Mess Media

monitors, analyzes and corrects media reporting errors and bias concerning messengers and couriers.

 

Mess Media
 

 

 


NEWS



As courts turn to e-filing, couriers get less work - The Providence Journal, May 11, 2008

Bike polo is gaining converts - Lexington Herald-Leader , May 7, 2008


Global Gutz Toronto

Video from the 2008 Global Gutz race in Toronto, April 20.









4th Biannual Midwest Bike Polo Champeenships in Madison - Isthmus Daily Page, May 2, 2008



Global Gutz Santiago, Chile

Here is video from the Global Gutz race in Santiago Chile, April 20.






 Rapha Roller Race Sells Out - Cycling Weekly, April 25, 2008




Global Gutz

Congratulations to the 2008 Global Gutz Champions:

Men: Jens Reinert (Hamburg)
Women: Ania (Warsaw)

They win free return airline tickets to CMWC 2008 in Toronto, June 13-16, 2008.



The Bike Guide, Leah Hollinsworth - Now Magazine, April 10, 2008

Pedal power - Globe and Mail, April 8, 2008

News to Me: Extreme Urban Biking - CNN, February 18, 2008




Veteran bike messenger has ring side seat for city circus

Kevin Bolger

Kevin Bolger refers to the 16 years he's spent as a bicycle messenger in Manhattan as "16 winters," because the cold months are when work is abundant and the weather takes its toll.

More...He's on a roll - New York Post, March 31, 2008

Link  - CycleHawk Messengers New York City






Short Films about the Bike
March 30th at Galapagos, New York City
$100 Cash Prize

Bike Shorts 5





Come celebrate Navid's Bicycle Birthday Bash!

FRIDAY MARCH 28th!
Center of Gravity 1300 Gerrard Street East, Toronto

Featuring: Goldsprint races!!!

DJs - Rollin Cash - Dope breaks, Jazz, funk, dub...(http://www.djrollincash.com)
DJ Anatone aka Mr. Jesse Morrison - Deep, dark, funky! (http://www.myspace.com/anatonemusic )

Bike Bondage! Check out our installation of art bikes beautifully bound in rope in the shibari tradition. Artfully done by Lord Morpheous. (http://www.lordmorpheous.com/)

Bike films, visuals and sexy surprises to come!

Celebrate Navid's birthday with a race and a drink! See how fast you can race! Dance your ass off! Do it at the same time!!!!

5$ at door
Free admission if you are dressed like a bicycle! :)
see you there!




 

Radio Interview with Kurt Boone - March 24, 2008

Veteran New York messenger, author, poet,  Kurt Boone will be interviwed today (March 24, 2008) at 8:30pm (EDT) with ScreamingWoman.com.

Tune in to
Internet Voices Radio to listen live.



Manifest destiny - Columbus Alive, March 20, 2008




The 2008 NACCC are taking place Labor Day weekend in Chicago. Registration is only $30!

NACCC 2008 Chicago






To those concerned,
 
This may come as old news to some, but H&C received phoned confirmation today from Canada Revenue Agency superviser Rick Wilson, that the daily rate for active transport (foot, bike, transit) messengers has been raised from $15 to $17 /day worked.
 
Again, the information is slow in reaching us as this change took effect at the beginning of 2006 !!!
 
We've been advised that those who have already filed will have to refile to see any rebate.
 
As the CRA readily admitted to me, they have had a tough time finding this information in their system. I've been talking with them for the better part of a week. They now will try to make this sort of info more accessable, in the future.
 
When written confirmation arrives, we will forward it.
 
 -Wayne Scott
 
PS - And a round of thanks to Steve Beiko for the tip, eh?    


Food as Fuel


Get Out: Risk jockeys - Staten Island Live(silive.com), March 13, 2008

Add Alleycat Races to List of Bike Messengers’ Risks - New York Times, March 9, 2008

No brakes, no gears: the latest bike craze - The Observer, March 9, 2008



Chrome Aces - Bike Messenger Deck of Cards

Chrome Messenger Bags has partnered with the New York Bike Messenger Foundation (NYBMF) and the Bicycle Messenger Emergency Fund (BMEF) to produce a deck of bike messenger cards featuring messengers from four American cities - New York City, San Francisco, Chicago and Portland.

