A mountain biker from Wales who broke his neck after he misjudged a jump put his time in hospital to good use – by designing and building a website to help people find accommodation near cycling hotspots around the world.

Ben Jones, aged 27 and from Taff’s Well near Cardiff, spent a week in hospital following the crash in June, reports Wales Online.

The web designer faced a spell off work due to his injury, so decided to take matters into his own hands, registering the bedandbike.co.uk domain name and building the site using his smartphone.

He told the website: “I like having a project. I can’t rest.

“I have got to have a project. I know I’m supposed to rest but my mind just wanders.

“I had to lie down and do it because I wasn’t allowed to sit up.”

He was on his second run of a day of riding with his brother at Mountain Ash in the Cynon Valley when the crash happened as he landed head-first between two ramps.

“At this moment I knew something was wrong,” he recounted. “I blacked out for 30 seconds.

“I was in shock. My initial reaction was ‘I can’t feel my body, I need to get up’.”

Besides fractured vertebrae, he also broke bones in his back and ribs.

While he was able to stand up after the accident, other riders needed to support his head to enable him to walk to a van, with his brother driving to Merthyr Tydfil’s Prince Charles Hospital.

“If it [his neck] had been fractured two millimetres more I would have died pretty much because it would have hit one of my arteries,” he said.

He is now recovering at home and is continuing to develop his website, which launched earlier this month, including holding discussions with business throughout the UK.

After returning home, Ben continued working on his website Bed and Bike – a platform for people to find accommodation near the world’s best cycling destinations.

He said his crash was a “blessing in disguise”, and that “It gave me the time to do this. Before this I was working all the time.”

Currently, the business lists 10 destinations in the eastern United States, and two in Wales, but clearly the intention is to list destinations both in the UK worldwide, and you can find more details here.

Here's a video showing some of the site's features.

On the website, Ben sets out his plans for developing the site in the coming months: 

Trail Search

My main goal is to add a search functionality for trails across the world. So, for instance, you can search for a specific trail like ‘The Gap in Brecon’ this will then show you the closest accommodation to the trail. At the moment the system works by area or country so not the end of the world.

Reward Scheme

If you use Bed and Bike more than a few times a year we will give you discounted rates on your next holiday. More to follow about this functionality.

Partner with established Brands

To grow the Bed and Bike brand we need help from like minded partners. We are developing a partner programme for the near future. In the meantime, if you think your business could benefit ours and vice verse please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We would love to work with you. (I don’t want to go back to my day job).

A number of other websites have been launched i recent years aiming to match cyclists with accommodation, including Beds For Cyclists, which celebrates its fifth birthday this year and which has a strong focus on touring cyclists.