A ragged peloton of commuters formed beside a fried chicken restaurant yesterday morning and went wobbling through the back streets of London, provoking cheers from a few passers-by and cross words from some van drivers.
This was the “Bike Tube”, a coalition of commuters forced off the Underground by the strike, who rode into town en masse, guided by more experienced pedallers.
Five Bike Tubes had formed at 7.45am in the outer zones of the city and converged on Central London like the divisions of a fluorescent army.
Boris Johnson had called for Blitz spirit, and though cycling from Brixton to Holborn does not compare with being bombed, it was a frightening prospect for some.
Mark Wilson, 29, from South London, who works in advertising sales, had left home on a rickety mountain bike, feeling distinctly uneasy.
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“My fiancée always says to me that she doesn’t want me to cycle because she doesn’t want me to die,” he said.
He bought his steed second-hand a year ago but it has remained in the garage for the past nine months at the insistence of his fiancée and after a few of his friends were injured.
Yesterday morning, however, he joined the Bike Tube in an attempt to recover his nerve. There were other newcomers, too. Magali Russic, 33, who works for the Australian High Commission, had arrived chaperoned by two colleagues.
Sarah Clark, 28, a solicitor, was also commuting by bike for the first time. “I’m usually just too frightened to go through the Elephant and Castle junction,” she said, referring to the chaotic double roundabout that scares the most seasoned of riders.
The volunteer cyclists and staff from the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) guided the group around that interchange along quieter streets and cycle lanes at a sedate pace. “This is actually just like the Tube,” said Nathan Whitford, 34, a civil servant from Wandsworth. “It leaves late and goes extremely slowly.”
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Kulveer Ranger, the Mayor’s director of transport policy, was also riding in an immaculate pinstripe suit and tie. He promised to take note of awkward gaps in the cycle network.
Then the Bike Tube reached the Blackfriars Road, jammed fast with buses, cars and tubes. Suddenly it was every man, woman and transport director for himself.
The cyclists weaved through the stationary traffic and over the bridge where, five years ago, a cyclist was killed under a bus. The outrage that followed that death was seen by some as a turning point in making the city safer for bikes.
Rosie Tharp, 28, a former cycle courier who works for the LCC, told The Times: “It’s a lot better than it was. There’s more cycle lanes and drivers are more aware.”
All the cyclists arrived safely in town. Ms Russic declared herself a convert, while Mr Wilson was feeling stiff and had suffered a few unplanned collisions with the pavement.
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“The real test will be this evening, coming home on my own,” he said. Then he went to phone his fiancée, to tell her he was still alive. “She’ll be pleased,” he said. “It would be a pretty lonely wedding without me.”