By 9am on Friday morning 14,598 riders had passed Hackney's new bike counter in less than three and half days.

The counter is on the flagship cycle route at Goldsmiths Row next to Hackney City Farm.

It was turned on at midnight on Monday 5th August and had recorded 13,727 riders by midnight Thursday. Friday morning brought rain and drizzle throughout the rush hour. In the morning peak hour only 515 riders passed over the sensors buried in the roadway.

On warm sunny mornings at this time of year we would expect a couple of hundred more. An additional sixteen of the seventeen Barclays Hire Bike customers weren't counted as they left the stands by the pavement route as intended.

While we watched this morning 37% of the cyclists were women. The counter picks up cyclists in both directions, between 8 and 9am 92% of the riders were heading south towards the City.

A spokesman from Hackney Council told us that three more counters would be installed across the borough in the next few weeks. It is quite likely there will be one on the new section of London Cycle Network route 9 through Mare Street Narroway, opened last month

These links are part of the ancient, 2000 year old "Black Path" Market Porters' route from Essex to Central London. (photo: Cllr Vincent Stops)