Detroit Free Press, May 14, 1997

Caption: Eddie Ryce adjusts his helmet and prepares for the day's deliveries in downtown Detroit. Below, Ryce rides in the early morning down Larned.

Just a few weeks ago, Eddie Ryce was toiling in an Inkster machine shop. He had no idea that the job of his dreams was just around the corner.

Today, as Detroit's first bicycle messenger, Ryce rides his 24-speed mountain bike 70 to 80 miles a day in central Detroit, from the river north to Canfield, east to the Belle Isle Bridge and west to 14th Street.

"I feel so much serenity," he says.

Ryce, 31, is the first bike courier hired by ASAP Delivery, a 2-year-old Romulus-based company. ASAP has walking couriers in the Renaissance Center and the First National Building and van and car drivers making deliveries all over the city.

But as owner Jim LaLonde says, the bicycle is the most efficient method of getting around a growing downtown. Growing with General Motors moving its world headquarters and 9,000 employees to the RenCen; growing as casinos and stadiums get built and more people live downtown.

"Once the traffic gets worse, it's going to be even more important to have more bike messengers and walkers downtown," says LaLonde, 25. "Our commitment is to the downtown."

On one recent day, there were 50 jobs that could have been done most efficiently on bike. With just one bike messenger, about 30 of those jobs had to be done by car messengers.

Denein Jones, support services supervisor for the law firm of Lewis, Clay & Mundy, says the bike service can cut delivery time by as much as 10 minutes.

"Everything's that delivered from our firm is hot," she says. "We don't have a lot of leeway. Time is always a factor."

Jones says downtown parking is at a premium near large office buildings such as the First National Building, where her office is.

"There's not parking on Woodward, and on the side, there may be about eight spots for metered parking and it's always taken up. With a bike, you can bring into the building, so it's very convenient and efficient."

Ryce started March 28; a second bike messenger came on Monday. Within a few weeks, LaLonde hopes to have hired two more. Finding people like Ryce hasn't been easy.

"They're unique," says LaLonde. "They're addicted to biking. They just enjoy riding their bike and this is a good opportunity to do what they like to do."

Messengers work on 50-percent commission. Bike jobs cost between $5 and $15. So if you did 10 deliveries at $5, you'd make $25.

Prospective couriers must have their own wheels, helmet and tire patches. And they must be able to act professionally, including while wearing Lycra shorts when delivering documents to the courthouse on behalf of law firms.

Ryce -- who lives in Warrendale in Detroit with his wife, Rebecca, and children Demitrius, 8, and Meagan, 7 -- has been riding his bike every day for the last eight years. Rain, snow or shine, he has always ridden to work.

The longest bike commute he's had in his working career was 14 miles one way. It took him 45 minutes.

He ran track at Detroit's Mackenzie High School and says biking is not only good exercise, but a way to stay calm in a hectic world.

"It was a way that didn't have to worry about traffic tickets, gas and insurance," he says, adding that he's found Detroit drivers to be pretty respectful of his bicycle.

Most of the challenges of riding for a living have to do with making deadlines. ASAP offers a 15-minute guaranteed service in the downtown area, but Ryce tries to do it in 10. He tries to stay away from traffic and beat people to elevators and doors.

Sometimes, a run will have him going to an office building, locking the bike up outside and walking in to pick up a package. Other times, packages from various offices are brought to a central drop-off point in the lobby.

Since he started at ASAP, he has had one accident. He was turning a corner and his chain snapped. An ASAP van driver picked him and took him to the bike shop for repairs. Later that afternoon, he did three or four more runs.

With his portable stereo attached to the back of his $1,200 Cannondale aluminum mountain bike, Ryce listens to smooth jazz most of the time.

He's a bit of an oddity in a city unused to such sights.

"I get that all the time," he says of people's surprise. " 'I've been to Washington and New York and I didn't know Detroit had messengers.' They'll tell me to be careful of traffic."

Ryce chooses to work a long day -- 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. -- so that he can hit the busiest delivery times, first thing in the morning and end of the day.

A few weeks ago, Ryce made more money in one week than he had as a computerized machine operator at the machine shop. He made almost $300 in commissions. He also makes a small salary because he will be supervising new bike messengers. "And I enjoy what I'm doing."

If anything that frustrates him in the job, it's that he doesn't get longer rides.

"Sometimes I try to push it," he says. "There was a Grosse Pointe Park run that I really wanted to do."