A cyclist has painted the town red to tell voters who he wants them to back in today’s general election – by riding round the streets of London’s West End to spell out “Vote Labour” on Strava.
Author and activist Chris Ward – who last year rode up Mont Ventoux six times in a day and is the organiser of the Coffee Stop Awards – also uploaded the image to Twitter with the hashtag #cyclingsocialists.
The 9.8km ride took him a little over three quarters of an hour to complete.
He told us: “In the interests of impartiality, there are other parties you can ride for,” adding, “it could encourage cyclists supporting other parties to start pedalling round their town.”
So whatever your political hue, why not get on your bike (to misquote a certain former cabinet minister) to show who you’re backing today and post the result in the comments below.
And if you’re aware of any other electoral or party political slogans that have appeared on Strava in the run-up to polling day, let us know.
If you haven’t cast your vote yet and are undecided about who to vote for, you can find our summary of the respective parties’ positions here.
Those harbouring suspicions about the BBC’s political impartiality may note that in the map of Chris’s Strava ride, the 'o' of Labour sits very close to New Broadcasting House.

23 thoughts on “Cyclist spells out ‘Vote Labour’ in London’s West End – and posts ride on Strava”
The L isn’t near BBC’s
The L isn’t near BBC’s Broadcasting House, but the o is quite close.
velobetty wrote:The L isn’t
Oops, got off the Central Line a stop early, now fixed – thanks!
Imagine doing that to read
Imagine doing that to read “Vote Monster Raving Loony Party”? – Hard!
Jem PT wrote:Imagine doing
From the look of it, it was hard enough doing “Vote Lxoow”.
Jem PT wrote:Imagine doing
Or United Kingdom Independence Party…. Which is kind of the same thing 😉
kie7077 wrote:Jem PT
Not the same thing at all. Giving student grants to any student named grant is one of the best manifesto ideas I have ever heard. That really doesn’t say much about the political prospects of this country. But at least we can have a vote and not be stoned/beheaded/tortured for saying what a bunch of blathershites the political classes are….
He’s missed out ‘and screw up
He’s missed out ‘and screw up the economy’…..
The question everyone’s
The question everyone’s asking is: why did he start in upper case letters and then finish with lower case?
Maybe it’s a hidden message about the inconsistency of Labour’s policies. 😕
Some of you may be seeing
Some of you may be seeing earlier version of this pic (which seems to show ‘Labour’ rather than ‘LABOUR’).
Screengrab was taken from Strava without being logged in – and if you’re not logged in, you only get a rough outline of the ride, hence it looks a bit of a scrawl.
Being logged in, you get the sharper version that should now be showing above (you may still see older one due to caching issues).
What a waste of good cycling
What a waste of good cycling time.
Wonder if I have time for a
Wonder if I have time for a “Fuck UKIP” ride later…
Someone’s already done a UKIP
Someone’s already done a UKIP one, I’m surprised you missed this
http://www.strava.com/activities/18625394
AJ101 wrote:Someone’s already
I thought that was a pothole?
SDLP would be interesting…
SDLP would be interesting…
Isn’t publishing this a
Isn’t publishing this a little biased today? It may suggest road.cc editorial approval; not that I disagree with the sentiment myself. Though some gently misguided individuals have already shown their disapproval above.
Vote Philomena Cunk for Priministerman Woman!
Quote:Isn’t publishing this a
Perhaps the article is balanced by the snarky comment about the BBC in the final paragraph? Albeit, personally I think if anything the BBC has been biased in favour of the Conservatives lately.
I think you are all being far
I think you are all being far too dismissive. It is obvious that at least as much effort and thought has gone into this as pretty much any Labour policy from the last 3 years. Result is about as coherent too.
Is he out there now, spelling
Is he out there now, spelling out ‘Nobody Listened’?
Looks like he wasted his time
Looks like he wasted his time
bikewithnoname wrote:Looks
Certainly did, they were well and truly shafted !! Thank God otherwise Ed Balls would have been the chancellor.
bikewithnoname wrote:Looks
Reverse psychology – worked a treat
bye bye Farage.
bye bye Farage.
Didn’t Edd Balls get booted
Didn’t Edd Balls get booted out by a newcomer? :))