100% of the proceeds from the sales of these cards will go to the messenger communities in each of the four cities including the BMEF and NYBMF.

The Chrome Aces can be purcahsed online from the NYBMF store.


Chrome Aces







Velo City Tour 2008 -Starts This Weekend March 9 in New York

New York City's best messenger service Cycle Hawk Messengers is presenting its third annual Velo City Tour where the fastest track racing messengers and city bikers compete for prizes including RETURN AIRFARE TO TORONTO for the 16th annual  Cycle Messenger World Championships.

Last year's winner Peter Bradshaw of Boston went on to win the 2007 Cycle Messenger World Championships in Dublin, Ireland.

More information at the Velo City page on CycleHawk.com


Velo City 2008




Hard line needed on these bikers - Chicago Tribune, March 2, 2008

Blood on the tracks - New York Times, March 2, 2008

The Alleycats - ABC Channel 7 Chicago, February 29, 2008

Reporters tap into social networks and find gold - Chicago Tribune, February 29, 2008

Tragedy on 2 wheels - Chicago Tribune, February 27, 2008

Bicyclist killed by SUV was participant in 'Tour Da Chicago' - Chicago Tribune, February 26, 2008





The plea of a dying breed: Don't kill the bike messengers - Seattle Post –Intelligencer, February 26, 2008


It's a new year and that means it's time for the annual end of bike messengers article.


The media is obsessed with promoting the myth that bike messengers are disappearing. They have been  predicting the demise since at least 1991.  Messenger numbers go up and down with the economy. The effect of the internet on the messenger industry was felt almost 10 years ago yet journalists make it sound like it just happened.  In 1999 we had the dot.com bump which temporarily increased the number of messengers. It's not just messengers everything in America was healthier before the selection of George W. Bush in 2000.


There was an AP story about the Internet ruining the messenger industry  in at least 75 publications in May 2005. It was also on the front page of Yahoo as one of the top stories. The article is basically the same with different headlines like "Bike messengers fading fast", "Bike messengers ride into sunset", "Message is bad for bike couriers", and "Bye-bye to bicycles"


The USA is about to go into a recession so expect more artilces like this when it does. Fortunately for messengers it's print journalism that's likely to disappear long before bike messengers do.


Number of messengers in the US: according to the US department of Labour
1996 – 138,000 2002 - 132,000
1998 – 120,000 2004 – 147,000
2000 - 141,000


The End of Bike Messengers

The Decline of the Messenger Industry


History of the Messenger Industry - Transportation Alternatives' "Bicycle Blueprint"

Bike Messengers: A Vanishing Breed – MCW, Winter 2007

Bike messengers lose business, not hope - Colombia Chronicle, May 31, 2005

Messenger Troubles Afoot - Chicago Tribune, October 13, 2003

Lean Pickings - Bicycle Trader, September 1996


Economic cycle flattens life for NYC bicycle messengers" - Boston Globe, May 6 1992

Fax Displacing Manhattan Bike Couriers - New York Times, March 19, 1991

Messenger Boys Fading Away - New York Times, December 2, 1959


Bicycle messengers are pedaling uphill against the Internet - San Francisco Chronicle, July 17, 2007






Toronto Ice Race 2008

Slide show and sound interview with Toronto Ice Race 2008 Winner Jim "Ice Bear" Kuz





 


The bike messengers of Montreal would like to invite you to their city for three days and nights of bike rides and parties on the weekend before the 16th Annual Cycle Messenger World Championships, held in Toronto, Canada, June 13 to 16, 2008.

Pre-event to CMWC XVI - Montreal - June 6-8, 2008





Seattle street racers: Ride along with Seattle bike couriers - Daily - University of Washington , February 12, 2008



Toronto Ice Race 2008!

 

 

The 2008 version of  Toronto’s annual Ice Race will take place at 6:00 pm on February 16 in Dufferin Grove Park.

Toronto’s Ice Race has been a yearly tradition since 1996 when the annual St. Valentine’s Day Massacre alleycat moved to the Toronto Islands for a figure-eight ice race on Lake Ontario.

