‘Strikelists’ have taken over London after the Tube network ground to a halt

If you’ve tried getting around London this week, you’ll know the Tubes have been a nightmare.

Industrial action has brought much of the network to a standstill, leaving us with two-hour Ubers, endless bus queues, or the ultimate London workout: walking everywhere.

For many, though, the strike has meant hopping on a bike – some for the very first time. Call them strikelists: the riders who only dust off the pedals, or hop on a Lime bike for the first time ever, when the city shuts down.

And yes, regular cyclists have noticed. The bike lanes are suddenly busier, wobblier, and, let’s be honest, a bit scarier.

With e-bikes in particular surging in popularity, the commute has turned into something between Mario Kart and rush hour Wrestlemania.

A long queue of cyclists on the Embankment this morning as the second strike day kicked off (Picture: PA Wire)

‘The amount of stunts observed today would send Tom Cruise to unemployment,’ one cyclist joked on Reddit.

There have also been reports of riders jumping red lights, leaving some cyclists concerned for their safety.

Emily Shackleton, a product manager at Metro, said there were ‘swarms of people’ on Lime bikes.

The cycle lane towards Westminster Bridge at rush hour today, with many rental bikes among the riders

‘There was a lot of dodgy behaviour such as undertaking, people wearing headphones, I even saw someone talking on Facetime holding their phone out in front of them while speeding downhill,’ she said.

‘I lost count of the times I had to stop suddenly as someone cut in front in me and or suddenly swerved across me.

‘While it’s great to see people taking up cycling as a commuting alternative especially on strike days, lack of care and basic knowledge of road safety as well as the increased numbers on the road made a usually simple commute feel incredibly unsafe.’

One cyclist, who asked to remain anonymous, admitted to Metro that he had been a bit wayward during his commute.

The battle for road space intensifies in London during the strikes when people scramble for alternatives they might not usually take (Picture: PA Wire)

He said he used to cycle regularly to his hometown train station in Essex before getting the train into London for work, but after a fall last January, he had stopped.

Yesterday was the first time he had cycled to work again since his fall.

‘I was trying to find my way to the cycle path near Hyde Park corner towards Knightsbridge,’ he told Metro. ‘As I was wheeling my Boris Bike through the sand, where the horses are, I saw two police officers on their horses.

‘I was bit anxious so I quickly pulled out into the busy cycle lane and got angrily shouted at by a man who was also cycling.

‘I felt really embarrassed and ashamed.’

Another cyclist said on social media: ‘I cycled today to commute but often cycle for sport, I found it crazy how little etiquette there was!

‘Lime bikes and others not stopping for lights, on their phones, not moving over or giving space.’

Nick Freeman, a roads lawyer known as Mr Loophole, told Metro that London roads can become dangerous when people scramble for ways to get into work.

‘The problem is, you need a skillset to do it, you need coordination and spatial awareness, and you need to be aware of what the law actually requires you to do,’ he said.

‘When you throw people on roads like London that are quite potholed, are not particularly clean and are completely congested, it is a very dangerous place for all – it is a bit of a free-for-all.

‘The segregated lanes are not that safe for cyclists, there are a lot of ‘live cycle lanes,’ which merge onto roads and there isn’t an adequate protective barriers, plus people just have coordination issues.’

Lime said it has seen a 58% increase in demand for the e-bikes since the strike started.

One reader told London Centric ‘there doesn’t seem to be a single Lime bike in Islington or Hackney right now.’

While Lime is far from the only rental bike company operating in London, it has gained prominence in the city’s landscape due to the large fleet of easy-to-spot bikes, which have been previously dubbed an eyesore which clog up the pavements.

Ride-hailing app Bolt, which has recently launched e-bikes in London, said it saw a 685% rise in e-bike trips yesterday compared with previous Monday, while Santander bike hires are reportedly up more than 70%.

A Lime spokesperson told Metro:  ‘Ultimately, more cyclists on our roads is a good thing.

‘It’s brilliant to see more Londoners choosing active travel and contributing towards the Mayor of London’s aim for 80 per cent of trips in London to be made by active, efficient and sustainable modes by 2041.’

‘In saying that, it’s crucial for everyone to ride responsibly and follow road rules. We actively remind all users of the rules of the road and the importance of riding safely.’

The current law to deal with dangerous and misbehaving cyclists is ‘outdated’ and ‘toothless, with those causing serius injury getting away ‘with impunity,’ according to Mr Loophole.

He said we are likely to see a rise in calls for cyclist licensing and registration to target those who flaunt the rules – a controversial concept many campaigners oppose for fear it could harm the uptake of active travel.

The government has backed proposals to introduce a new offence called death by dangerous cycling, which would align the penalty with the driving offence, but this has not passed through Parliament.

So who is to blame? The short answer is the lack of space for all kinds of riders, London Cycling Campaign’s Simon Munk said.

He told Metro: ‘It’s great that lots of people are cycling, and as a charity our remit is to get more people to cycle, but it exposes the lack of capacity for cycling in London.

‘We have got some really good cycling routes in London, but they are still way too many gaps. The routes that we do have were over capacity even before the strikes.

‘If you cycle on the Embankment on an average day there are queues and cyclists overtaking each other because it is too overcrowded. London has a long way to go for the level of cycle infrastructure it needs.’

For now, London’s bike lanes are carrying the load – just about. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a strikelist trying to get by, helmets on, eyes up and good luck out there.

Rental bike companies like Lime have seen an uptick in business during the strike (Picture: Shutterstock)

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