Peter Bradshaw, VeloCity Winner, is now your world Champion
Kym P. takes 2nd (plus other prizes); Austin disqualified!
The americans took home their first World Championship at this year's Cycle Messenger World Championships in Dublin, Ireland.
It was controversial though. The top three finishers were disqualified for various reasons. Had those DQ's not happened, America STILL would've
taken home the championship, and it would've gone to New York's Austin Horse. As it was, the rules were the rules, and Dublin's organizers
stuck to their decision. It's not NYBMA.com's place to speculate, challenge, or editorialize. Our intrepid reporter didn't even qualify for the
rain-soaked, off-road, finals, and spent the day in museums instead. All of the conversation around the results is second-hand hearsay,
and none of the sources have the same story anyway. The top prize couldn't have gone to a better person, and he GOT there
by winning the New York leg of Squid's VeloCity tour!
Speaking of VeloCity Tour winners winning big in Europe, Kym Perfetto also raked it in, pulling down 2nd overall in Dublin, winning the sprints,
and winning the skids & track events in London.
Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to the London & Dublin crews for putting on fantastic events.
Staten Islanders win Staten Island race
The hometown kids brought the home turf advantage to 3 of the top 10 in the Staten Island Invasion. Pete Long (1st place),
Dan Beyer (3rd place), and Kate Freitag (7th place), are all native Staten Islanders, and proved their command of the 5th borough.
In other news, it looks like Jersey Dan has pulled ahead of Austin Horse in the standings. Only two more races remain to decide who's the
best overall.
More details on 5borogenerals.com.
Top 10:
1. Staten Island Pete Lang
2. Jersey Dan
2. Dan Beyer (S.I.N.Y. ... SUUUUU represent!)
4. Crihs Shirc
5. Shisaku
6. Josh Wright (Boston)
7. Kate Freitag (S.I.N.Y.)
8. Niki Yoshi
9. Ari Kramer
10. Michael Shick
Caribbean Alleycat results
The times after the racer's names are the time that they finished the race, not how long it took. We don't have the starting time or the race,
so it's hard to say howlong it took everybody. Photos here.
1. Cali 4:22
2. Fernando morales 4:23
3. Nick Berry 4:27
4. Rafael 4:30
5. Saldo Ballo
6. Nick Willaims 4:51
7. Gustavo 5:06
8. Paul McMc Alpine 5:08
9. Emily Zuckerman 5:12
10. Otto Lopez 5:13
11. Andy Fabian Card # 19 No Manifest
12. Graham Coreil-Allen #29 No Manifest
Global Gutz results
For two days notice, Global Gutz had a remarkable 20-person turnout. A few beers from Mike Dee & Chris Kim & Crumpler on the way
over the Williamsburg Bridge probably helped make a few last minute decisions, no doubt. Somewhat predictably, Austin blew away
the pack, but he wasn't fast enough to be the fastest in the world. Pretty close though. He came in 16th out of nearly 200. Those other cities
though...they don't have the traffic like New York. See the worldwide results on messmedia.
Extra props go to Frankie from Chile & Kai from Germany (still here from last weekend's ECMC) who came in 3rd & 4th, a minute & a half behind Austin.
1. Austin: 36'25" 2. Raph: + 1'30" 3. Frankie (from Chile): + 1'32" 4. Kai (from Germany): + 1'32" 5. Justin: + 1'32" 6. Crihs: + 2'34" 7. Victor: + 3'17" 8. Pedric: + 3'17" 9. Fernando + 4'51" 10. Macca (Australia, drunk): + 6'09" 11. Rodrigo: + 6'09" 12. Annie (first & only girl!): + 7'35" 13. Corey the Courier: + 7'54" 14. Charles: + 11'03" 15. Brian: + 11'05" 16. Craig: + 11'51" 17. Steve: + 14'03" 18. Jack (started 5 minutes late): + 17'25" 19. Risi: +17'59" 20. Mel (DFL): + 20'30"
GLOBAL GUTZ!
Friday, July 13 - 10pm - Williamsburg Bridge - Brooklyn side
The world's one & only worldwide, synchronized race returns to NYC after a two-year hiatus. Read the rules on
messmedia.org. New York starts at 10pm to sync up with the
West Coast, which starts at 7. Register at 9pm. (The race will begin at 10pm SHARP). $10 admission. The winner's gonna take most of that cash back home. The worldwide fastest winner
will get tickets to CMWC in Dublin from August 3-8.
One Hundred Miles of Alleycat Racing
July 4th, 2007
Possibly more. Most likely more. Someone please strap on an odometer, do all the races this week, and see if we set some
kind of record. There seems to be a messenger race going on every day. Sometimes maybe two. First, there's the ECMC.
It's somewhere
between 2 and 6 days of mayhem, but let's face it - it's all going to blend into one and you're not going to remember anything.
If that isn't enough for you, hit up Broadway Bombing
on the 4th and the 7.7.7. race on the 7th (start location to come). If that isn't enough to appease your fix, we
can't help you.
Williamsburg Bridge, Friday June 22nd
Ed Glazar (www.flickr.com/photos/edglazar) is documenting bike culture in New York City. From 6pm until late Friday evening June 22nd, he's taking portraits on the Williamsburg Bridge.
Even if you don't need to head to Brooklyn, swing by to see your friends, show your face, and have a beer.
Bike Shorts - Sunday June 24th
What are you doing Sunday evening? We'll tell you what you're doing. You're going to watch short films about bikes at the first
Bike Shorts screening. It's at 8pm at Monkeytown - 58 N. 3rd St. in Williamsburg. There's going to be the world premier & one-time only,
site-specific viewing of "Four Horsemen" - four synchronized helmetcams surrounding you in breathtaking alleycat action. You won't want
to miss it, because you won't exactly be able to see it again.
Austin Wins Rumble IV. Heidi breaks top 10 as first girl in 9th place overall! Boston's Jacobs wins his own prize for first Out Of Towner
Austin, Heidi, and Jacobs are the Yellow Jersey wearers at the start of the 5 boro Generals series.
Next up is Broadway Bombin' on July 4th. Full results will be posted on
5borogenerals.com shortly.
Just so you don't think no one from our community stood up to voice their protest of this bill, this is what Chris Kim from the NYBMF has to say: "This bill started to circulate at the end of last year. We (the NYBMF board) first heard about it from Transportation Alternatives shortly after they got wind of it. It came from a DoT study of crashes involving cyclist. Initially, the study was aimed at creating a law that would require ALL cyclists to wear helmets. The bike coalition defeated this bill, but the commercial cyclist bill was harder to rally people behind. We went to the public hearing in Feb or March (Sarinya spoke on behalf of the messenger community) to express our concerns that this would be yet another selectively enforced measure to deter and inhibit messengers, among the poorest laborers in the city, while doing nothing to affect the behaviour of their employers. After hearing these concerns the Mayor did not sign the bill the first time. This is a very rare occurence in NY city government, and as is typical here, the second time around they expedited the process so that there would be less opportunity for dissent/discussion.
Bronx Jon's Ghost Bike is gone
June 18, 2007
The NYPD has removed the ghost bike commemorating the life of "Bronx" Jon Neese from the foot of the Williamsburg bridge.
There is no word on exactly why this action was taken, but we are in the process of working with Visual Resistance to re-dedicate
this memorial. If you have an old road frame you can donate, contact Visual Resistance
Got Beer? Get bags
The cleverest bag promotion ever returns again. Crumpler is holding a Beer For Bags sale the week of June 9th Ð 17th at their
two stores, 45 Spring Street and 49 8th Avenue.www.crumplerbags.com/b4b .
Not only do you get to own a bag just by buying them some beer, you then get re-united with your beer at the
party on Sunday the 17th of June at 8 pm at the Highline Ballroom on west 16th b/w 8th and 9th avenues.
Rumble Through the Bronx
Online registration for Rumble thru the Bronx4 is LIVE.
Go to 5borogenerals.com to ENLIST. Race day registration is at 155 St. Nicholas at 12 noon. The list of checkpoints is available on the website.
FYI: Rumble kicks of an all-city SERIES. Top 20 finishers will get points toward the Generals classification. Next race is Broadway Bombin' on July 4th. While you are at the site, check out the STANDINGS page.
Also, we will be holding a raffle at the messenger beach party to benefit Ninja. Featured raffle item is a Scott Cyclocross bike courtesy of Checker Courier and NYC Velo.
Trixie 2
June 15, 7pm - Henry & Grand Sts, Manhattan
More Friday night fixie skill sharing & grilling just for the ladies. Again, the dudes are welcome to come and compete, but the accolades & appreciation is women-only. Bbq, Bikes and Beats. Practice, skillz show and prizes. Skids, sprints, stand, etc... Brought to you by six racing
Cycle Messenger World Championships 15
The Dublin worlds is rapidly approaching. If you're looking to spend a long time abroad, check out what's going on at London's Calling beforehand.
Bored cops steal bikes, arrest bystanders, declare war on bicycles, and revoke Rhode Island's statehood
The NYPD stole over a dozen bikes locked up on 6th Street between 1st & 2nd Avenue on Wednesday, May 30th. Some bystanders walked away with free bikes
removed by the NYPD, given away without any proof of ownership. Other bystanders didn't end up with a free bike. They ended up in jail.
Time's Up! is interested in hearing from other witnesses or anyone who had their lock clipped or their bike confiscated. You can email them at timesup@panix.com. Were these messenger bikes?
There's no way to tell. But the NYPD was showing no discrimination in their unnanounced, unlawful raid.
Felipe won the short alleycat on Saturday, June 2nd, and if anyone's counting, that's three in a row -
The Global Warming Race, The Bike Fetish Day Race, and the pretty much unnamed "Alleycat". Four helmetcams on the heads
of Cali, Yatika, Pablo, and Crihs took footage of this short race from Columbus Circle to Thompkins Square park, and will be sychronized
and projected on four walls simultaneously at the first Bike Shorts screening on June 24th.
Click here for the rest of the results.
Ninja Hospitalized
After a hit & run which left Ninja unconscious late last week, he was brought to Harlem Hospital, where he is now recovering
from a broken leg. Except for his leg and the rear wheel of his bike, he is in good condition, but will be out of work for some time.
The NYBMF will be assisting him, and once he is able to leave the hospital, we will be having a party for him.
If you'd like to visit him, his name is Anthony Rice, and he is at Harlem Hospital on 135th & Lenox.
Alleycat
Saturday, June 2. 3pm
It looks like there is no race on Saturday, so Ken's going to throw one for you. It's going to be real short, and all in Manhattan. The
length will let you go all out, all the time. $5....winner take all. Meet at Columbus Circle at 3pm.
Kevin, Amy, and baby Keiran Bolger
Congratulations to the Bolgers, who's family got a tiny bit larger on May 25. Welcome to the world, Keiran. You've got amazing parents.
cyclehawk.com
HODARI'S BIKE STOLEN
terraferma frame w/disk brakes
carbon fork
blue raceface mountain cranks
salsa delgado rims w/xt hubs
$100 reward no questions asked if you see it call ho
phone 646-246-2821
nextell 173*274488
If there's a movie you've always wanted to do,
do it now! If there's something you didn't finish in time for the Bike Film Fest deadline, finish it, and you'll have a place to screen it.
There are cameras shooting left & right these days, and we only get to see a few finished pieces. There are a lot of
people out there creating stuff right now, and Bike Shorts is providing an outlet for
all that creativity. It's an opportunity for everyone to collaborate, produce more stuff, and hopefully get your piece in the
BFF for 2008.
The first screening is Sunday, June 24th at monkeytown, and
submissions are due by June 18th.
There's a mailing list, too. Sign up on the website, bikeshortfilms.com.
Bike Fetish Day
Angel 3 Results
Results for Felipe's 3rd Angel Alleycat are in. Here are your top ten. Click here for the rest, plus Felipe's thank you note.
The complete schedule is up on the website, www.bicyclefilmfestival.com. Go and buy your tickets before they sell out. Please see below for some schedule highlights, go to the site for the film line-up.
More of the weekend's festivities here.
NYBMF Jumpoff Party!
Movie Night
Goldsprints
Velo City Tour
CMWC 15
A fancy, flashy www.cmwcxv.org is now up and running for this August's
championship in Dublin, Ireland.
You might want to know that there won't be any race-day registration this year. The parks department is enforcing their policy
that "no money may be collected at a park venue unless a special Temporary Use permit is obtained". Instead, you can pre-register
online. Opening Weekend - April 27/28 Twilight Series - Wednesdays, May 2 - Aug 29
"Businesses that use bicycle delivery workers will have to give them helmets, require that they wear them and ensure that the bikes are safe, under legislation signed into law yesterday by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
The new laws, which will affect thousands of businesses in the city's thriving bicycle-messenger and food-delivery industries, were passed by the City Council earlier this month with overwhelming support. They are set to take effect on July 26."
While it seems that the primary "benefit" of these laws is towards food delivery riders, messengers & their companies could feel
quite a sting. This could encourage companies to hire on an independent contractor status, saving them the cost of providing safety
equipment. If you're an employee though, it might mean that you're going to HAVE to wear a helmet, have brakes, and put reflectors
on your bike. Read our Know Your Rights Manual to find out more about the city & state's laws
regarding bikes.
