Moving Target

A message from the organisers of London's Calling 2012
23 May 2012 by Papillon

We are proud to be organising the pre-event to the ECMC 2012, held this year in Edinburgh, Scotland. So, you’re all invited to come and spend the weekend with us for some racing and partying London stylee… and of course join the ride that will take you to Edinburgh for another great weekend of messenger madness.

The first London’s Calling was organised as a pre-event to the CMWC Dublin in 2007. It was a great weekend with Londoners and out-of-towners out-racing and out-partying each other.

Since then, strongly supported by the London courier community, London’s Calling has been happening every year. As well as bringing us all together, it has been a great fundraiser for the LCEF (London Courier Emergency Fund) and we hope this year will be no different.

So come and warm up for ECMC 2012 – we can’t get you into the Olympic Stadium but we’ll do our bestest to show you a good time.

Check out the London’s Calling 2012 program and info pages and REGISTER!

London's Calling 2012, 8th - 10th June
16 May 2012 by Buffalo Bill

EXCLUSIVE: get this shirt at the Donkey Derby, Friday night!
2 May 2012 by Buffalo Bill

As avid readers of Moving Target will know, roller racing was reinvented by London’s bicycle courier community a number of years ago, upstairs at the Horseshoe pub, Clerkenwell. They even came with up with the name Rollapaluza. Since then, of course, Rollapaluza has become a lot more than just a bunch of messengers drinking & shouting at each other in a pub, accompanied by the whirring of some pair of fools’ wheels on a stage. However, it is traditional for Rollapaluza to return to the Horseshoe, its spiritual home, for a night of messenger mayhem every year or so.

Such a night is this Friday.

As well as being entertained by the spectacle of London’s fastest couriers spinning the pedals, you will also be able to purchase a brand new LCEF shirt, design above, as realised by Jay Moon. The lucky winners will take home prizes from bikefix & Two Wheels Good, and everyone will be delighted by the DJs, Sleepy & Lana Del Futuro.

All proceeds to the relaunched Bicycle Messenger Emergency Fund. Racers £5, spectators donation.

Donkey Derby, Friday May 4th, Horseshoe, Clerkenwell Close
26 April 2012 by Buffalo Bill

Overdrive's words at Henry Warwick's memorial ride
11 February 2012 by Buffalo Bill

Welcome to the Henry Warwick memorial ride. First of all, on behalf of the London courier community, I’d like to offer our deepest sympathies to Henry’s family, friends and co-workers for their loss and to offer our support in this terribly difficult time.

Last Friday, as a friend put it, a part of London died. If you’ve been a courier in the last twenty years or ridden your bike to work through central London you would have seen Henry working on his bike. He was part of the fabric of the city and London wont be the same without him. Tonight we will have a short ride in his memory but if you want to remember Henry in the long term, if you want to keep his spirit alive, then keep riding your bikes.

Statement from Henry Warwick's family
10 February 2012 by Buffalo Bill

My brother was a very professional cyclist and courier. He was very much into cycling since being a teenager and considered the sport to be his lifelong hobby. He was also a lifelong music fan and the Rolling Stones were his particular favourite, he was also into Blues and Southern Rock, the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Johnny Winter etc… As a direct result of what happened here a week ago today my only hope is that Henry’s death was not in vain and that the campaign to make the streets of London safer for all cyclists and other road users will be ongoing and will intensify as a result of last Friday’s tragedy.

RIP Brother

Ed Wawrzanek

London courier killed whilst working, 3rd February 2012
6 February 2012 by Buffalo Bill

As reported by BBC News, a cyclist was killed after a collision with a coach on Wormwood Street last Friday (3rd February 2012). Various posters on the Moving Target forum expressed their concern that it was a courier, and Rico Logistics have apparently confirmed that it was Henry Warwick. If this is the case, then Henry would be the 9th London bicycle messenger known to have been killed whilst working.

I’m sure that all Moving Target readers & posters will join me in expressing shock and dismay. My condolences to friends and family. There’s some talk on the forum of a ride on Friday. Watch that space.

UPDATED

The memorial ride is taking place this Friday, starting at the Foundry, corner of Old Street & Great Eastern Street, at 7ish. Please note that this is a memorial ride, not a protest. More details (and comment) on the forum here. Stephanie (Papillon) of the London Courier Emergency Fund has been in touch with Rico, and they say that Henry’s family would prefer a donation to a homeless charity to flowers

London bicycle messenger Papillon receives 2011 Markus Cook Award for services to the messenger community
1 November 2011 by Buffalo Bill

After being nominated for the 2nd year running, Stephanie ‘Papillon’ Bartczak has been presented the Markus Cook Award for services to the messenger community. Papillon is well-known within the messenger community for being very active within the organisation of the London Courier Emergency Fund, which exists to give financial assistance to London’s bicycle messengers and couriers who suffer injury whilst working. She helped found the Fund in 2007, and has worked to build it up constantly since then.

Here is her nomination from last year, taken from an email by Stefan ‘Fish’ Vis:

20-odd Questions - Eni
1 November 2011 by Dazzler

How old are you? 31.

Where were you born? Steeltown in Hungary.

Where do you live now? London innit :)

How long have you been couriering? 5th winter is coming up…..ssssshiver.

Hang Name? I wish i had one… :P

Who do you ride for? Reuters

What was your first bike? A tricycle.

What do you ride now? My bike.

What’s the best docket you’ve ever been given? £120 plus a free lunch for 8 hours work.

Michael Bryant to publish book about '28 seconds' that led to death of Darcy Allan Sheppard
21 October 2011 by Buffalo Bill

The video of the initial encounter is clear: a cyclist pulls up in front of a stationary car at red traffic light, and stops; after a few moments, the car jerks forward, reverses and then drives straight into the cyclist, knocking him off his bike and onto the bonnet and off again. The car stops briefly, and then drives around the cyclist to carry on down the road. As the car passes, the cyclist grabs hold of the car. Exactly what happens next is not as obvious, as there is no video, but at least this much is not disputed: the car moves over into the oncoming carriageway, hits some street furniture on the sidewalk, denting its side-panels, and at some point, the cyclist loses his grip on the car and falls dead in the roadway.

Cocks race tonight!
21 October 2011 by Buffalo Bill

Tonight at Full City, Leather Lane. 1st prize is a used track frame. All proceeds to the BFF Apology Fund (see the forum for more details).

After, the Ragworm vs Rikki Fredo & the Fabulous F&cktones Messenger vs Fakenger Battle of the Bands at the Grosvenor pub, Sidney Road, SW9, which is a benefit for the LCEF.

20-odd Questions - Curly
19 October 2011 by Dazzler

How old are you? In earth years 42.

Where were you born? The United States of Birmingham.

How long have you been a courier? 21 years. Time travels fast when you’re having fun.

Hang Name? Curly or Curlywurly. I used to have hair!

Who did you ride for? Lightning; Security Dispatch; Creative; West One; City Sprint; Cyclone; Premier, all in London. Currently, Mail Call in Melbourne.

What was your first bike? My dad used to push me round on a BSA (Birmingham Small Arms), but the first bike I could reach the pedals of was a Raleigh Road Runner with cow horns. I was definitely a kid of the Seventies. My flares often used to get caught in the chain.