@zero
"one for the job itself lor'luv'a'duck".....i don't get it sorry

Name the unknown courier
Nickname -
age 33
Place of origin london
Years on the job 7
when/why you stopped(if you did )what are you doing now 04/career change/run my own business
Bike (brand/type, Name?)Cervelo. There is only one type. I still have my fixed and a few others.
Best place to ride (in london possibly)-weekday down the Mall before the change of the guard(10.57am), feels like coming into a towncentre sprint finish as you pass B Palace and the screaming crowds.
Worst -anywhere in N1 above hoxten and Shorditch/ Curtain. top of Bishopsgate
Fastest street -Bottom of piccadilly as you head to the tunnel.
Fav place in London (one of those secret special places you get to see during work...)they change, but I liked the quiet of the the little lanes in the city by the old churches, before lunch.
Favorite lobby. Dont have one,
Favorite bathroom, too long ago to remember
Favorite bike shop, I was partial to Condor
Fav building, I prefer the beauty of the contryside
Fav food during work- Prett
Dislikes - unnessassary security protocol, materialistic people, the unelected goverment.
like - good food, good wine, coming home.
A puncture every…2 weeks. I was lucky.
any crash and how- broken hand on car door
ONE adjective for pedestrians. Expendable
one for lorries - Caution
one for other cyclists - muppets
one for your fellow - smellier
one for the job itself -graft
best memory- sometimes enjoying several pints at the Duke on a Friday with a hundred of me best mates
worst memory - having to ride home alone after enjoying several pints at the Duke on a Friday, skint and knackered.
an interesting fact? - Definitly is the most commen mis-spelt word in the English language.
Motto/"statement" ( about the job, or something else….up to you, anything you wanna say in case you wanna say something)
It stops being a good job when you realise that you have no money for food and rent, no decent house and are generally skint or very knackered most of the time.
But I did loved it, the riding side was the bonus. Tearing around the tight lanes of the west end and city, wheels at maximum slant chopping the peds and traffic. Lost in my own private TDF.


33

lovely, thanks a lot guys!!!

here's the ben fincham article as promised. click on link and follow the instructions. enjoy!

http://www.sendspace.com/file/wjh9wu

"one for the job itself lor'luv'a'duck".....i don't get it sorry

howsabout: blimey!

The second thing that comes to mind is the willingness of all the interviewees to give the impression that the job is "fun", to the extent that Fincham concluded: "As has been argued, the subcultural affiliation of cycle couriers is adopted
once a person has started working, but this does not mean that the enjoyment disappears as a feature of messengering. In fact it is essential for continued participation."
Fact is, you know, we all know deep down, the job is shite, and it gets worse - it's just the only thing we can get away with. Seriously - there isn't anything else I'd rather be doing. OH REALLY?

BTW, this is a much better thread than the City Sprint thread!

I thought The "Earl of Lancaster" was the Duke.
Bill=female?I've always had my suspicions!

“Fact is, you know, we all know deep down, the job is shite, and it gets worse – it’s just the only thing we can get away with.”

Errr. Definitely don’t agree with that.

@bill, is it ok if i use this? i think it's the first bit of an old article you wrote about the championship, dated 1995. am trying to find it again but i lost it....anyway, 14 years later, still the same?

“Cycle Messengers have a richly deserved reputation for being a few spokes short of a wheel; even other cyclists think they’re crazy. Green Top Nob Jonathan Porritt once said that they were a disgrace to the cycling community because they get ordinary, law-abiding cyclists a bad reputation.
They do all the things that the self-righteously woolly-jumpered don’t: run red lights, cut up cars, get drunk & ride their bikes and hang around town looking cool in their wrap shades and baggies. Vagabonds on the information superhighways, cycle couriers play an essentially solitary trade.
They spend their days alone with their bikes with only two-way radios squawking laconic instructions for company. They may pass the whole day without seeing another courier, without seeing a face that understands their experiences.
Snotty receptionists unwilling to allow the briefest of phone-calls or even a visit to their oh, so pristine lavatory, bolshy security guards enforcing stupid rules “ ‘cos it’s more than me jobsworth”, monosyllabic post-room boys pasting up yet another pin-up, carelessly opened car-doors, startled deer and funky chickens on shopping trips too absorbed in the window displays to realise that their path will cross in front of a rapidly approaching front wheel until it’s too late, taxi-drivers intent on their next fare and uncaring about the fate of mere cycle couriers and most deadly of all, articulated trucks driven into the heart of the city, insensitive to soft vehicles, hardly noticing anything beneath them at all, wheels rolling remorselessly onwards messengering is the last great untold tale of urban life [sic!]...”