Global Warming Results & Video
Felipe, Felipe, Felipe. He won this race. It might've been a small one (20 or so people), but "I wanted to win my last race" he said.
What?!
Yes, it seems to be true. Felipe "The King" Robayo has claimed he is retiring. Or, more accurately, he says he's at least taking a
break. Just watch his speech at the end of Carlos's video to see for yourself:
Here's the list of the top 10 finishers:
1 - Felipe "The King" - 54 minutes
2 - Dan Jersey - 57 minutes
3 - Yatika - 57 minutes
4 - & 1st Outta Town Craig 'The Stranger' Roth - 58 minutes
5 - Crihs - 59 minutes
6 - Austin - 60 minutes
7 - Ken Stanek - 61 minutes
8 - Overall & 1st Girl Kym P.
9 - Keenan Sterling
10 - Dirty Cookie
11 - Dagga
(entire list of placements to come...)
Monster Track Video
This is what 4th place looks like. Props to Crihs for the footage and Carlos for the editing
After the hullabaloo bringing last week's Goldsprints to an early conclusion, the organizers have
found it necessary to keep clear of Lost & Found bar for the time being, and have relocated their final
week of competition to East River bar (where Monster Track ended). East River Bar is at 97 S 6th St (Bedford/Berry).
Racing starts at 9pm.
Around 150 brakeless riders took to the slushy, wet, cold streets of New York City this weekend for the 8th Annual Monster Track. 23 miles, three manifests, and
one bridge later, Alfred proved his dominance over this race once again, with Felipe and Austin following close behind. Heidi kept just ahead
of Dagga to win, at 26th place overall. Full results are at nycmassive.com/mt8/mt8results.htm
Monster Track...are you ready? Messengeurilla doesn't think so.
Schedule of events:
Friday, February 16 6-9pm - New York Alleycats Book release party & Monster Track Preparty. See flyer. Grand Central
Bar - 659 Grand between Manhattan & Leonard in Williamsburg. Friday, February 16 9pm - Goldsprints. Lost & Found Bar (formerly Lulus). 113 Greenpoint Ave & Franklin, Greepoint. Saturday, February 17 2pm - Regsitration begins for Monster Track 8. Houston & Chrystie, Manhattan. More details at nycmassive.com Sunday, Febraury 18 Noon - Side events. Skids, Polo, Trackstands, Backwards Circles, Rampant Boasting, etc. Lost & Found Bar (formerly Lulus). 113 Greenpoint Ave & Franklin, Greepoint. Hosted by kingkog.
New York
Take a look at this CMWC XIII promo from '05 Squid just posted on Youtube. It just makes you love what you do.
NYBMF awards first $500 injury grant - to Egon Feldman from N.Y. Minute.
Egon was struck by a cab that went through a red light several
weeks ago. He got a police report, hospital report and filed for workers
compensation. Those are three main criteria for recieving an 'injured while
working' grant from the NYBMF. His was the first grant awarded from the newly established NYBMF grant program.
The New York Bicycle Messenger Foundation was established in 2003 as a federal and state not for
profit 501(c)(3) corporation. It is an all-volunteer organization, staffed soley by messengers and
ex-messengers. Our mission is simple, to support the New York City messenger community.
That assistance may be realized in many ways. From providing financial support to injured messengers,
to nurturing programs that assist in the research or advancement of the messenger work force. For more details, visit nybmf.org.
8 Years of Alleycats - Amy Bolger Photography Book Release
Friday, February 16 - at the Monster Track Preparty
Winter Goldsprints Series - Friday, February 9, 16, & 23
The successful Goldsprints series returns to the bar formerly known as Lulu's for three more weeks of
blisteringly fast competition. 5 bucks to race. The bar is at 113 Greenpoint Ave & The corner of Franklin. Google Map
Squid's bike Stolen! (Mon, Jan 22 2007)
Black Cannondale track
no brakes
pink rims
chrome nitto drops
covered in stickers
Squid's bike was stolen
outside of 1 Centre St. early this afternoon. If you see this around, make sure someone knows.
2006 CYCLIST MEMORIAL RIDE
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Last year hundreds of cyclists gathered as a group on the first Sunday of the year to mourn all those who perished while riding a bike on the streets of NYC in 2005. On this day, bikers rode in from the far reaches of every borough, stopping and paying respect at every crash site.
Join us this year as we ride in honor of all the cyclists who were killed on the streets of New York City in 2006. We ride together in love and respect for our friends and loved ones, our grandfathers, husbands, and brothers, our sons and daughters, our wives, sisters, cousins, neighbors, co-workers, teammates, and classmates who were all needlessly struck down. We ride together in outrage and anger, sharing their stories- those that made the papers and those that didn't- recognizing the fact that none of these deaths had to happen.
Ride with us. Please bring flowers, love, and rage.
Come to one memorial or ride with us all day.
Queens/Brooklyn/Manhattan Route:
9:45 - Meet at Jamaica Center stop on the E or J trains. Group will ride to Simpson Memorial together.
10:00 - Frank C. Simpson, 174th St. & Linden Blvd, Queens
11:30 - Jose Mora, North Conduit & McKinley, East New York
12:00 - Shamar Porter, Linden Blvd & Williams, Brownville
12:30 - Keith Powell, Ave L & 93rd, Canarsie
1:00 - Donna Goodson, Rockaway Pkway & Ave. D, New Lots
2:00 - Jonathan "Bronx Jon" Neese, South 4th St. & Roebling, Williamsburg
2:45 - Derek Lake, Houston Street & LaGuardia, West Village
Bronx/ Upper Manhattan Route:
9:00 - Meet at Pelham Bay Subway stop, Last stop on the 6. Group will ride to City Island Memorial Together.
10:00 - Ivan Morales, City Island, Bronx
12:30 - Uptown Meet-up: 145th & 8th Ave, Harlem
12:45 - Jamel Lewis, 145th St. & 8th Ave, Harlem
1:30 - Memorial for Pedestrians killed on the streets, East 96th and Park Ave.
2:00 - Memorial for anonymous woman, 66th Central Park Traverse
2:45 - Derek Lake, Houston Street & LaGuardia, West Village
The two groups rides will converge at the Derek Lake memorial.
2:45 - Derek Lake, Houston Street & LaGuardia, West Village
3:15 - Reginald Chan, 3rd Ave & 17th St.
3:45 - Darren Lewis, 29th & 9th Ave.
4:15 - Dr. Carl Henry Nacht, Greenway & 38th Street
4:45 - Eric Ng, Greenway at West & Clarkson
The 2nd Annual Alley"Kitten" introduced at least 28 new faces to the world of street racing on New Years Eve 2006. Of the 69 people who
came out, 28 indicated that it was there first race, while many more indicated it was their second or third. Alex "Quarters" took first
place for the guys, bursting his alleycat cherry at the same time. Nechama braved the FDR from 79th St. to 23rd St. to handily win
first girl (16th Overall). Along the 17 mile course, they had to do 20 pushups while getting wedgies by Kym, run after Prentiss, Austin, and Ken while dodging tourists in Central Park,
eat cat food, have eggs thrown at them while navigating a labrynth, have their bike stolen at Trackstar, find the new Trackstar (231B Eldridge),
shotgun a Sparks, get spun on the shoulders of a 6'4" dude,
write a New Year's Resolution, and bring a package to the Lakeside Lounge. A great time was had by all, and a whole new crop of people are ready to take
on the pros at Monster Track. See the full results here.
SF & NY Messenger (& bike people) art collaboration
Destroy Everything! - Friday December 29th, 7pm at Dam, Stuhltrager Gallery - 38 Marcy Ave., Brooklyn.
Presented by King Kog & Faster Louder! Check out the flyer for more info.
Bike Film Festival Call for Entries
The Bicycle Film Festival is now accepting film and video submissions.
Deadline for entries is February 17th 2007.
Go to the site for info and entry form:
bicyclefilmfestival.com
Come visit us for the NYC BFF. It should be a lot of fun.
The dates will be posted in early February.
St. Mary's says Thanks
Cranksgiving organizers received a card from St. Mary's church a few weeks after the race. This is what the reverend wrote on
the inside:
"We at St. Mary's Church, 440 Grand St., are very grateful for
all the food you brought us at Thanksgiving time. We were able to feed
many poor people with it. Please accept our thanks and prayers and
convey our best wishes to the members of your organization that helped
out. Happy Christmas. Gratefully,
(Rev.) Neil Connelly"
Cranksgiving Results (finally)
We've been sitting on these results since a few days after the race. Sorry for being so lazy to not put them up until now. Cranksgiving 2006
Jan 7 Memorial Ride
34 cyclists were killed on the streets of New York in 2006, including messengers "Bronx" John Neese & Darren Lewis. On
January 7th, representatives from Times-Up are organizing a large group memorial ride to remember all of these people. Several
separate rides will begin in the outer boroughs, and coverge at specified meeting points along the way. Visit
Times-Up.org to save the date, and check back frequently for more details.
Cyclist Killed by drunk driver on West Side Bike Path
Eric Ng, 22, a frequent volunteer for Times Up!, was killed friday night while riding on the West Side Bike path. The driver, Eugenio Cidron, 27,
was driving south on the bike path at around 9:40pm, when he hit Ng, who was riding north at around 14th St. Cidron had come
from a party at Chelsea Peirs, and according to eyewitnesses, seemed neither shocked nor concerned. "I was trying to get over there" he
said as he pointed to the West Side Highway. He was arrested, and charged with vehicular manslaughter, reckless endangerment and driving while intoxicated.
Ng was pronounced dead at the scene. A memorial ride has not yet been planned, but will happen soon.
You can testify Monday against NYPD permit revisions
This Monday, the NYPD will hold a hearing regarding the proposed parade permit legislation change.
This new regulation will restrict your First Amendment rights and your group activities!
Assemble for Rights NYC is stepping up in opposition to this proposal with a coalition New York City groups.
Please join us in voicing your dissent against a regulation that will chill the New York City metro-area from utilizing their voices,
First Amendment Rights and engaging in group activities.
For more information, visit www.assembleforrightsnyc.org
Persons wishing to speak at the hearing are NOT required notify NYPD in advance - they may sign up to speak at the event. Information from Elsie x8405, office of NYPD Assistant Deputy Commissioner Thomas P. Doepfner.
Monday, November 27, 2006 - 1 Police Plaza
10:00 - Ride from Union Square to the press conference at 1 Police Plaza
10:00 - Press Conference
11:00 - Hearing begins inside 1 Police Plaza
11:00 - Rally begins outside 1 Police Plaza
2:00 - Hearing ends, rally continues
Squid on Ellen!
Cranksgiving results
Over 60 racers took to the streets last Saturday, bringing in over 250 needed food items for St. Mary's Church on Grand St. The race
forced you to do a "figure 8" through the city, bringing you from the Javits Center, to the Upper East side and down to Battery Park - with a
checkpoint at Columbus Circle to make sure you couldn't cheat. It also crossed over with the Turkey Hunt - a Thanksgiving themed scavenger
hunt held at the same time. Turkey Hunt participants were awarded extra points for bringing a food item to the Cranksgiving race. Amy Bolger
made a slideshow of her pictures here.
Top finishers were Yatika for the guys and Heidi for the girls. Full results will be coming soon.
CRANKSGIVING
The 8th Annual Cranksgiving alleycat is Saturday, November 18th. This is easily the best excuse to race your bike after work.
There is no registration fee, and there are no manned checkpoints, but you will have to make sure you have about $10 on you. You'll be spending
it on groceries. Each checkpoint is a grocery store in the city, and you'll be running around them to buy items of food. Keep your receipts, and remember to bring a
lock! At the end of the race, all the food collected will be donated to homeless shelter. Check out the results from Cranksgiving 2005 and Cranksgiving 2004.
Andy White from Australia won for the past two years, but as far as we know he's staying down under this year, so the race is wide
open for a new champion.
Halloween Results (?)
The full results for the Halloween race might have been lost or disorganized or just completely forgotten about. We're not
entirely sure. It's being looked into. They'll be up soon though. For now, check out Kevin Dillard's fantastic photos on DemonCats.com.
Goldsprints at Lulu's
Tomorrow night - Friday, November 10th - is your last chance to qualify for next week's Goldsprints
finals. Last week, it came down to a "chug & plug" between Luke, Ken, and Corey The Courier. This
delightful new challenge requires that you chug a $1 PBR as fast as you can before starting to spin. No one threw up, unlike
the previous week, where the unidentified chunk-blower won a Surly flask for his efforts. The
overall fastest drinker/sprinter last week was Luke, followed by Corey, then Ken (who's only weakness was unfortunately
his chugging ability). The top 25 overall times qualify for the finals. (Rumor has it that the
grand prize will be a brand new wheelset...)
Ride for Brad Will
1pm, Wednesday Nov. 1
West Side Hwy & W. 40th St. The memorial ride for NYC indymedia reporter Brad Will will make a route to all of the major media stations to bring
attention to his killing. More information is at indymedia.org
Brad Will, indymedia journalist & ex messenger killed in Oaxaca, Mexico by paramilitary troops
Brad was a friend of many, and a tireless activist. On Friday the 27th, he was killed doing what he loved and what he knew
was important - documenting the truth.