Toronto Ice Race

 

Bikes on Ice – You Tube Video of the 2005-2006 races

Couriers race bikes on ice - Toronto Star, February 17, 2006

Toronto Courier’s Ice Bike Race 2006 – Georgian Bents

Martino’s Photos of the 2006 Race and Video

Toronto Cranks’ Photos of 2006 Race

and Steeker’s 2006 race pics

Valentine’s Day Massacre 1997 – Hideousewhitenoise, Spring 1997

St. Valentines Day Massacre (1997) - Voice of Da #4, Spring 1997

St. Valentine's Day Massacre 1996 – Hideousewhitenoise, Spring, 1996



On steely steeds, whacking Lower East Side style - The Villager, January 23, 2008


Sunday School - New York Bike Polo

This is an excellent video about New York City Bike Polo. It's one of the fastest growing urban sports in the world with more tournaments in 2008 than any year before.Catch the world's best harcourt bike polo players at the 2008 Cycle Messenger World Championship Bike Polo Tournament in Toronto, June 13-16.








MCAA

The Messenger Courier Association of the Americas (MCAA) is doing "whatever we can" to preserve courier companies' ability to misclassify employees as independent contractors without consequences.

"Whatever we can" may include bribing members of congress to support its pet cause.The MCAA is searching for a "champion" to support their misclassification of employees and the courier company owners have pre-determined that they will have to pay their "champion" a fee of about $10,000 to support them. They can't move forward unless they have pledges for this persuasive fee in advance.
 
The MCAA is asking for donations not for the event, but to the campaign of whatever member of congress can be bought for $10K. Later it will tell those who pledged whose campaign they must donate to.


We will be asking that attendees to the congressional reception consider making a campaign donation and we have a goal of raising $10,000 for the event. For us to move forward with this we need to know if we stand a reasonably good chance to obtaining our financial goal. Any donations to a congressional campaign must be done by individuals not companies and the limit is $2,300 per individual.
 
Please email MCAA Executive Director, Bob DeCaprio, at bdecaprio@kellencompany.com if you can contribute directly to the congressional campaign of our identified champion.

More...


Bike messenger wannabes don't get the message - Temple News, January 22, 2008

Brazil bike messengers want respect, threaten chaos - Reuters, January 21, 2008

Man runs business with bike - Coloradoan, January 19, 2008




Stabroeknews, January 18th 2008

Guyana bike messenger

Daune Fraser's story is as fine an example of ambition and enterprise as any that you are likely to find among young women anywhere in Guyana. Each week, from Monday to Friday, the lithe, engaging 26 year-old pedals her bicycle through the streets of Georgetown and its environs for as many as 8 hours a day, delivering mail and packages for the bicycle courier service which she has owned and operated since April last year.



From Mad Messenger to More Peaceful Cyclist - Streetsblog, January 14, 2008





From Fedex's Quarterly Report:
"On December 20, 2007, the Internal Revenue Service informed us that its audit team had concluded an audit for the 2002 calendar year regarding the classification of owner-operators at FedEx Ground. The IRS has tentatively concluded, subject to further discussion with us, that FedEx Ground's pick-up-and-delivery owner-operators should be reclassified as employees for federal employment tax purposes. The IRS has indicated that it anticipates assessing tax and penalties of $319 million plus interest for 2002. Similar issues are under audit by the IRS for calendar years 2004 through 2006."

Over the last few years FedEx has lost many court decisions, labor board determinations and state agency rulings which have repeatedly found it to be misclassifying its drivers as independent contractors.  Recently, the California Supreme Court refused to review a California Court of Appeal ruling that found employee drivers to be misclassified as independent contractors.

In December, Massachusetts attorney general fined FedEx Corp.'s ground delivery unit more than $190,000 Wednesday, alleging the company illegally classified 13 drivers as independent contractors rather than employees.



