The city witnessed a race for Lime bikes, a daily contest of who could open the app fastest, who could sprint to the last available bike on the street corner, and who would actually make it across town without incident. The numbers tell the story: Lime reported a 58 percent spike in trips during Monday’s rush hour compared to the previous week, and by midweek usage had soared to more than 70 percent above normal levels.

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Journeys were longer too, with many ditching the Tube entirely in favour of a full e-bike commute, crossing boroughs rather than just covering the last mile. On the streets, it looked like liberation with a side of chaos. A wave of motors filled central London, but the London Ambulance Service also logged a 44 percent rise in cycling-related collisions. Bike bays spilled over, riders jumped lights, and beginners wobbled uncertainly through traffic that was already jammed with cars, taxis and buses carrying the unlucky or the unadventurous.

Yet in the middle of this, Lime pulled off one of the quickest and cleverest brand plays of the year. Within hours of the strike, Londoners started spotting ads styled like TfL’s famous service updates, except instead of “Good service on the Victoria line” they read “Good service on all Limes.” It was a cheeky, perfectly timed wink at stranded commuters, equal parts reassurance and mockery, and it cemented Lime as not just a practical lifeline but a cultural reference point in the week’s chaos. What unfolded was more than a quirky anecdote about Londoners battling for bikes - it was a stress test for the city’s mobility ecosystem.

And the results are revealing. On one hand, the surge proved that micro-mobility can scale fast in a crisis, soaking up demand and moving tens of thousands who would otherwise have been stuck. On the other, it exposed how fragile the infrastructure still is: too few safe lanes, limited parking, uneven distribution of bikes, and a surge in risky behaviour when so many inexperienced riders hit the road at once. It showed us both the potential and the limits of e-bikes as a backbone for the capital. The question now is: what sticks? Some riders are already back underground, happy to leave the pedalling behind. But for many, the strike week was their first proper test ride, and once you’ve cruised past a line of traffic at 25km/h it’s hard to forget the feeling. The Tube strike may be over, but the memory of a London powered by e-bikes lingers - a glimpse of a city where micro-mobility doesn’t just fill gaps but carries the load when its biggest system falters. And if another shutdown comes, commuters now know the drill: open the app, sprint for the nearest green wheel, and get moving.

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