Bikeblog has thorough coverage on this tragedy, and check out indymedia.org for continuing coverage.
Halloween weekend Results
60 people raced, and only a few more than 30 finished the 35 mile course that took us from Thompkins Square park up to 153rd street, down to the bottom of Manhattan, and out to
Carrol Gardens and Sunset Park before finally ending in Bushwick. Twentyfive mile per-hour wind gusts made this brutal course even
more difficult.
Top Men
1. Ken
2. Yatika
3. Cali
Top Women
1. Heidi
2. Dagga
The 2nd annual All about the Benjamin's race had three racers who managed to survive the Halloween race. Austin, Hugo, and Crihs
dropped $100 for the winner take all, 31 mile, midnight race.
1. Austin
2. Hugo
3. Crihs (DNF)
Friday night's Goldsprints at Lulu's kicked off what is sure to be an exciting & competitive series of races. A few of the top guns were
missing in action, but no one doubts that we'll be seeing them in upcoming weeks.
Top Men
1. Jeff "The Ringer" (34.05")
2. Ken (34.55")
3. Chombo (35.45")
SIX PACK ATTACK - When things get rained out at the track...
The last day of the velo city tour in NYC was a wet one. But a bunch of riders still went out to race. And they did...kinda...
Halloween Weekend
FRIDAY OCTOBER 27: Welcome to Terror...
Golsdsprints Fall Series Kick Off @ LuLu's Lounge from 7-9pm
113 Franklin St. @ Greenpoint Ave
$5 Entry, $1 Each Additional Ride
Group ride to the Times-Up afterparty (see below)
This is a 4 week series of Goldsprints competitions. The top times from each friday - October 27th, November 3rd, and November 10th,
qualify for the finals on November 17th. The top 25 times overall qualify for the finals.
FRIDAY OCT 27: Annual Infamous Time's Up! Halloween Dance Party
TIME'S UP! Space, 49 East Houston (bet. Mott and Mulberry) NYC
Sliding Scare from $9.99
Come dance till you drop dead to the spooky sounds of DJ Suggested D, the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, and more bands to come...
Prize giveaways to creative costumers.
Free Valet Bike Parking.
Benefit for Time's Up!'s Video Legal Team.
Halloween Critical Mass Starts at 7PM Union Square Park North.
Put on your scariest costume and get chased by the even scarier NYPD.
If you would like to volunteer or to make a donation see www.times-up.org
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28: Fright Night - 12th Annual Halloween Alleycat
Registration 4:20p @ Tompkins Square Park
Race at DUSK!
$10 Entry
The Freaks Come out at Night - Costumed Racing Encouraged.
Saturday, OCTOBER 28: All About the Benjamins II
If you honestly think you've got what it takes to beat anyone in this city, then put yo money where yo mouf at,
and fork over $100 at Midnight to prove it. Winner takes all. That's right, ALL.
Here's a quick rundown of the top placements at this year's Cycle Messenger World Championships. Congratulations to
Alex for being the greatest skidder in the world, and to Felipe for having the longest wheelie. Serious awe goes to San Francisco's
Sarah T. for crushing everyone for the second time in less than two months, and to the same city's Super Mike for his second place to the
indomitabl Raphael Faiss from Switzerland. Bruce Beran and Andy Zalan from DC also held it down in style for the Americans. Full results will be posted soon on sydbma.org.
World Champion Male - 1st Raphael Faiss/ Lusanne
2nd Super Mike / San Francisco
3rd Rob Beijsens/ Eindhoven
Female - 1st Sarah Torgrimson/ San Francisco
2nd Anja Raecher/ Zurich
3rd Emma James / Sydney
Main Race first fixed - Male Shino / Tokyo
Female Sarah / San Francisco
Alley Cats King of the streets - Crazy Dave / Sydney
Best out of towner - Bruce Beran / D.C.
Sprints Male Rob Beijsens/ Eindhoven
Female Mary Maroon/ Sacramento
Skids Male Alex Farioletti/ NYC
Female Sarah Torgrimson/ San Francisco
Trackstand Male Andy Zalan / DC
Female Sarah / San Francisco
Backward circles Male Andy Zalan / DC
Female Megan / LA
Bunny Hop Turkey / Sydney
Wheelies Distance Felipe / NYC
Style Andy Zalan / DC
Halloween Weekend
Goldsprint Series Kickoff, All about da Benjamins 2, Alleycat
Fri Oct 27 Welcome to Terror...
Golsdsprints Fall Series Kick Off @ LuLu's Lounge
113 Franklin Ave @ Greenpoint Ave
$5 Entry, $1 Each Additional Ride
+ Group ThrillRide to After Party, Location TBA
Sat Oct 28 - FRIGHT NIGHT: NYC's 12th Annual Halloween Alleycat
Registration 4:20p @ Tompkins Square Park
Race at DUSK!
$10 Entry
The Freaks Come out at Night - Costumed Racing Encouraged.
+ Midnight Run: All About the Benjamins II
Put You Money Where You Mouf At
$100 Buy In, Winner Take All
No Brokesters, Jokers, or Toys Allowed...
IF YOU'RE NOT AFRAID, YOU'RE NOT RACING HARD ENOUGH
Produced by NYCMassive and LA COSA NOSTRAND
PEDESTRIAN ASSAULTED BY MESSENGER
Last week, a pedestrian was sexually assaulted by a messenger who used his
agility in traffic to evade her, a cab, and a cop. Behaviour like this is NOT cool, and we cannot condone it.
If you think you might know who this guy is, please come up to one of us with information on him. Our frequently maligned
public image doesn't need stuff like this. The pedestrian's letter to Squid & Amy is below:
I'm hoping you can get the word out about a bike messenger that
assaulted me on Madison Avenue at 33rd Street on Wednesday 10/11
at about 2:30pm.
I was walking on Madison towards a car that was waiting for me
when a bike messenger riding towards me made a sharp turn at me,
mumbled something and grabbed my breast as he rode past. I chased
after him, as did a cab driver who witnessed the event, and even a
police officer tried to catch him on foot, but he weaved in an out
of traffic and got away.
He was a scrawny dark-skinned man wearing a beat up, dark colored
bag that had 4 rows of what looked like taped-over or removed
block lettering and/or numbers on the flap.
I think it's a shame that there is a messenger out there sexually
assaulting women on the street while taking advantage of his
ability to make a quick getaway through traffic. While he may
have enjoyed himself, I've been unable to sleep and am furious at
myself for not knocking his ass off his bike when he got too
close. I have an enormous amount of respect for cyclist in the
city and never dreamed he was swerving at me to grab my breast, I
simply assumed he was swerving away from a car. Unfortunately I
was wrong, but will certainly never make that mistake again.
PLEASE EVERYBODY WATCH OUT FOR THIS CREEP!
If you know him please contact the NYBMA.
Nyack to the Track Results
Dan NJ & Crihs take their first win!
35 miles of racing through suburban Nyack, secondary state routes in Jersey, hectic NYC parade-day traffic, and bewildering queens
left some racers frustrated, flatted, and fatigued. Dan & Crihs rose above it all with a near-flawless route & ride that led them to
their first alleycat win. Full results are at www.amadeo75.com/NYACK2TRACK
The Marcus Cook Award goes to Squid and Amy!
by Joe Hendry
The International Federation of Bike Messenger Associations (IFBMA)
announces the 2006 "Markus Cook Memorial Award" (MCA) for Services to
the International Messenger Community
The MCA was conceived as a way for the international messenger
community to thank it's most dedicated workers. Nominations are sought
from the messenger community for those individuals who have done most
for us, for those who have consistently put the rest of us before them.
This year's recipients are Amy and Kevin "Squid" Bolger of New York
City who are being honored for their work with the New York messenger
community and their contributions to messenger communities around the
world. Their contributions separately and jointly range from working as
tireless volunteers throughout the world, to organizing major events,
to being among the formative members of the New York Bike Messenger
Association and the New York Bike Messenger Foundation.
These organizations seek to improve the lot of local messengers through
the empowerment and knowledge of such projects as the New York City
Messenger Industry Handbook and they serve the community by providing
crucial services like an accident fund to aid injured messengers.
In 2005 Amy and Kevin Bolger were among the successful organizers of
the monumental task of hosting the Cycle Messenger World Championships
in the city with the largest population of messengers in the
industrialized world.
Their imaginative and innovative work with new sponsors brought success
to unique events like the Velo City Tour and the Body Glove Challenge.
The recently completed Velo City Tour rewarded 6 champion messengers
with round trip tickets to the Cycle Messenger World Championships in
Sydney Australia. The Velo City Tour also brought messengers rare
national television coverage as professional athletes.
Squid's pioneering work with Team Puma and Amy's insightful
photographic portraits continue to inspire others, challenge the
historically narrow view of messengers and expand the diverse
opportunities for messengers in the future.
Messenger Appreciation Day Party
MONDAY - Home Sweet Home - 131 Chrystie
NYACK TO THE TRACK info
Group ride to Nyack begins Sunday at 10am from Columbus Circle. There are a few rules and some details you should know
about (like *exactly* where in Nyack the race will start) if you & your teammate want to ride. Visit www.amadeo75.com/NYACK2TRACK for
everything you need to know.
Messenger Appreciation Day
Monday, October 9th
The annual Messenger Appreciation Day is on Monday, October 9th. There will be a party out in Brooklyn somewhere. Check back
here for details in the next few days, but make sure you keep the night open.
This is the world of Adventure Sports
Over the summer, NBC's world of adventure sports interviewed Squid to find out what it's like to be a bike
messenger in New York City. Their program culminated with footage of the VeloCity
tour at Kissena Velodrome. If you missed the screening at Lakeside Lounge last week, it's been YouTubed:
Nyack to the Track race
Sunday, October 8 - leaves Nyack at 1pm
We're pretty sure that a race like this has never been thrown before. Part road race, part alleycat, part velodrome race. Come out
& show off your multidisciplinary skills. This is a 50ish mile race starting at the Runcible Spoon in Nyack, New York. Google Map.
Make your way up there any way you choose. This race isn't about how fast & how skillfully you can dodge traffic. But it isn't about
your endurance and form either. And it isn't about your best flying 200 time. It's about all of it. Get a teammate - it's a two person
race. One of you must be on a track bike, but the other one can have the most blinged out carbon titanium 11 pound $5,000 alien spaceship
rig they can find. Just avoid the potholes.
NY Velocity Tour on NBC World of Adventure Sports
Toronto Global Gutz Raffle
Our northern neighbors are trying to get a few more North Americans to fly out to Sydney for the Worlds this fall. They're throwing
a raffle in conjunction with this past weekend's global gutz race to raise money for tickets for the winners. Anyone from any city can
buy the raffle tickets - there are over $1200 worth of goods to give out, including 2 brand new IRO frames. Visit messmedia.org/globalgutz
for more details.
Addendum to the NYC NACCC Ass-Kicking
Hodari, Yatika, Mike Dee, Marc Maclean, NYBMF, plus MORE for Felipe & Kym, and an Austin correction.
New York held it down so hard for the NACCC's, it was hard to remember everything that we won. Especially if we weren't paying
that much attention during the awards ceremony.
Hodari took 2nd place in the Cargo race to Scrooge from DC. Yatika came in 1st out of town in the alleycat - a grueling 2+ hour haul
through Philadelphia and some of it's suburbs. In the alleycat, we can't believe we forgot to mention that Kym won for the girls! Mike Dee
kept all this winningness at bay by pulling in DFL in the main race. On Monday, in addition to the bunnyhop, Felipe won footdown. And over
the weekend, the NYBMF pulled in over $700 in merchandise profit. Thanks for buying our stuff, everybody!
Marc Maclean didn't win anything. He doesn't race or play any of our games. But if it weren't for him, almost none of this would've
been able to take place as well as it did. Marc is one of the most tirelessly working people in our messenger community. He's also the guy
who worked his ass off to make a little thing called CMWC 2005 NYC happen. For the NACCC's, he made
several trips down to Philadelphia to set up the computer program for the race, and worked all day & well into each evening tabulating
results. He deserves all the credit for making it possible for all the rest of the New Yorkers to win stuff.
We mentioned before that Austin was the ONLY competitor to hand in all five manifests. That was wrong. There was one other person
who did - Super Mike from SF, who came in 2nd place.
AUSTIN HORSE - North American Champion!!!
Kym & Bianca take 2nd & 3rd
NYC's Austin Horse (4916) took the top honors at Philadelphia's
North American Cycle Courier Championships last weekend. In the three-hour final race on Sunday, he was the only one of 125 racers to finish
all 5 manifests. On Saturday, he braved the winds & rain of a hurricaine to place in the qualifiers. That task should not be diminished
by the fact that EVERYone who raced on Saturday qualified for Sunday. (Originally, the top 100 of the 300 or so registrants were to qualify,
but since less than half of them actually raced, the organizers decided to let them all race in the finals.) It was a hard damn day, and everyone who had the balls to
get out & race should be commended. Rain was coming down sideways in
two directions! Manifests were pulpy! Roads were slippery! Half of us have colds from standing outside screaming at people. It was a great time.
