The delivery bikes of London
The photo above is actually in Sheffield, but anyone who has been to London in the last few years will know what I'm talking about. In fact any city in the UK, the situation is very similar. The anonymous rider in the picture is absolutely typical of what you see (and see more as the evening progresses), around the clock and around the year in London.
Our need to eat just that pizza or burger at that particular time has spawned an entire 'industry' of delivery riders on (99% of the time) electric bikes, and always with the big insulated bag somewhere about them. JustEat, Deliveroo, there are several brands you'll notice, but I think the economics of it encourage all sorts of operations.
The riders in London attract a lot of flak, partly because they break the rules of the road a lot. The most obvious things they don't do are use lights on their bikes at night (this is very common), so for a cyclist like me you can suddenly be aware of a near silent, black-clad and unlit presence swooshing past you without the usual convenience of lights to warn you. The other thing that they are criticised for (and a clear breach of all sorts of UK road regulations) is using souped up electric bikes. The rules for E-bikes, as they stand, are that they can have a maximum powered speed of 15mph and they should only provide the power when you are also pedalling. Watch the next delivery bike you see, and work out if it is legal. If the bike breaks the ebike rules then it has to be taxed and insured and have a registration plate like a motorbike. Even a passing look at the delivery bikes tells you that a huge proportion of them are running illegally, with overpowered tweaked bikes that don't require you to pedal.
But this isn't actually a hit piece. I was a bit surprised when I first saw how huge this game had become, but looking at the business that the riders are involved in, I can totally understand. They deliver all the year round in the crappiest of UK weather, where hypothermia is a distinct possibility, so that completely muffled-up look is probably self-protection. Also, as I suspect most of them count as self-employed, the thing they need is speed. More speed equals more deliveries; more deliveries equals more in your pocket each week when your own food needs buying, or your own children need new shoes. I can't quite understand the no-lights thing, as ALDI will sell you a good set for less than a tenner, and self-protection is worth it. So the thing is, if I was doing their job, I would probably do it just the way they are doing it (apart from the lights bit)
The other thing that I have noticed is that even though a large number of the riders are breaking the law, they do seem to have good road sense to avoid collisions. I don't think I have ever been cut up by a delivery rider, and I do not think their riding is at all worse than the huge number of bike commuters in London. Anyone who has visited India or China will have seen stunning examples of delivery riders there who seem to have heavenly protection and amazing skills of balance and survival. And what generates that protection and those skills - over there, and over here - is a huge amount of riding experience. Think about it. If you have been delivering round the clock in London for even three months, you have probably encountered more traffic situations than we mortal drivers and cyclists see in a year or a lifetime. If you are still on the road, you have learned to avoid danger and your instincts and senses are probably tip-top.
So next time you are waiting in your warm sitting room for your Dominos Big Boy, or whatever it is called, think of the life these workers lead, and maybe hand over a bigger tip.
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