IRS Says FedEx May Owe $319M - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - December. 27, 2007

FedEx Ground: Bah humbug to workers - Daily News Tribune - December 21, 2007

Coakley fines FedEx Ground for saying drivers were contractors - Boston Herald, December 20, 2008

Massachusetts Attorney General Cites FedEx Ground - Fedex Watch, December 19, 2007

FedEx Ground Gives Up Contractor Model in California - Fedex Watch, September 21, 2007

Delivery Companies Pressured - Los Angeles Times, December 5, 2005

Drivers Deliver Trouble to FedEx By Seeking Employee Benefits - Wall Street Journal, January 7, 2005

Independent Contractors - Disguised Employees

8 Arrested in Alleged Insurance Fraud - Los Angeles Times, May 5, 2006

FedEx Watch


Bicycle messengers: The ‘capillaries’ of logistics - Czech Business Weekly, December 31, 2007

Bike service ends unique cycle - Buffalo News, December 31, 2007

Fury at Courier Sacking - IC Coventry, December 19, 2007

Are Brakeless Bikes Safe? - KATU-TV Portland - December 18, 2007

Alley cat bike racers ride to live and live to ride - The Villager, December 12, 2007

Is Brisbane's CBD cycle-safe? -  Brisbane Times. December 10, 2007


Strong, brave, fast and free. No wonder we admire messengers and their style

For years civilians have watched and immitated the functional fashion of bike messengers. From bags to clothing to accessories the bike messenger's influence on urban lifestyle continues to grow. Why?

Jeffrey Kidder's paper in the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, "Style and Action: A Decoding of Bike Messenger Symbols" concludes that "messenger style is intertwined with messenger practice." The marriage of style of and function lends an authenticity to messenger style. And it's a piece of this authenticity that civilians seek in their immitation of messengers.

In the introduction to the photography book, "Messengers Style", Valerie Steele, Chief Curator of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, notes that "when high fashion draws on street style, it’s not only because there is something special about the clothes. It is the lifestyle and attitude associated with subcultural clothing styles which attracts attention. Sometimes straight people want to live the life."

Introduction  to Messengers Style  - Assouline Books, 2000
Style and Action: A Decoding of Bike Messenger Symbols -  Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, June 2005
Media Stalking the Messengers? - Messmedia, October 9, 2007




  Media Stalking the Messengers?

Mess Media, October 9, 2007

What’s going on with messengers and the media?

Everywhere you look the media is hyping some new aspect of messenger culture as the next big thing. And they may be right. Messenger culture and its youth oriented styles, street edge and outlaw image has been making inroads into the mainstream since the first Cycle Messenger World Championships (CMWC) in 1993 in Berlin Germany. Since then messenger bags have become the accessory of choice for office workers and students.

And now recently many urban cyclists have started trading in their city mountain bikes for the fixed gear bikes associated with bike messengers. They even refer to messenger events as part of their “fixed gear culture.”



Stylist John Steinberg describes messengers as being “ahead of their time.” He says “They’ve got that edge. You see something on a courier. Maybe in a year later it will hit the mainstream. They’re slick. They’re cool. For want of a better word, they’re cool. The real world for them is cool.”


More....



Driver jailed for road rage

Driver jailed for road rage -  Scotsman, November 14, 2007

A driver has been jailed for nine months after deliberately knocking a cyclist from his bike in a road rage attack. Tahir Chaudhry, 34, swerved his van at the bike after clashing with the cycle courier at traffic lights. The father-of-two then drove off after the collision leaving the concussed victim behind.

Chaudhry, the manager of a family-run store business, was originally charged with attempting to murder Mr Walker.  But the Crown accepted his guilty plea to an alternative charge of driving dangerously and causing a collision which left the victim unconscious and severely injured.

More...


The original - ALLEYCAT SCRAMBLE

The original Alleycats now have a site up with information and flyers from the historic first Alleycat Scrambles in Toronto.

Original alleycats




Breaking the Poverty Cycle... with a bicycle

A skilled and speedy cyclist rounds the corner of Enterprise Road and Funzi Road in Nairobi's industrial area.



His style, his speed and his pride on the bike show that he is a professional cyclist. He enters the gate to the Jamii Bora headquarters and parks his bike. With ease he detaches his crutches from the bike. It is only then you will realize that Dedan Ireri only has one leg as his right leg was amputated at the hip.

"How can you bike with only one leg and with such elegance and speed?" you ask him. His story is like a fairy tale.
     