It cleared up for the Goldsprint finals Saturday evening and the final race on Sunday. Felipe again proved that he is the King by winning
the Goldsprints, as well as bunnyhop on Monday. New York ran it even thicker with the ladies. Kym P. brought home 2nd place in the main race,
followed by Bianca in 3rd. Kym's stash of dope prizes grew even larger by winning Sprints and Goldsprints as well. To top it all off, Trackstar
easily won best checkpoint for the weekend. How'd they do it? They put the bitches on the ceiling.
Big thanks to the Philadelphia crew for putting together an amazing weekend of racing and partying. You guys deserve a ton of credit
for pulling it off in spite of the uncooperative weather. Well done!
Superheroes results (finally) up!
It's finally a tuesday after the superheroes race, and Nona has posted the results!
girlsport.blogspot.com
A bit of Messenger History
If you've never been to messmedia.org, and if you've got even the
slightest interest in courier culture and history, you should go there now. Toronto's Joe Hendry has been scouring the internet for over
a decade for any mention of messengers in the media. Most recently, he's posted a series of gemson Youtube,
including footage from the first CMWC ever, in Berlin in 1993. Check it out.
Ghost Bike Dedication for Kieth Powell
Kieth Powell, 34, was killed by a hit & run driver in a stolen car on Avenue L & 93rd St. in Brooklyn. For more information
on the accident, visit these article links:
NBC.com,
New York Post.
There will be a group ride & ghost bike ceremony this sunday (weather permitting). Visit Times-Up.org for full details.
Velocity Tour NYC results
Los Angeles' Jack and NYC's Valerie won the last of 6 tickets to CMWC in Sydney, Australia this weekend!
Jack, after finishing 2nd in Los Angeles, and traveling to Chicago to finish 2nd AGAIN, won a well-deserved omnium. The racing was intense on Saturday, and that ended up deciding the weekend, after Sunday's racing was rained out.
Check out cyclehawk.com/velocity for pictures and results.
Rumble Through The Bronx 3 Video
Mike Green has been working tirelessly these days,
videotaping everything that comes along on two wheels. He & his crew have been to almost every event on the east coast since Monster
Track. Just today, they've unveiled the video of Rumble Through The Bronx on their website,
playintrafficproductions.com. And it's dope. On top of all this, Mike went off & got himself married!. So next time you see him, give him a little pat on the back or smack on the ass and tell him
congratulations.
New Jack City Alleycat Results
The New Jack City Alleycat drew about 40 people out to King Kog last Friday. The point of the 90 minute race was to sell as much
crack as you could to the dirty scumbag drug dealers in Williamsburg & Greenpoint. Whenever you ran out of crack, you could go back
to the first checkpoint & get more. That sounds easy enough, but drug pushing is boring without the risk of your ass landing in jail. That's
why two of the 40 racers were chosen at random to be "cops", who got to hide out at the checkpoints for 10 minutes at a time, and bust you.
Whenever you got busted, you got no points for that drug sale. The cops though, got points for each bust they made. In the end,
there would be two winners - the pusher who sold the most crack, and the cop who got the most busts. The best Crack dealer was Shawn (Cleveland),
and the best cop was Tom (who played good cop to my bad cop. I found through this race that when presented with fake authority,
the ability to abuse it is easily taken advantage of.) Check Messnyc.net for more results or details and pictures or something maybe, someday.
No Guts, No Glory results
1. Chris kali # 14 NYC
2. Yatika # 7 NYC
3. Morgan H # 13 NYC
4. John # NYC
5. Izumi# 6 NYC
6. Otto Lopez # 9 NYC
7. Jason Ferrier # 1 Huntsville.AL
8. Jack Druury # 26 London,ny
9. Doug Eng. # 3 NYC
10. Chris Williams #10 NYC
12. Mark # 12 Brooklyn
13. Chombo # 8 NYC
14. F Rodgers # 5 Jamaaica,NY
15. Courney Liscipio # 4 Bronx
All 15 riders started at CITY BICYCLES but only 7 made it to the finish line at King's Plaza in Brooklyn. Jose says "Thank you to all the riders & all of you who made this ride a great success. I hope that you enjoyed it."
Wake for Jon at Zum Schneider - Avenue C & 7th St.
Monday, August 21. 5-7pm
The owners of Lower East Side Bar Zum Schneider will be having a wake for Bronx Jon on Monday, August 27th from 5-7pm.
The bar was a favorite of Jon's, and he was good friends with everyone there. They have invited everyone to come by between those hours
to reflect on his life.
NYPD Backs down on Parade Laws! August 23rd hearing cancelled
Apparently, the NYPD has backed down (for now) on the changing the parade permit regulation.
NYPD has cancelled the public hearing next Wednesday and will have to start over with 30 days notice and another public hearing date.
IS IT ALL OVER? Don't count on it. The blissful salad days of critical mass rides with out terroristic scooter cop phalanxes and
helicopter escorts, where people old, young, skilled and novice could ride without fear of arrest, assualt and general harrassment
are far from guaranteed. In fact, expect the NYPD to be back at it this fall. But for now, a small victory for cyclists and civil
libertarians alike. Big Up your self if you spread the word, showed up for the people's forum at st marks church, or otherwised
expressed your outrage at the NYPD's attempt to hijack the apparatus of government. As soon as we stop caring, the fascists have
won. Chris Kim
The People's hearing on
the NYPD's proposed changes to the parade laws is Thursday, August 17th at 7pm at St. Mark's Church (2nd Avenue & 10th St.). For
more information, read this.
A bit of good news
Some of us went to see "messenger58, a comedy about
bike messengessengering" last week, and it was hilarious. We highly recommend taking the time to see it this weekend if you've got
the chance.
Share your stories about Bronx Jon
www.nybma.com/bronxjon. Letters have been coming in from around the world about Jon. If you've
got a story or a great picture you want to share, send it to Ken, and we'll put it up on that page.
Bronx John has passed away
On the morning of Saturday August 12th, John Neese - more well known as "Bronx John" - was pronounced dead and taken off
of the life support that had been keeping him alive since his accident on Wednesday night. His mother has been contacted, and was at
Belleview when the announcement was made. John was a beloved, long time member of the messenger community, and will be greatly
missed. There will be a memorial ride for him and Darren Lewis, who died Thursday morning, on Tuesday,
August 15th.
It is scheduled to start at 8pm in the plaza across from the Javits Center on 11th Avenue between 35th and 36th street (where
Cranksgiving starts). The ride will pass the locations of Darren and John's accidents, and end in Williamsburg. We will then go to
Rock Star bar (S. 5th & Kent)
where people will have a chance to say some words about both of them.
Bronx John in Critical Condition at Belleview
Bronx John is currently in critical condition at Belleview Hospital. He was in an
accident with a car approaching the Williamsburg Bridge at South 4th & Roebling on Wednesday night. Witnesses described the
accident as "violent", and said that the car was moving very fast. His injuries are very extensive, but the hospital is waiting
until they can locate a next-of-kin to give us more information. We are all hoping & praying for him to pull through.
58! A Comedy About Bike Messengessengering - at the fringe fest this week
First performed in Chicago, Tony Mendoza and Pat McKenna bring messenger58, a comedy about
bike messengering,
to the fringe festival. Tickets to
all fringe shows are $15, but they're offering a limited number of $5 tickets to messengers. In order to get these tickets, call Tyler (the producer) at
(603)-498-0548. The discount tickets are available only for the first two nights of the show. The schedule is:
Sat, Aug 12: 7PM |
Sun, Aug 13: 11:15PM |
Thu, Aug 17: 9:30PM |
Fri, Aug 18: 3PM |
Sat, Aug 19: 3PM
There will be an organizing meeting for the rally on Wednesday,
August 9th at 6:00pm at 49 E. Houston.
Under the New York City Police Department's proposed rules:
Any group of two (yes 2) or more cyclists or pedestrians traveling down a public street, who violate any traffic law, rule or regulation can be arrested for parading without a permit;
Every group of 20 or more cyclists must obtain a permit from the NYPD;
Every group of 35 of more pedestrians must obtain a permit from the NYPD.
Additionally, those who advertise, promote or otherwise publicize events that fall under these rules will also be held liable as if they organized and participated in the illegal parade.
These rules would put all bike rides under the discretion of the NYPD. These proposed rules can be used to stop anyone in New York City from walking and biking. They will give the New York City Police Department carte blanche to arrest any two or more persons that they want. In addition to affecting thousands of formal and informal group bike rides (think coming home from kissena, going from one party to another, every memorial ride you've ever been on),
These proposed rules will affect: Funerals, School field trips, School walks to the park, Family picnics, Training runs and bike rides, Site seeing tours, Historical, cultural, environmental & neighborhood walks/tours, and many other everday activities of ordinary new yorkers. In fact, anyone who walks to the park with their child, friend or neighbor and jaywalks could be arrested.
The reality we know is that these rules will not be enforced against every situation that falls under the sweeping language of the proposed new rules. These proposed rules will be enforced at the police's discretion - selectively selectively singling out individuals based on their appearance, mode of transportation, race, social and economic class, and attitude toward police authority.
This is a critical issue for all of the New York bicycling community and an important abridgment of the civil liberties of all New Yorkers. STAND UP.
E-fax the mayor now to tell him that you oppose the NYPD's proposed changes to City parade permit rules.
NYBMA ID Cards
We've started producing ID cards for NYBMA members. How do you get one? First come to our next meeting (September 6th - 239 Thompson St. (just south of Washington Square Park).
We'll take your picture & info, and at the following meeting, you'll get your ID card.
Coney Island or Bust results
The NYBMA couldn't make it to the race. Or rather, it was barbecuing with some other people...or something like that. You'll have to
check trackstar's website for the results.
All girls alleycat in Philadelphia
Philly hosts this summer's only all-girls alleycat - the Betsy Ross Battle Royale. All
checkpoints are women's history related, with women owned local business donating prizes. Philly's bike co-op regulars are putting
the whole thing together.
NYBMA Meeting, August 2nd 6:30pm
Judson Assembly Hall - 239 Thompson St. (just south of Washington Square Park)
We're working on a lot of things right now. NYBMA Messenger ID cards - for you to use in buildings. There's also an
impending mandatory helmet law that city council is
considering passing. The NYBMA is going to help coordinate an effort to block it. We'll also be talking about the current
state of bike hate from the city's government, an NYBMA media contact, and the future of this website.
Mike Dee recovering
A week ago, Mike Dee had an accident on the way home from Brooklyn to Stuy-town. He doesn't remember anything, but has since
gotten out of the hospital with a fractured skull and is recovering at his mother's. After the accident while his bike was locked up
on the Williamsburg Bridge, it was completely stripped. Keep an eye out for his black Level hubs.
Nico from CHI & Mary from Sacramento are going to Australia
The Chicago leg of the VeloCity tour awarded CMWC tickets to Chicago old-schooler Nico, and Sacramento's Mary, who rode with a broken
arm the entire time. Team Trackstar took best team, edging out Godspeed from San Francisco. NYC's Victor came in 4th in the Bobcat-benefit
alleycat, winning 1st out of town. Felipe outspun Ken (.avi) at golsprints to come one city closer to a three city sweep of the event. (someone at
NYBMA.com can guarantee it's not going to be an easy win.) Keep your
eyes posted to cyclehawk.com/velocity for full results. The next event is
in New York on August 26-27.
The NYPD doesn't want you to ride with your friend
Or anybody, for that matter. The New York Times reports that the Police department is making an attempt
to usurp the legislative power of the city, and determine that almost anything you do on your bike is illegal. There are three parts
to this new regulation they're trying to pass: 1) Any group of 35 or more pedestrians, even if confined to the sidewalks, must apply for
a parade permit. 2) Any group of 20 or more cyclists must apply for a parade permit. 3) "any bicyclists or walkers who take to the streets
in groups of two or more and disobey traffic laws for things like parades, races or protests" are also arrestible. So, if you're standing at an intersection
next to someone who doesn't have a bell on their bike, you're technically breaking the law and can be arrested. If you know that there's a
significant safety in numbers effect, you should know that the passage of this regulation will make it more dangerous for anyone on a bike in this city. There will
be a public hearing on August 23rd at 6pm at 1 Police Plaza on this matter. It's public. You are encouraged to come and state your opinion. Times Up has provided
a generic application form if you have something you want to say. The earlier you get this in, the better.
UP-RUDED - TIMES UP! and the RMO are having a joint fundraiser this weekend.
Friday, July 14, 2006. 8pm - late
Time's Up! and Rude Mechanical Orchestra Fundraiser Dance Party. Time's Up! Space at 49 East Houston St. NYC. Sliding Scale $7-$1,000
Environmental action has never sounded so good! Two long time allies are teaming up for an evening of rocking out and raising money for the good fight. NYCs punk rock radical marching band the Rude Mechanical Orchestra leads an evening of music that includes Monkeyshine 9, Heavy Creatures, Quick Release and Phil Not Bombs. Each band includes at least one member of the RMO, so you know itll be good. Also featuring DJ Suggested D's dance floor madness and the infamous bike blender.
There's no flyer for this, so you're just going to have to use your imagination: Every sunday there's bike polo in the Lower East Side,
unsponsored, unsolicited, unattached. Bring yer bike out & play.
3 o'clock at Chrystie and Broom.
