London recently followed Paris and other cities by installing a network of cycle-hire stands. Dubbed Boris bikes after the cycle-crazy London mayor who oversaw their introduction, the blue velocipedes have become a popular fixture on London’s streets.

They’ve also inspired a cottage industry of mobile application development, to help people find their nearest rack, or a free drop-off point.

But here’s something new. Ollie O’Brien and Martin Austwick of UCL’s Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) have put together an animation showing the movements of the Boripedes on their busiest day so far – during the Tube strike of 4 October 2010.

London Hire Bikes animation from Sociable Physics on Vimeo.

Rather hypnotic. Fast forward to the evening rush hour to see it go nuts.