“i met catwoman, real name jane, i think.”

Jane! Ages since last I met her!

Quite right Bill. Being a courier is feckin ace. Screw the rest.

Name Mike
Nickname Porno Mike
age 45
Place of origin Sweden
Years on the job 10-ish
when/why you stopped(if you did )what are you doing now Tried to retire but failed and now back on the road
Bike (brand/type, Name?) Rotary, Enormous, Scrotum masher
Best place to ride (in London possibly) On the pavement
Worst Gt. Marlborough street at lunch time
Fastest street Anywhere with no traffic
Fav place in London (one of those secret special places you get to see during work...) Embassies of obscure countries where they are really polite and serve you tea while you are waiting
Favourite lobby That “Buddha” something PR company somewhere in the WE, where they had scalectrix and a pool table. Again, good waiting times
Favourite bathroom Gucci
Favourite bike shop Freebies from my mates
Fav building NFT or Swiss RE
Fav food during work Carbs
Dislikes People carriers
like Audi R8
A puncture every….. Days ½ day (Soho )
any crash and how Oh yes and by ignorance
ONE adjective for pedestrians Nuisance
one for lorries Big
one for other cyclists Bromptons!
One for your fellow messengers Horny!
One for the job itself Dead-end
best memory Crashing into a trolley full of cakes behind the Savoy, sending 20-odd cakes in the air.
Worst memory My first month, It rained solid for thirty days
an interesting fact? Nobody really knows what the “London stone” is or why it is what it is
Motto/"statement" (about the job, or something else….up to you, anything you wanna say in case you wanna say something) Freedom is a funny bird. It sings out of tune

anything you want to add? Feel free...

““Fact is, you know, we all know deep down, the job is shite, and it gets worse – it’s just the only thing we can get away with.”

“Errr. Definitely don’t agree with that.”

But then – you got out and all you have are rose-tinted memories.
To a certain extent I am playing devil’s advocate, but surely no-one can disagree that we are menials surviving on the fringes – barely coping with the subsistence wage, the high-risk working environment and the almost total lack of respect? It’s hardly an ideal proposition…”

The part I don’t agree with is that it’s the only thing you can get away with. Same kind of defeatist thinking that has prevented effective work-place organisation of couriers. If you think that a badly-paid, menial job is all you deserve, then that is what you will get.

As it goes, I don’t have rose-tinted memories – I still remember being out for 5 months with a broken ankle, having fuck-all money, and being visited by only 2 of my work-mates (Alison Henry and Andy Capp, since you ask).

Ah, Alison & Andy - better friends you couldn't hope for... unfortunately, not mine.

"The part I don’t agree with is that it’s the only thing you can get away with."
I don't see it as defeatist at all - I feel somewhat triumphalist about it myself: a fuck-up like myself can manage to maintain a living out of it...

a late reply but i think i might be able to fill some blanks:

"Dee ( a San Franciscan living in London) (female): Bill says it's him
Cargo Chris: Chris the Courier (DJ)- he used to ride a 4 wheeled cargo bike around that time
Chippy Keith: Keith aka Skarper- been doing carpentry with him lately...
Roller:
the Nag's Head: Duke of York
Smoke (an ex-messenger):
the Earl of Lancaster:
Howie:
Catwoman:
Disa:"