Ride to the Beach
Race in Prospect Park
Go to Kissena
Kissena 2006 Twilight Series
Wednesdays 5/3-8/30 Ð 6:30pm start
Omnium-style track meet with 3 races for each category and a feature for the top riders of the
evening when time permits. Track bikes only. USCF rules apply. Rainouts will not be made
up. Open to all riders with USCF road license; one-day licenses can be purchased for $10 for
each night. Annual licenses are also available for $60.
Ticket Blitz in Central Park scheduled for Tuesday 7/11!!
From our newswire:
I am hearing that NYPD and Central Park Enforcement Patrol (whoever
that is) will be organizing a large-scale ticket blitz in Central Park
tomorrow, Tuesday, July 11. I don't know exactly where they will be
or what times, but they will be issuing tickets for SPEEDING (they
will be using radar guns on cars AND BIKES) and other traffic
violations, including BIKES THAT RUN RED LIGHTS!!
The speed limit is 25 mph, so I don't have to worry about that one.
But is that the speed limit for the cars as well? If so, maybe we
should get out our radar guns and check for selective enforcement.
July 4th Weekend Race results
Carlos, El Diablo, rocks it at Bike Fetish Day. Full results here.
July 4th Weekend Race Checkpoints
Wake up early. Check this site. Get a leg up on everyone else out there:
Brooklyn checkpoints
First Check point chaos
L Train morgan stop
morgan ave/harrison pl
Lemonade stand
madison st between bedford ave and nostrand ave
(warning worst checkpont- be ready to wait!!!)
2 girls to watch out for
Steuben st and Park ave
BreakDance checkpoint
Bust a Move - 9 wyckoff st - cross st court st
manhattan checkpoints
4 unmanned checkpoints
2 on mulberry st
one on east 17st
one on 2nd ave and 30'somthing st
crumpler
the park opposte the store
45 spring st
Expect unexpected best
( checkpont last year)
trackstar
34 east 1st street
garden
ave B and 6th st
Felipe the Kings house
107 east 102 st
apt 4A-ring bell and go upstairs
A bad week for cyclists - City Hall rally this Thursday, June 29 9am
Two cyclists lost their lives on the streets of New York City this week. Neither of them were messengers, but this only
underlines the dangers we're faced every day. Carl Nacht, 56, was critically injured by an NYPD tow truck making a right turn across the
West Side Greenway over the weekend. He died on Monday. Derek Lake, 23,
was killed the same day on Houston Street while trying to maneuver around a construction site. Transportation Alternative's press release
notes that the construction site violated several safety regulations. BikeBlog has more details & links to news articles.
The bicycle coalition that the NYBMA is a part of is organizing a rally at City Hall on Thursday, June 29th at 9am:
Rally at City Hall, Thursday, June 29, 2006, 9 am
"In the past week there were three serious bike crashes in New York City,
two of them resulting in the deaths of individual cyclists, Dr. Carl
Nacht and Derek Lake.
On Monday June 19, a taxicab driver opened his door and knocked a
cyclist into the path of a passing bus on 10th Avenue in Manhattan. On
Thursday June 22, an NYPD tow truck driver crossing the Hudson River
Greenway hit Dr. Nacht as he was riding with his wife northbound on the
bike path. Dr. Nacht died Monday, June 26. On Monday June 26, Mr. Lake
was killed by a truck when his bike slid out of control and he fell
beneath the truck on Houston Street at LaGuardia Place.
All three crashes were caused by dangerous conditions that are
commonplace on New York City streets but should not be: drivers and
passengers opening car doors into the path of cyclists; drivers failing
to yield to cyclists and hazardous street conditions that can send bikes
out of control.
Bottom line:
Cyclists, Advocates: City's Bike Safety Efforts not Enough
Demand New City Bike Safety Plan to Address Chronic Hazards
City Hall Press Conference and Rally, Thursday, June 29, 2006, 9 am
Please spread the word!"
MEMORIAL RIDE
Thursday, June 29, 6:30 p.m.
West Side Greenway at 42nd Street (in front of the Intrepid)
Times Up! Bridge Breakfast - Williamsburg, Friday, June 30
Someone's always going to be serving you breakfast on the bridges, at least once a week, it seems. Why? Because they all love you
and want you to be safe & well fed. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day after all. So if you're heading over the Williamsburg
bridge Friday morning and you see a group of people trying to get you to stop, stop. Because they're probably going to give you a free muffin.
Maybe even a coffee.
Rumble Through the Bronx Results
The third Rumble thundered across the Bronx this weekend, bringing in 62 racers and proving once again that Alfred & Austin are the fastest people
on the streets. Alfred became the first person to win two Rumbles, just like he was the first person to win two Monster Tracks earlier this year. He &
Austin raced together the entire time, working off eachother & helping eachother until the end, where it came down to a sprint. Read More
Top three men (in town)
1. Alfred
2. Austin
3. Ken
Top three out of town
1. Scotty - Portland
2. Jacob - Boston
3. Craig - Boston
Top 3 girls
1. Arone
2. Ellen
3. Brooke
Velo City Tour hits LA
The first stage of the Velo City tour wrapped up in Los Angeles this weekend. Team Puma and Team King Kog all went out to roll with the LA crew.
And the winners of round trip tickets to Australia for the CMWC are Alex from NYC and Megan from LA.
Next up is Chicago - July 29-30, then New York - August 26-27. Register at cyclehawk.com/velocity
Upcoming Events - Northeast
Lots of stuff coming up here in New York, Boston, Philly, Connecticut & all that stuff around us. Don't want you to miss out on any of it, so we're listing it here in addition to under upcoming events.
Mermaid Parade Skids & Sprints
Click image to enlarge.
The Revolution - July 1st
Kings of New England
July 14, 15, 16 in Connecticut
Three days of racing in New England. Half way between Boston & New York. Both cities can come through & run rampant on the mean streets of Connecticut.
Details here.
Williamsburg Bridge. Friday, June 9 from 8am to 10am. Transportation Alternatives brings you pastries, fruit, bagels, um..orange
juice...maybe some milk....oh, and coffee! Why? Because they love you.
VELO CITY Tour registration
Site is still under construction, but registration is up!
http://cyclehawk.com/velocity/
If you have a team please get me a current photo for the Team Page (uh, coming soon..)
The Los Angeles event is two weeks away!!!
If you are a bicycle messenger come take a shot at R/T tickets to Sydney Australia for the
14th Annual Cycle Messenger World Championships.. sydbma.org.
(One for top male and one for top female awarded at each of the three events)
If you are a city biker come out for cool prizes and giveaways. And remember the NYC event is one week before the
North American Cycle Courier Championships.. naccc.phillybma.org
A portion of all merchandise sales will be donated to the 501c3 nonprofit,
New York Bike Messenger Foundation.. nybmf.org
If you have questions or are interested in volunteering, vending, or documenting, contact me:
info@cyclehawk.comRide Safe and Hope to See You There-
Squid
Crumpler: Beer for Bags. June 3 - 11
DRINK (and BUY)
Beer for Bags
What: Barter your Chimay, PBR, and Guinness for messenger bags, laptop
cases, and bean bag chairs from Australia.
Why: Make up for that time you tried to sell your girlfriend for beer.
When: Sat. & Sun., 11:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Thru June 11.
Where: Crumpler, 45 Spring St., at Mulberry St. (212-334-9391); 49 Eighth
Ave., at W. 4th St. (212-242-2537).
Bill Dillon hospitalized!
Back in Portland over the weekend, Bill had a bad accident playing bike polo. He broke a rib, and it punctured his lung. He's going to be in intensive care
for a while. We all hope he heals quickly, and is back on the road soon. Visit the Portland Underground Messenger Association to give a donation.
No 666 race
For a number of reasons, the NYC 666 race has been cancelled. Let's all chill & do our own thing. Or, celebrate the National Day of Slayer.
Superheroes race results
33 pairs of heroes & sidekicks gathered on a beautiful Saturday afternoon for a villainous race. Only 23 of those teams finished. Of those 23,
only 19 completed the entiire course, opting to skip the two checkpoints above 125th St. And of those 19, a team on a tandem came in 15th!
The top finishers were Ken & Victor, followed by Felipe & Cali, then Brooke & Kym pulling in third place overall, and a decisive first girls.
Click here for full results.
Bridge Battle - complete results & amazing video!
Mike Green didn't sleep last week so he could complete the video of the Bridge Battle. The world owes him a handshake for that, because
it's incredible! Check it out now at messnyc.net.
Amy Bolger Solo Show
Click image to enlarge.
More and more stuff just keeps happening this weekend. Fortunately, it's all fitting in quite well, and you don't have to miss anything.
Where: The City Reliquary Museum (right next door to Black Betty in
Williamsburg)
370 Metropolitan Ave @ Havemeyer
Day: Saturday, May 20th 2006 (this Saturday!)
12noon- 2pm
Photography: some old and some new
Group ride to the Superheroes alleycat at 2pm.
Superheroes Alleycat...Revelocity Bicycle Ball
May 20
Two person superhero & sidekick race. Each checkpoint has some supervillainous feat
your dynamic duo must accomplish before moving on. As an appropriate counter to the hedonism of alleycat racing, the registration/tshirt price has been raised $5 to help defray the
costs of Ohio Andy's hospital visit last weekend. See girlsport.blogspot.com for more info. If you don't want to pay an extra $5 for that tshirt,
you're crazy anyway.
$10 advance, $12 at the door. Dick Shea's, 6th Ave. and 14th Street, Manhattan. revelocitynyc.com. This is a massive party in a huge space with Live Bands, Art, a Bike Blender for your mixed drinks, live silkscreening, video projections, costumes, like...everything.
And it's all a fundraiser for cyclist rights in NYC. Hit it after the Superheroes race.
RUMBLE THROUGH THE BRONX III
June 17
Saturday, June 17th. Big Bat at Yankee Stadium - Noon registration, 1pm race.
$15 registration
includes 2 raffle tickets & BBQ at the finish line. Study the checkpoints now. They've been google earthed.
Download the course!
(You might have to download google earth to view the .kmz file).
Or check out this screengrab below (click it to enlarge).
It looks sick, doesn't it? Positively sick! And there's some kind of time trial on City Island! Share your strategies or lurk around and mooch everyone else's on
Bikeforums. Email bxrumble@gmail.com for more info.
Bridge Battle, Block Party, Bike Film Fest
Every year, Brendt Barbur's Bike Film Festival gets bigger & bigger. I don't know how he pulls it off, but it always
makes for one of the most enjoyable weekends of bicycle-overload in New York City. This year's festival featured the classic
messenger flick PEDAL, by Peter Sutherland (soon to be available on NYBMF.org), plus the Black Label doc B.I.K.E, and a preview of MASHsf -
which may have brought a whole new level to the East Coast/West Coast one-upsmanship. Messnyc organized the second annual bridgebattle
(dude...submit your stories to them...you know you have good ones),
and Trackstar put together the Track-o-Rama Block Party - skids, footdown,
trackstands, and various other methods of fixed-gear tomfoolery. People came out of the woodwork and from as far away as Atlanta for a perfect weekend.
Diablo's video pretty
much sums it all up.
There were tons of cameras snapping & rolling the entire afternoon. The top three finishers of the Bridge Battle were either wearing
helmetcams or were being followed by Lucas Brunelle.
All of that footage went to Mike Green, who will be posting his video on messnyc.net "probably by friday," he says.
Until then, enjoy some of his pictures. Flickr.com
Felipe - who used 2 bikes throughout the course of the competition. This is on top of the three bikes he went through during the alleycat.
Skids
Jason Chaste (King Kog), who almost ran off the boundary of the block party. One block just ain't enough for this guy. And damn, he makes nice shirts, too!
Backwards circles
Dan G. (DC) - 14? 15?
California girl does bike tattoo book
Oakland's Shuli Baram is self publishing a bicycle tattoo book. "I am looking for
anyone who has a tattoo that shows their liking/devotion to the 2-wheeler (or 3/4
wheeler). Color or B/W pictures with the persons name/age/tattoo shop/ and why they
got the tattoo. I'm still working on an interview questionaire for those who are
interested. Please spread the word. Send all entries to seahorse56@hotmail.com (RE:
bike tattoo book) or mail photos and info to:
Shuli Baram
1729 Filbert St. #4
Oakland Ca, 94607
This weekend
If you don't already know, there's a shit-ton of stuff going on this weekend, and you'll regret it for the rest of your life
if you miss any of it. It's Bike Month, people. twi-ny.com, who was cool enough to use one of Amy's pictures and link back to us, tells you all that there is to do. The Bike Film Fest kicks off it's 6th year with a party at Union Pool tonight (Wednesday, May 10th). See flyer for details. It's free by donation to Freewheels - bicycledefensefund.org. On Saturday, there's the Bridge Battle, followed by Track-o-Rama - an amazing collection of track events with tons of prizes (including cash!!!). (Plagairized DIRECTLY from trackstar's website!). Bridge Battle registration is 1pm at the park on 23rd & the FDR. The race begins at 2. You gotta hit 5 bridges - Brooklyn, Queensboro, Pulaski, Williamsburg, and Manhattan. Not necessarily in that order. Plus some extra checkpoints here and there. Here are some helpful instructions.
Oh, and we're going to be selling PEDAL there.
