One and a half hours away on public transport or a 30-minute slapdash journey on a Lime Bike- this was my first experience on one of London’s most popular modes of transport
After moving to London last week, it has been a whirlwind of first-time experiences, from commuting on the tube to getting used to a city where you can’t simply just walk everywhere, it’s been a learning curve, let alone starting a new job.
So when I found myself in Hackney, an hour and a half away from home on public transport, I decided to take up the mantle, or should I say handlebars of a bicycle, for the first time in around 10 years.
Cycling doesn’t exactly come naturally to me, but I thought I’d take it slow and give it a try, as all I see are white-shirt-clad professionals racing their way into Central London every day using the world-famous Lime Bikes. What I found next was a mixture of adrenaline and joy as I took to the streets of Hackney on a topsy-turvy way home.
But before we get into the ride itself, I struggled to find a functioning bike in a bay of about five, so as I had just set up on my first choice, ready to hit it off, a passer-by pointed out that the bike had a punctured tyre, so onto the second, which had a dead battery, and onto the third, where my luck began.
So once I had set up and adjusted the seat on the stiff lock, I was off into the wind, quite literally, as I hadn’t prepared for the motor’s acceleration; however, I soon got used to the flabbergasting propulsion Lime offers.
Being from Nottingham, which is quite an elevated landscape, I was grateful for the lack of hills in London, and when there was one, it was a breeze to shoot up without much effort.
The route itself was quite a cycle-friendly ride, as I tried to avoid the main roads and stick to the available cycleways, which were a godsend while navigating through a sea of more experienced Lime bikers.
Yet despite the ease of the riding itself every time I came to a stop, I could hear the 2025 headlines echoing through my head of “Lime Bike leg“, a term popularised after it was found that Londoners were often sustaining broken limbs from the 35 kilos falling on top of them, which was instilled in my mind as I kept the bike steady at every red light.
Ultimately, though, these headlines and countless others made me cautious about the dangers on the streets of North London, from other cyclists speeding past me to buses and 4x4s cruising dangerously close, leaving me no more than 3ft of highway to balance on.
Though I had never had the joy of cycling in London before, I found the route quite well laid out for those wanting an easy ride home, as I was able to avoid any seriously large highways.
One danger I encountered was the dreaded “Suron” e-bike drivers of the streets, reaching up to 60mph in some cases, speeding past innocent cyclists on e-bikes that could give some supercars a run for their money, while not having a care in the world for their road etiquette.
This made some of the green spaces cycle lanes more hazardous than anticipated as balaclava-clad teenagers sped through motorists and pedestrians alike, putting my so-called propulsion to shame.
So when I finally reached the safety of my destination- Finsbury Park, slightly hotter than when I started, I found myself thinking that while it may not be the last time I use a Lime Bike, it may well be the longest ride I will ever embark on.
Public transport may be great, but for those in a sticky situation without a real compromise of how to get home without spending extortionate amounts of time on the bus, a Lime may be the answer for them- but maybe not for me, just yet.