Dedan was a street beggar as a child and teenager. But a car ran over him when he was still a young child begging in the streets and his right leg had to be amputated. Dedan then had to learn to survive in the streets with only one leg.

Dedan became what is likely the only one-legged bicycle messenger in Nairobi and possibly worldwide. Dedan is now a skilled, reliable and fast messenger as well as a proud and charming member of the Jamii Bora staff.





Look  Ma No Brakes!


From Nadir:  La Carrera Cycles  is throwing down, a cycling event on November 17 called Look Ma no Brakes!

Look Ma No Brakes

This has been a year long project with his family La Carrera , Stash, Futura 2000 and Ernesto Colnago. There will be an exhibit of Stash and Futura's works of art at the event, as well as  the Track frames that they all have worked so hard  for the last year.

And now the best part: Red Bull is sponsoring the races on November 17 to to give the biggest race purse ever $3,000 for the messenger race (The Bull Run) and $500 for sprints -WINNER TAKES ALL!!! CASH MONEY.

Rgistration is $20.  Look Ma party begins at La Carrera cycles 106 Harbord st, Toronto, Ont., Canada. The race is open to everyone on all types of bikes.

Sprints start at 9:00 am on Unwin St.  The Bull Run Alleycat (3 hour and 90 km) starts at 5:00pm at 106 Harbord St.



Sydney's Bike Riders - CMWC 2006

Nice video from the 2006 Cycle Messenger World Championships in Sydney, Australia


 


Bike rides that pay - Baltimore Sun, November 7, 2007

 Chicago's bike messengers slow down and catch up - Medill Reports Chicago, November 06, 2007

 New Age Mounts - Boise Weekly, November 7, 2007


Blame it on the bike messenger

Update - Police make an arrest - not a courier

On Friday, November 2, a cyclist was involved in a road rage altercation with a motorist in downtown Toronto. After exchanging words it is alleged that the cyclist stabbed the motorist in the neck and face two or three times with some kind of tool. The cyclist then fled the scene on foot, leaving his bike behind.



The media ignored the police investigation and declared the alleged assailant a bike courier because the police happened to  mention that  the cyclist wore a "satchel."  Even some local cycling advocacy blogs jumped on the courier bashing bandwagon by repeating the unfounded accusations, giving credence to the irresponsible media reports




Insure this! 

Why some twentysomethings won’t buy health insurance — even though it means they’ll be breaking the law

And this much is also true: being a bike messenger is an insanely dangerous job. According to a 2002 Harvard School of Public Health study titled “Occupational Injuries Among Boston Bicycle Messengers,” a sample of 113 couriers found that 70 percent had suffered at least one injury leading to lost work days, and 55 percent had accidents that landed them in a doctor’s office or hospital. Car doors swing open unexpectedly. Pedestrians stand stodgily on the sidewalk. Cars swerve around corners. Fractures, dislocations, and sprains! “Twenty-four percent of messengers reported wearing a helmet on a regular basis,” the study noted, “and 32 percent have health insurance.”

Insure this! - Boston Phoenix, October 31, 2007



Bad weather sets the stage for the heroic aspects of messengering

In Natural History magazine in the 1970's anthropologist, Jack Kugelmass wrote "bad weather sets the stage for the heroic aspects of messengering,"

pussy-cat race

The first ever hardcore-track bike-only Halloween alleycat race in Toronto was postponed due to a weather forecast of "overcast with light rain showers."  Apparently it has been moved to a retirement community in Florida, as long as the weather cooperates.  Normally, out-of-towners would be out of luck but it was assumed that no one from out of town would be "crazy" enough to venture out in the light rain and drive to Toronto. Organizers were also concerned that some of the prizes, such as the Chinese-made Crumpler messenger-style bags , would disintegrate in the rain.

Information is sketchy right now but we're hearing that a few racers weren't informed of the emergency cancellation in time. Word is they're suffering from a little dampness, with rumours of at least one case of full-blown soaking wetness . We presume these unlucky souls are now recovering in hospital.  Our thoughts are with them.

Organizers have been informed that under UCI rules any alleycat race that is cancelled due to weather must now be referred to as a "pussy-cat race."

However here at messmedia, we do recognize and respect anyone in the community  who makes the effort to organize any race.