Kissena Wednesday night twilight series
Wednesday May 3rd kicks off the 43rd annual Twilight Series from now until
Fall. For more info:
kissena.info
Bike Film Fest Party - TONIGHT!!!
Wednesday, May 3rd
The Bike Film Festival is having a staff party tonight, and everyone's invited! It's at LIT - 93 2nd Ave. Dollar drinks at 10pm.
Kissena Opening Weekend
It was a gorgeous Opening Weekend at Kissena Velodrome in Queens. NY
Messengers came out strong!
Check out the results/pics & video from NYVelocity.
MESSENGER - a road tattoo commemorating NYC bicycle messengers
Based on Celtic knotwork, Messenger is 25 feet by 425 feet and located on the Promenade from 105th - 103rd Street in
Riverside Park. Once the design is drawn on the road, names of New York City bicycle messengers
will be painted within the design, a prayer written by Brother Michael Moran will be officiated and the design will be painted in,
covering the names.
This will take place on Thursday 5/4 at 1:00PM. Subtle, close in color to the roadway, Messenger is made with high-gloss
black latex causing it to appear and disappear with passing light. Eventually traffic and weather conditions dissolve it into the road.
Oh yeah...there was this race a week ago, and some people won it. Unfortunately, the full results were lost to the ravages of the wind
(they got rained on), but we can still remember the top 5 families. It might have been different if *some*one hadn't sabotaged Austin Horse's
bike by freelocking it before the start of the race....maybe they were afraid their best competition might actually beat them....Life ain't fair.
Alfred Bobe Jr.
The top three teams tied for points, and were determined by time. The dismally rainy race was a clever play on the theme of the Godfather:
The Don (Brad) arbitrarily gave you hits. You had to go to these movie-themed checkpoints & "whack" someone, then pick up the death
certificate & bring it back to the Don, who would give you another hit. The most hits in two hours won.
1st Family: Scarface: Squid, Felipe, Alfred
2nd Family: Kids of the World: Ken, Prentiss, Izumi
3rd Family: The Ringers: Chombo, Amadeo, Olivier
4th Family: (didn't win anything, but hey, 4th ain't bad): Jersey Kids: Chris, Dan Jersey, someone else...can't remember.
5th Family & First Girls: Nona, Bianca, Britney
Bike Film Fest Block Party/Bridge Battle, etc.
May 13
Bike Film Fest tickets are now on sale & you'd better be there. If you don't want to race,
just go to Anthology Film Archives on 2nd Ave. & 2nd St. There's gonna be a block party with any kind of bike hijink you can think of.
If it isn't happening there, make it happen anyway.
For those who live on, by, and for their bicycles. messnyc.net
NACCC registration at Godfather race on saturday
Philly NACCC organizers will be in NYC on Saturday for the Godfather race. They're opening registration there: Columbus Park - 2pm.
Audition for short messenger film
Jay Silver is looking for a male lead for a short film that's going to screen during this years' Bike Film Fest, May 10-14.
The story is about a
messenger that crashes into the love of his life only to see her ride
off with out getting her name or number. He's looking for someone with acting and messengering experience, and is going to
shoot during the week of April 24th for three days. Email jay.silver@mac.com for more info.
The Godfather Race
Saturday, April 22nd
3 Person Team Race, Starts at the south east corner of Columbus park in Chinatown. Registration is at 2pm. FOR INFO: trackstarnyc.com or 212.982.2553
Another note on the DUMBO race
We forgot to mention that the race raised $500 for the NYBMA. This will most likely go to the accident fund that is being set up
via the NYBMF (the "F" is for "foundation"). More news on this later.
DUMBO SCRAMBLE Results
You couldn't have asked for a better day to ride around one of the most
scenic areas of Brooklyn. A pleasant 69 racers registered, including one Blacklabel tallbike, and a couple on a tandem. Had Blacklabel not flatted
twice, he honestly could've come in top 5. Maybe. He was hauling.
For the second race in a row, Austin Horse took the top place. He was followed really, really closely by Paul Chunk, who had
the homefield advantage (from working in DUMBO). Rounding out the top three was Chris (Cali), who also won best crash. New Jersey Dan
came in 4th place & first out of town. Julie from DC won first Girl, (12th overall), and Julia from NYC (17th overall) was second girl.
"MESSNYC.NET is a site dedicated to the urban cyclist. This includes messengers, commuters, bmx'ers, chopper clubs, and any other freakhow we might be interested in. All content is submission based, so we're looking for contributions in the form of photos, interviews, scene reports, videos, news articles, profiles (of people, bands, or collectives), and feature length articles. Those who regularly contribute quality work can become staff and/or bloggers on the site."
"Every three months, MESS will take the best material that we've received, and release it as a high-quality print issue. This will be a full color newsstand quality magazine, complete with a DVD. The DVD will feature Hi-res footage of bicycle related events both large and small, live music footage OR produced videos, and more than likely a fair dose of hilarious hijinks."
"We plan on doing a bi-coastal launch party Memorial Day weekend, at the Triple Crown (MAYHEM) in Washington DC, and at the West Side Invite in Portland. By signing up for our email list, you'll receive updates about these and other events of note."
D.U.M.B.O. SCRAMBLE!!!
Smells like Jersey Alleycat results
About 30 people committed to the short trip out to New Brunswick for the "Smells Like Jersey" alleycat.
Here are some pix, and the results:
1. Dan NJ Prize: White Deep V's laced to Miche Primatos
2. Andrew M NJ Prize: Tan Chrome Metropolis
3. Andrew T NYC Prize: Pair of Conti 3000 GP's (3rd) and Warriors Alleycat DVD (1st out of Town)
4. Gavin NJ
5*. Blake NJ *Lost Manifest
5. Crish D.(sp?) NYC
6. Amadeo NYC
7. Chombo NYC
8. Mike S. NJ
9. Colin NJ
10. Mike B. NJ
11. Brean NYC
12. Roland NYC
13. Mibe M. NJ
14. Ryan NJ
15. Kyler NJ
16. Matt P. NJ
17. (tie) Brad NYC
17. (tie) Graham Ireland
17. (tie) Scott Providence
20. Jay W NJ
21. Alissa (F) NYC Prize: Hardened 3' Lock and Chain
22. Gregg Philly
23. Tom (DNF) NJ
24. Scott Tom's River (DNF???) Providence
7th Annual Blessing of the Bicycles
The Catherdral Church of St. John the Devine
107 Amsterdam Ave.
Sat., Apr. 22 at 9:30 a.m.
All cyclists and their friends, including bike messengers, bike racers, bike commuters, recreational bikers, and, of course, children, are invited to this colorful service, which includes a blessing to kick off a safe cycling season.
Massamba's Chrome Cannondale track bike was stolen today at 588 Broadway.
The ulock broken. It had straight bars (not like the ones in this picture) and was set up as a single speed
freewheel w/brakes.
This bike is unique looking and Massamba rides all the time, please keep
your eyes out and your ears to the ground.
TTown Swapmeet
Get some stuff!
Semi-Annual Bike Swap Meet
Saturday, April 22, 2006, 9 A.M. - 2 P.M
Trexlertown, PA
Admission is $5 per person; kids 12 and under are free.
Every year in the spring & fall, the velodrome in Trexlertown, PA hosts a swapmeet. You can pick up some great deals there. Get there early.
Lehigh Valley Velo website
Cycling/Courier stories for new book
Chances are, messengers have got some ridiculous stories to tell. Casagrande press has an open call for submissions about your
tallest tales or unfortunate misadventures. Visit their website
for details on how to submit your story. Oh, you'd be paid for it if you're published.
April Fools Weekend
From Richmond to New York, stuff was going on everywhere. Squid took first everything at the annual R.E.Load April Fools' alleycat
in Philly - Top Dog, Top outta town, First Track Bike. NYC effing rules.
In New York, Steve Klien did his research and came up with the most
obscure streets in the city. This is the order that Austin & Jamie (who came in first for boys & girls respectively) did them. See if you know where any of them are.
1. Lincoln Center (the start. Not obscure)
2. Edgar St. (financial district)
3. Stone St. (financial district)
4. Rose St.
5. Freeman's Alley
6. Cherokee St. (77th & York)
7. Grant's Tomb
8. Sylvan Terrace (168th & St. Nicholas)
9. The Little Red Lighthouse underneath the George Washington Bridge
10. The Cloisters
11. 245th & Broadway in the Bronx: Finish.
And in Richmond, at the Slaughterama, they came up with something called "Whiplash", where two bikers tied together by bungee
cords take off in different directions. The first person to fall off loses.
Velo City Tour - Win tickets to Sydney for CMWC
click to enlarge.
Squid is organizing three events this summer with NYC, LA, and Chicago Crews!
Two days of Velodrome Racing in each city. Two tickets to Sydney up for
grabs at each event, one for top male messenger and one for top female
messenger. Also lots of cool prizes for city bikers and teams.
So get your bike track legal and you have three shots at winning tix. Discuss it on the
IFBMA forums. Website soon to be up on pumaville.com.
Smells Like Jersey Alleycat Details - April 8th
It's all about jersey. We have to have love for jersey. No matter how much it hurts. They let us have CMWC there afterall. The
state's not all that bad. Here are some details:
Start Finish Line: College ave parking deck, corner of College Avenue and Senior Street
Checkpoints:
- 120 Georges Road, "Space Center" Building, new brunswick,nj
- Nichol Ave. and Comstock Street, Water treatment plant, new brunswick,nj
- George Street and Somerset, Trenton bound Train Platform. new brunswick,nj
- 29 Easton Avenue, All Brunswick Cyclery, new brunswick,nj
- Commercial Avenue and Route 18, Boyd Park, new brunswick,nj
- 45 Kilmer Road, Smith and Soloman Truck Driving School, edison,nj
- Easton Avenue and Landing Lane, Pump House, new brunswick, nj
- Intersection of Scarlet Knight Way, Batholomule Rd, Campus Rd, and Frelinhysen Rd. Traffic Circle on Busch Campus, piscataway, nj Gmapped checkpoints, courtesy of Jersey's Best.
Directions
From NYC, take a NJ Transit train down the North East Corrider towards trenton. Get off at the New Brunswick Stop. When you exit the platform, head up the hill, this is easton avenue, continue on easton until you hit senior street. Make a right onto senior street, continue until you hit the parking deck.
Arrive By Bicycle: Bicycling On
Film.
The Donnell Media Center of The New York Public Library is sponsoring a
bicycle film series in April 2006 named "Arrive By Bicycle: Bicycling On
Film." All programs are held in the Donnell Library Center Auditorium,
admission is free. Download a PDF of the full schedule.
Feature length films for screening include BREAKING AWAY, a rivalry between
four Indiana High School graduates and arrogant college students culminates
during Indiana University's "Little 500" bicycle race; BICYCLE THIEF, a
masterpiece of post-World War II Neorealist cinema; A SUNDAY IN HELL, a
critically acclaimed documentary in which director Jorgen Leth mythologizes
cycle racing; and THE CYCLIST (BICYCLERAN), Nasim, an Afghan refugee, is
able to pay his wife's hospital bills when a slick self-serving promoter
convinces him to attempt a seven-day, 24-hours-a-day bicycle endurance
marathon for which tickets are sold and bets are placed.
Short films for screening include THE CYCLE, a boy "borrows" a banana-seat
bicycle for a carefree ride through Central Park; The Dover Boys at Pimento
University or The Rivals of Roquefort Hall, ending with a bicycle built for
three splitting into three individual cycles; VIVE LE TOUR, Louis Malle's
brilliant documentary of the Tour de France; and WILLIE, a sensitive boy
runs away from an oppressive orphanage to the South Bronx where he
squeegees windshields to earn money for a bicycle.
The NYC Bicycle Coalition, a new organization comprised of diverse bicycling groups working together to improve NYC
cycling conditions, needs a logo. If you or anyone you know would be interested in volunteering artwork, please email
nycbc.design@gmail.com with your design. A committee will select one design, but even
if we don't pick your contribution, we would love to retain your skills for later graphics work. The deadline for
submissions is March 20th. Thanks and please forward widely.
148 racers from at least 20 cities came to race from as far away as Copenhagen, Tokyo, and Australia.
In a chaotic twist to a Le Mans style start, everyone spilled off the side of Marcus Garvey Park on 120th & 5th, running down cement
stairs, hopping over stone walls, running through mud & stone and jumping over fences to unlock their bikes below. 20 miles later in Williamsburg Brooklyn, after
a 5 mile sprint down 5th Avenue and a tricky navigation through downtown Manhattan, the winners fell into place at Rockstar Bar.
Full Results Here. Photos from Amy.
Here are a few video clips, courtesy of Animal: Video 1 | Video 2
Top Three:
1) Alfred Bobe, Jr.
2) Andy "Track Cunt" White,
3) Felipe "The King" Robayo.
Top Girls
1) Ellen, NYC
2) Meredith - DC (1st out of town girl)
3) Dagga - NYC
First out of Town
Fergus - Philadelphia (8th place overall)
500m Goldsprints
1) Ken Stanek (21.33 seconds)
2) Henry - Boston (21.53 seconds)
3) Eric - Philly
4) Jumbo - Copenhagen
Monstertrack preparty
CORRECTION:Friday, March 4th. Group ride leaves from Essex & Delancey at 7:45 for Capones - 221 N. 9th St., Williamsburg. More details on the
race to come. www.monstertracknewyork.com
BMEF dispenses emergency funds to Brean, NYC.
