Interesting times: A fond farewell to Ms Nhatt Attack
4 June 2013 by Emily Chappell
A couple of days ago Nhatt and I sat in the departures lounge at Heathrow, one of us savouring her final pint on British soil, and the other contemplating what felt very much like the end of an era.
When I limped back to the UK a few months ago after spending 18 months cycling across Asia, Nhatt was the one who met me at the airport and (with typical good humour) helped me haul two heavy bags and a bike box the size of a mattress back to Peckham, via public transport, during rush hour – so a few months later, when she packed up nine years of London life into a Pac, a Brompton bag and a Carradice, and discovered she’d need help carrying it all to the airport, it was obvious and inevitable that she’d turn to me, and, as we realized (her gleefully; me ruefully), impossible for me to refuse.
Bike raffle in aid of LCEF
12 April 2013 by Buffalo Bill
Apollo Gerolymbos has built two bikes to be raffled off in aid of the London Courier Emergency Fund. To buy a ticket, click here.
To see the specs, click here.
To read the interview from which the accompanying picture is taken on cyclelove, click here.
Messenger heroes, number 6 - Emily Chappell
14 March 2013 by Dazzler
I’d met Emily some time ago now in the post-fakenger years around the time the term bakenger was first coined. Courier appreciation day was being celebrated in London and riders were being waved in and tempted off the street for some feel-good solidarity hugs by the offer of free coffee and cakes.
To complement the huge piles of flapjacks that had been donated by plenty kitchen-busy couriers that day, Emily arrived with arms full of rich, home-cooked chocolate cake and some other exotic, carefully prepared puddings that turned the otherwise pedestrian offerings on show that day into something else completely. Just goes to show how the application of a little specialist knowledge, a modicum of effort and some close attention to the details makes all the difference.
Only 60 naked couriers left in the whole world!
12 January 2013 by Buffalo Bill
The lovely Papillon has told me that there are only 60 of the fabulous 2013 Naked Courier Calendars left! Featuring the finest bodies from Mexico to Berlin, no right minded cycling person should be without one of these items, not least because all of the money goes to support bicycle couriers who have been injured whilst working. You can get them online from House of Pistard and Bagaboo. This could be your last chance to see exactly what Mikey Q means when he offers a ‘slice’.
More details about the LCEF and the 2013 calendar here
London Courier Emergency Fund End of the World Party this Friday
19 December 2012 by Papillon
War on Britain's Roads
12 December 2012 by Buffalo Bill
I have been procrastinating about watching this, because I know that I should respond to it in some way. I have now done so, and posted it over here, as I do not want to be accused of speaking on behalf of London’s couriers.
Read the post. Or not.
The Exenger Files: Neil "Nelly" Webb
11 December 2012 by Buffalo Bill
I first became aware of Neil ‘Nelly’ Webb as being part of the ‘New Skool’ of younger couriers who started on the road in the early 90s. They didn’t wear lycra, they wore baggy shorts, they rode MTBs, not road-bikes, and they were quick. Very quick. Too bloody quick.
Nelly was one of the quickest around. Not flat-out point-to-point quick, (although he was fast enough to have won the Scottish Junior Downhill Championships in 1991), clever quick. Smart quick. Did I say he was quick?
I had been riding around London for a living for a decade, and thought I knew my way around, but Nelly knew some short-cuts that I had never thought of. He also was always thinking about his kit; how to adapt his bike to make it more suitable for couriering, how trick up his bag, his lock, his keys, his folder. An innovator, always looking for an edge, for the latest thing, and trying to devise that thing, if it wasn’t available.
