country road near his home. 

After being treated for almost three hours at the scene by paramedics Mat was airlifted to Southmead Hospital in Bristol where he continues to receive ongoing and extensive treatment for multiple serious injuries. 

Everyone at road.cc and our sister sites, off.road.cc and ebiketips is sending positive thoughts to Mat and his family. We know road.cc readers and other members of the cycling media and wider cycling industry will want to too.

We are all profoundly shocked that something like this can happen to such a strong and skilful rider and all-round exceptional human being. But of course sometimes stuff just happens even to the best of us.

As some of you will have noted we used the word ‘incident’ in the headline and we did so deliberately. At this stage it seems Mat was the victim of pure bad luck on a road he’d ridden down hundreds, if not thousands, of times before, but we don’t have all the details. Should any further details emerge that change that reading of the situation we shall report on it.

Currently we’re just thinking about Mat recovering, but as you can imagine his absence will affect how we work in the coming months. Despite what some may think road.cc is not put together by a cast of thousands, but by a fairly small group of people in which Mat has a big role. He’s been tech editor at road.cc for 15 years, setting the tone for our tech coverage and the benchmark for its quality. Luckily for us he’s also super-organised and he’s helped put together and mentor a strong team. His byline will still be appearing on new stories in the coming days.

Get well soon Mat!

Update, 04/07/2024: Since publishing this article, Wiltshire Police has issued a witness appeal regarding the incident. The full appeal from Wiltshire Police is copied below. 

We are appealing for witnesses following a collision between a cyclist and a vehicle in Coulston near Westbury.

On Monday, June 24, at around 2pm, a cyclist, a man in his 50s, collided with a Nissan Navara travelling in the opposite direction on an unclassified road at the junction with Church Lane.

The cyclist suffered significant injuries which are not thought to be life-threatening and was taken to hospital for treatment.

No arrests have been made.

If you witnessed the incident, please contact us on 101 quoting reference 54240073904.