The Bicycle Messenger Emergency Fund has dispensed a $300 check to help Brean pay for food & medicine while
he recovers from an accident that is keeping him off the road. Thanks, BMEF!
Schlitz & Giggles results
It was cold windy and snowing. Not the fluffy cute snow but the wet and
sloppy snow. More than ninety cycle couriers and city bikers from up and
down the east coast braved the weather and registered for what turned out
to be one hell of a great event.
Call me crazy but I love riding my bike in the snow! Few things sound
better to me than getting to haul ass round Boston on a winter day...(read more from Squid)
RESULTS
1st fucking place overall- howie from boston
2nd place- dan g from D.ead C.ity
3rd place- jacob from boston
1st place outta town- squid from nyc
1st girl= lola from D.ead C.ity
2nd girl - lodrina from boston
3rd place girl- stephanie b. from boston
1st outta town girl- gretchen from burlington, vt
DEAD FUCKING LAST went to josh whitesnake from nyc
naked schlitz holding track stand-eric from philly
Yatika & Austin got into the top 5 at Baltimore's Shock Trauma race on Feb 18th. Watch out for these dudes at Monstertrack. Here are the
rest of the results (provided by Aylen, whose flickr photos are here):
1. Bryan (49) Baltimore
2. Isaac (204) Baltimore
3. Yatika (101) NYC
4. Bruce (69) DC
5. Austin (11) NYC
6. Dan G. (46) DC
7. Jason Kejayias (47) Baltimore
8. Eric (45) Philly
9. Jason (16) Philly
10. Dan C. (42) New Jersey
11. Johnny V (420) DC
12. El Barcho (235) Baltimore
13. Ronco (28) Baltimore
14. Vince (27) Baltimore
15. Tim (36) Houston
16. Brandon (99) Baltimore
17. Neale (9) Baltimore
18. Kevin D. (51) DC
19. Alex (19) Baltimore
20. Saba (50) Baltimore
Only 20 out of 40 registrants finished. Bryan & Isaac tied for 1st. Bryan's overall win was determined by a trackstand competition.
More photos are on the Demoncats website.
CMWC 14 Registration now open
The Sydney BMA has opened registration for this October's Cycle Messenger World Championships. Click Here.
NYBMA + Times Up! Fundraiser for 49 E. Houston
Friday, February 24, 9pm
REMINDER - there's a fundraiser for 49 E. Houston tonight!!!
Lots of groups use this space, and we'd like to be able to keep it. Prices on the flyer are subject to change, but hey...it's a fundraiser.
Be generous.
Magpie, a musical review
A new musical, Magpie, about two young lovers set in the temperamental world of messengering, had public readings at The Players Theatre -
115 MacDougal St. on Wednesday & Thursday night this week. The NYBMA sent out a panel of its theatre review committee to comment.
The show, while delightfully casting its main characters as messengers, sadly relegated these rookies to the subways, delivering their packages on foot.
Personally, we were all expecting more bike tricks & road romanticizing. Maybe staging tender scenes between the irrational & highly medicated
characters would've been too much of a challenge if they had to set up rollers on stage. As it turns out, the show read somewhat like a
Wikipedia (It's the new Cliff's Notes) version of the Bizet Opera, Carmen.
Magpie's main character, Maggie - who suffered from grand delusions that factor heavily into the plot - was particularly fond of that Opera. In Carmen, a bullfighter named Escammillo steals
Carmen away from Don Juan, who kills her. I hope I didn't just ruin the ending of Carmen for you. Well, that's not exactly what happens in Magpie, but there is an Escamillo character, in the form of Tino, who's
relationship with his parents is the best part of characterization in the show. Maggie & Tino drop some legal papers at some dude's place on the Upper East Side
and they get all retarded & fall in love, then his parents yell at his boss to fire the girl, and Tino accidentally drugs Maggie & Maggies weird
Electra Complex (it's like the Oedipal complex, but different)
father gets all freaked out too. In between all this is some pretty shallowly written lyrics, the score of which barely reflects the multicultural
goals of The Amas Six O'Clock Musical Theatre Lab, which developed Magpie. With such a
multicultural backdrop as New York City and the messenger community, you'd think the writers would take this as a great opportunity to
break from the traditional themes of musicals. But no. It's pretty standard fare.
Unfortunately, the show has very little to do with messengers, except as a framing device for the characters. There are three supporting characters
who pop up every once in a while in musical song, but uh...I can't remember the last time I saw that happen on the streets. This plot could've been framed by
any workplace, but maybe the writers assumed that only the bike messenger world would accept youthful, drugged up, irrational kids and reactionary adults.
If this completely unqualified theatre reviewer had his say, he'd say "it needs work."
Animated Bike Messenger Movie
bicyclemessengersmovie.com "Bicycle Messengers is a short film about New York
City bicycle messengers in which all of the
messengers are animated and all of the backgrounds
and environments are live action footage shot in
midtown Manhattan....It is a unique film that utilizes,
examines and subverts the documentary format.... The theme of juxtaposition is
echoed throughout its methods in order to present
an image of a group of people who are utterly
different from the world in which they live."
Judge rules in favor of cyclists
Legal battles have been raging off and on for a year and a half now, and just yesterday a judge called the
"city's legal strategy against the ride
"highly irregular" and "as unnecessary as it is inappropriate,"."
Matt Roth from Times-Up reports that
"a rather conservative Judge ruled against the city's request for
emergency injunctive relief to prevent us from meeting in a park without getting a permit,
for riding without getting a permit, and for speaking about or advertising the ride.
While the City says it will appeal the ruling, the language and tone make an appeal pretty tough."
Times Up is going to have a press conference with the legal team on Thursday 2/16, at 49 E. Houston at 11:30 am. Anyone who can come by certainly should.
Valentine's Day Hot Pursuit Results
A handful of hale & hearty romantics came out for the first run of Hot Pursuit, and it was a whole crap-ton of fun.
The streets in Red Hook were impressively clear & dry, which makes sense, considering that's where they keep all
the salt trucks & snow plows. We shrank the course to accomodate for the number of people, and everyone took off,
rounding each lap to earn another flag and chasing down their opponents to rip flags off of them the entire time. In the end
Bianca won overall, with Nicki Yoshiushi coming in 1st for guys and Ken getting the most points overall. It was a great
first run. Expect a game once a month...maybe even after Monster Track.
Back at the Bait & Tackle, Goldsprints by Getsum kept things going. Bianca again won for girls, and Ken edged out Felipe by 2/10ths of
a second to win for the guys. Thanks to Crumpler, Red Riding Hood Productions,
King Kog, & Toys in Babeland for the prizes.
The NYBMA is putting together a team to ride in the American Diabetes Association's annual Tour De Cure, June 4th.
Last year, we were a bit busy organizing a little thing called the CMWC to put a team together, but this year, the ADA's organizers approached
us to ride again. There is a 15, 32, or 62 mile ride that begins in Morningside park, goes over the George Washington bridge into New Jersey, up to Nyack, and back into Manhattan.
The registration fee is $15, and each rider is responsible for raising $100. With sponsors for our team though, each person shouldn't have to worry too much about the $100.
If we raise enough money, we want to get NYBMA jerseys made up, too. If you're intersted in being on the team, email ken@studionumbernine.net
CMWC Jerseys now $45! Bargain!
Our overstock CMWC jerseys have been marked down to $45! Order them from the NYBMF store while they last. Or pick 'em up at Monstertrack, where we'll have a table
of our merch, like that CMWC group photo you know you want to buy.
Oh-De-Sea...not quite an Odyssey.
Amy Bolger is out west, touring with this bike from Los Angeles to San Francisco & back again. She's shooting & blogging while she's
out there. Keep track of her at amy.messengernyc.com.
CM article in The Villager
The Villager recounts what happened at the end of last month.
Rumors of another ticketing blitz
Our field operatives report overhearing rumors of another ticket blitz:
"i was just ordering some fish n chips on 1st ave and 5th st when this cop comes in and asks to speak with the
manager. He tells the manager that the precinct is about to start ticketing bikers for all infractions. The cop told him to make sure his
delivery guys had bells and stayed in the bike lanes etc, etc, etc...he even had a peice of paper with all the things they will be ticketing
for(wish i grabbed it)."
Keep your eyes open on the major avenues, and be careful out there.
Monster Track
Greg Ugalde's Monster Track illustration is amazing. Monster Track - March 4, 2006.
New kickass game to play on your bike:
So...what is this? The basic idea is that you race around a small area
(we're doing it in Red Hook because there really isn't anything going on in Red Hook) and collect flags
which you attach to your bag or a belt with velcro. There's another team (Valentine's day theme will
be Boys vs. Girls) whose objective it is to steal your flags. It's like playing flag football and
footdown at the same time, while riding your bike. As an added Valentine's Day bonus, the flags that the guys
steal from the girls count for kisses from them later. So girls, don't lose your flags. Or...make sure
you lose them strategically. Email CK - crissfyah@gmail.com for details.
Toronto Bike Messenger vs. Rageaholic SUV driver
Leah from Toronto got caught up in a textbook example of Road Rage this morning (Thursday, Jan 26).
The driver tossed some trash, she tossed it back, he tossed his coffee at her...then it got worse.
Is David Lee Roth going to ride in Critical Mass tonight (Jan 27)?
BikeBlog reports that
Elizabeth Press and Andrew Lynn, two of the three directors of "Still We Ride" were on 92.3 Krock Thursday morning talking with David Lee Roth. Apparently, the ex Van Halen
frontman & Howard Stern replacement is a bike enthusiast and digs this whole Critical Mass thing. He might be out there on Friday.
Alleycat movie history lesson NYC
Sat, Jan 28th, 8:00 pm TIMES UP! 49 E HOUSTON (mott&mulberry)
"Warriors, the Bike Race." - a 30 minute documentary about NYC's
most insane alley cat race. 800 riders came to a park in the Bronx
with their gangs and had to get to Coney Island by sun up. They had
to compete in physical challenges, answer trivia questions and not
get obliterated by other gangs. Director's Jesse Epstein, Michael
Green and Christopher Ryan, were on hand to cover the mayhem...Can
you dig it.
Bike TV presents "CMWC05 Wrap Up" a 30 minute presentation from
everyone's favorite public access program, dedicated to the
bicycle...Bike TV. Last year the, "Messenger Olympics" came to their
rightful home...New York City for the 13th Messenger World
Championships. This program is a look at much of what when on when
the worlds Messengers came to New York and Jersey for 4 days of
events, last summer.
"Bike Kill 2005" Did you miss last Halloween's Bike Kill? Dirty
Jersey Choppers, makers of amazing mutant bikes made a 5 minute video
about all the chaos. Tallbike jousting, dirty mattress riding,
footdown and much more. Bike Kill is an annual event hosted by the
Black Label Bike Club.
This is a free event, beer will most likely be served for donations
and all donations gratefully accepted for time's up.
Drink for Brean! Jan 24 (TONIGHT) at Lakeside Lounge - 10th St. & Ave. B
Our boy Brean is laid up with a broken thumb. He isn't hospitalized, but he just can't do anything for a while. Trackstar's having a fundraiser for him at
Lakeside Lounge tonight. The 2 for 1 Happy Hour is extended to 9pm for him & all his friends. This should've been posted sooner,
but if you're reading it, stop by the bar (Ave B. & 10th St) from 6:30-9:00. See you there.
Alleykitten pics
A few alleykitten pictures have finally been added to the results page. These are all from the Staten Island Ferry location. Sorry for the delay.
A few more photos can be found on Mareesha's Flickr page
NY Cycle News - Naked Bike Ride
nycyclenews.com has a great article on the World Naked Bike Ride
(flickr).
If that weren't enough, Jen Benepe is a cool city cyclist & her brother's the NYC parks commissioner. Her site's got regularly updated rants & raves about riding in New York, plus
a section where you can submit your own rant.
New York again rolled thick for DC's annual "big deal" alleycat with somewhere between 20-30 people packing themselves in station wagons and Chinatown
Buses for the trip to our Nation's Capitol. Most of Team Puma showed up, as well as a representative of the Brooklyn wing of Chunk 666,
and several of the fools who race their fixies around Prospect Park every
Thursday Night at 10pm. While last week's weather almost promised to make the title of the race laughable, Mother Nature changed that all around in a hurry, tossing 30 degree
weather and 45 mile per hour wind gusts at us all night long. New York again represented well with Hugo taking 1st out of town / 3rd overall, Dan Gonzalez at 5th, Ken at 7th, and Carlos 9th in the
top 10. The weird scoring system unfortunately bumped Chunk's Dan Gonzales and NYBMA's Ken Stanek down from 1st & 2nd to 5th & 7th, respectively. Props, of course,
go to Hugo for getting all the bonus points we missed. Full results haven't been posted anywhere yet, but keep an eye on dcbca.org over the next few days. Here are some pictures (apparently, everyone's got a flickr account): Photos from Dan G. www.flickr.com/photos/wolverine_9_5/... www.flickr.com/photos/jonny5/sets/ demoncats.com
Thanks everyone, for coming out to my birthday party
Of course I try to keep this website kinda impersonal, but I slip sometimes. Just wanted to say thanks for bringing it out to Capone's on Friday Night.
Hope you all had a good time.
Mike D's Goldsprints, run simultaneously with Goldsprints by Ho in DC, were a blast. It ended up
being me vs. Felipe for the finals. Somehow, I pulled out an explosive spin, and edged him out for the #1 spot. For anyone who saw his brief tantrum following the
sprint, don't worry. "It's all part of the show," he told me afterwards. We're still friends. Again, thanks a lot. See you when I'm on the streets.
Bicycle Film Festival 2006 Call for Submissions
Based in NYC the Fest is now expanding to multiple
cities around the world. The Fest in 2006 was attended by
15,000 people. It is bound to be a lot of fun again in 2006.
The deadline is February 17th.
bicyclefilmfestival.com
January 4th NYBMA minutes
We talked about this website a lot, plus our ongoing building campaign, and a bunch of other odds & ends. There might be a second Messenger Prom this Valentines Day - we'll keep
you posted. And this site will probably be undergoing some significant changes pretty soon. Read more.
The Winner of the "What happened in Houston's Solstice Race" contest is: SQUID!!!
Squid not only was the only person to respond to the request for stories based on Amy's pictures, he was also ACTUALLY AT THE RACE, so his story's going to be more or less accurate
and completely non-fiction. Read it!
Memorial Ride for fallen cyclists
21 deaths in 2005. January 8, 2005. Various starting points. Rides converge at 2:45 at the Manhattan side of the Williamsburg bridge. Visit Times-Up for more info.
Alleykitten results
Almost 50 people came out for the first annual New Year's eve alleycat for anyone who isn't on Team Puma. Just kidding, just kidding. Team Puma wasn't allowed
to race - pretty much everyone in this race was on their first alleycat ever. It was just to give them a taste of what it's like so they come out for things like monstertrack
on March 4. First Place went to Chunk 666's Dan Gonzalez. First Girl went to Julie from DC. Furthest traveled was Bianca from Melbourne, Australia. Full results & some pics are here.
Kinda Special Winter Olympics Results
All I've got to say is that crooked crank racing is hysterical. And what is crooked crank racing? Good question. That's the same question I had yesterday. Instead of your
cranks being at 180° to eachother, Trackstar set up some fixies with cranks at 90°. It was hilarious. It looked like you were galloping down the street. Alex won it. John from
Bike Habitat got second, and Squid came in Third. The rest of the results for Skids, Trackstands, Foot-Down, Arm Wrestling & more are at trackstarnyc.com. Or at least, they will be soon.
There's a rookie out there, and he's a great writer
Ned Vizzini writes for the New York Press, and
he's just decided to be a messenger. You know you gotta love the NY Press, but it's one of those real small newspapers, and we can excuse Ned for needing to make a few extra
bucks on the side. Plus, he's pretty poetic about it. Good luck, Ned.
Kinda Special Olympics
New Year's Day
Hosted by Trackstar,
time & location TBD, but just look for a bunch of hungover messengers on the lower east side sometime around noon.
Bike Toss, Drunken Track Events, Crooked, Crank Racing, Arm Wrestling.
Spy Cops!
Surely the cops don't use the same guys anymore, but here are pictures of the undercovers exposed in the New York Times. If you're riding with one of them, ride the other way.
Merry Christmas!
Happy Holidays
Whatever you want. Have a good vacation!
New York Police Covertly Join In at Protest Rallies
The New York Times reports that
undercover cops have been spying on us in very clever, insidious ways. Scary stuff. Especially considering that it's just a bunch of people on freakin' bikes...I mean, what gives?
Bike Pool - Strike Ride - 6pm Columbus Circle - 59th & 8th
It's been busy and it's been weird for the past two days without buses & subways rumbling all around us. There are a ton of new bikers & drivers riding somewhat erratically (but at least the bikers are riding!). This one thing has been consistent:
6pm mass bike rides starting at Columbus Circle. It's been happening since Tuesday. It's not a Critical Mass. It's just a bunch of people riding bikes & showing off the fact that
everythings just completely normal, thank you. After Thursday's ride will be a screening of Go Further (2004)
at the Times Up space - 49 E. Houston.
Monster Track Party at Capone's tonight - Dec 21
People from Current TV (Al Gore's hip TV station geared to the drastically underrepresented
14-28 year old market) have been running a 5 minute promo for Monster Track,
which Lucas Brunelle, Squid, Carlos, Chris, and Victor collaborated on. They're having a little party tonight at Capone's - 221 North 9th St. (between Driggs and Roebling). Free Piza with your beer.
I don't know personally what went on on Texas last weekend, but my preliminary reports tell me that the 17 New Yorkers who went down for Winter Solstice rocked some shit the way New Yorkers
do whenever they go anywhere. All I've got are some pictures to share. They're funny. Eventually I'd like to get the actual results from the event, but moreso, I'd like to know what you THINK happened. This is why I'm creating
the first ever "create your own story" contest. Look at the pictures Amy took, and make up whatever you think happened. Then email your tale to me. Be creative. Make me laugh! Make me cry! There better be sex & drugs in there!
Whoever comes up with the best story gets it posted on nybma.com.
The Building Policy Campaign
We have drafted the first version of our letter to the NY State Messenger & Courier Association (NYSMCA - an organization of company owners). It is our hope that in working with this group,
we can have many of the insulting, time consuming, and aggravating building policies stopped or changed. If you have any comments, suggestions, or if you'd like to contribute to this campaign, email Frank or
Judith.
Transit Strike - PAID valet bike parking
HAHAHAH! Who cares? Suckers. We ride bikes! Of course, I don't know who this is being addressed to. If this goes down, do your best to encourage the discouraged sots stuck in traffic to get some wheels and get around that way. Tell them that
there's valet bike parking in Bryant Park, and point them to TA's tips for biking the strike.
On the topic of the valet bike parking - provided by The 34th Street Partnership - they are looking to hire people to work the valet bike lot for $10 from 8am to 7pm. You don't have to do the whole shift, but they need people for a few hours at a time
to watch the bikes. If you're interested, contact Noah Budnick at noah@transalt.org, or by phone 646
873 6022.
8th Annual Winter Solstice - TEXAS
This weekend in Texas is where we all should be. It's going to be warmer and there's going to be racing and goldsprints and all sorts of madness. Team Puma will be there, as well as 10 other New Yorkers. Of course, they'll
all kick ass or get wasted like champions. Probably both. They've also got a pretty dope website: www.hhbcz.com
Dirty Hot Messenger Boys Photoshoot
Wednesday, December 14th - TODAY!!!
Trackstar and Pitch Control PR are putting together a hot dirty messenger calendar for the new year. Be prepared to show some skin.
On Wednesday December 14th between 6 and 7:30 pm.
at Pitch Control PR
213 E. 5th st.
basement west
new york
for a good time call 646.498.8431
KING KOG results
Jason "4916" Chaste opened his Williamsburg bike shop, King Kog with a race from the Empire State building to the storefront on Hope & Marcy. 8 people raced. We don't have a whole gallery of pictures this time, but here are the top 5:
1 - Yatika
2 - Ken
3 - Jonas
4 - Orejas
5 - Dave C.
The top three came in pretty much together, in spite of Yatika crashing into a fence on the W'burg bridge and Jonas biting it on the ice a block away from the shop. The last 3 came in a few minutes after the top 5,
and I can't remember all of their names, but I'm pretty sure there were two Chris's.
Ticket Blitz
There's no way of recording how many tickets have been issued to cyclists in the past few months, but wouldn't it be cool if there was one so someone could point out the bogus ones from the more "genuine" ones? It totally would be cool.
Well, TA's doing it. It takes a bit of proactivity though. All you have to do is download, print, and fill out this flyer. Send it in to TA, and they'll start cataloging this harassment.
FYI, this applies to ANY tickets you've gotten at ANY time! Not just
within the past few months. The more information they have, the better.
IFBMA wiki-something
The IFBMA likes our Know Your Rights Manual so much, they want to make one for every city in the world that has bike messengers. Of course, no one person alone has the dedication to track down & record
the differences in laws between dozens of cities in
just as many languages. But using the power of the internets, the IFBMA can harness our dispersed strengths as one! That's why they've set up a wiki page for each city's messenger handbook. What's a wiki page?
It's like wikipedia, where anyone (yeah, even you!)
can jot down anything you want on any topic. It's all democratic and free. Amazing! The IFBMA's idea is that the messenger community will collectively put together each city's manual by listing resources on
this page (look for your area at the bottom). Of course, we've already got our own manual,
but if you're reading this from anywhere but New York or if you've got love for places you used to work, contribute!
DC raises $5,000 for Rico Palacios
NYC out-of-towners dominate endurance race.
Our hats go off to the DC crew for raising over $5,000 for vet messenger Rico Palacios. Not only did their race & raffle raise over $2,000, it was combined with the $500 raised by Copenhagen at Mandownopoly AND THEN DOUBLED by the
generous Larry Parks! They are now trying to figure out how to get the money to Rico's mother with minimal tax complications. But nonetheless, this will provide a great relief in Rico's long road to recovery.
Around 60 people raced in DC on Saturday, including 7 New Yorkers, who characteristically kicked ass, dominating the top ten with finishes of second, third, fourth, and tenth place. We also had the first girl, who came in 12th overall.
First out-of-town and second place overall went to Ken (who's also been known to write in the first person on this
website). He was followed by Squid in third place and Dan Chunk in 4th. John Chombo came in 10th, and Ellen came in 12th, as first girl. Thanks to DC's Andy Zalan and Dan G. for showing us the way.
Full results can be seen on the Demoncats website, and updates on Rico's condition can be followed on dcbca.org.
This is what Halloween is like in Berlin
Many of you might have noticed that the person who first hosted a Halloween race in New York in 1995 and who has been responsible for pretty much everything since then was mysteriously absent for
La Calavera. You'd think that a legendary race in it's 11th year would star it's legendary organizer. Well, if there's any other place more legendary for Halloween alleycats than New York, it's Berlin, who hosted their 13th annual race this year.
That's where Squid was. And this is what he thought.
Article in The Villager
A decent article focusing on Charlotte in The Villager
IFBMA Forums
The International Federation for Bicycle Messenger Associations has developed forums on their site, messengers.org. This will be a place to bitch, whine, ramble incoherently, and maybe, just maybe, if we wish really hard and click our heels together
three times, get some substantial change made in the messenger world. It's worth it to frequently go over there and observe the discussions. This directly affects everyone! www.ifbma.com/forums. Go & post some stuff. Get a discussion going.
Race for Rico
Saturday, December 3rd. Dupont Circle in Washington, DC
Rico has been a stalwart part of the messenger scene for over 15 years. A month ago, he was involved in hit-and-run in DC. He has been in the hospital ever since, spending most of the time in a coma.
If you've been around for a while, you know who he is. If you haven't been around for a while, you know someone who's upset because of this. The people in Copenhagen have already thrown an alleycat to raise money for him.
This Saturday, DC's Demon Cats are throwing the Rico Suave race to help raise money for Rico and his Mother. Getting to DC is a cheap, 4-hour ride on the
Chinatown Bus, so if
you can make it, you should go. The race registration is at 3pm at Dupont Circle.
We don't have all of the results for you yet, and we won't until after this weekend. I'm riding to Pennsylvania Wednesday morning for Thanksgiving, and I'm not bringing my computer with me.
Sorry everybody. I hope you enjoy these pictures until then.
Cranksgiving results
55 racers made the 7th annual Cranksgiving charity race the largest Cranksgiving ever. We raced from the Javits Center up to Gristede's grocery stores on 96th & 3rd, down to Battery Park, and back to the Javits center. Over 200 items of stuffing,
potatoes, cranberry sauce, and canned soup were donated to St. Mary's food Pantry at 440 Grand St.
TOP FINISHERS:
GUYS
1 - Andy White (again)
Alfred (didn't have one of his receipts)
2 - Brean
Morgan (didn't have one of his receipts)
3 - Ken (Also won "most charitable" for buying two of everything at each stop)
GIRLS
1 - Jamie
2 - Kym P.
3 - Rene Fan
Complete results & more pictures will be posted soon.
Thanksgiving Potluck dinners totally rule
We got everyone all loaded up for Cranksgiving on the friday before it with a ton of food very generously donated from Lamarca's and many plates prepared by our own members. Brooklyn Beer also threw down
some extremely delicious Post Road Pumpkin Ale, Chocolate Stout, and Lager. After buying a brand new microwave (so we can heat up food in the future), we raised almost $350 for the NYBMA. Our next party is December 16th.
Got ticketed? Call Transportation Alternatives
Transalt is keeping track of the blitz of tickets being issued these days. If you've gotten one for anything, contact Noah. Also, if you get a veh. code 1234 (not keeping to the right), it's been overruled in court already (Bray v. City of New York).
The NYPD still seems to enforce this law, but they legally should not be. Don't take your tickets lying down.
It's Thanksgiving dinner for all of you! FREE food if you bring a dish of something to share with everyone. Otherwise, it's $3-a-plate. $2 Brooklyn Beers.
The Goldsprints that didn't happen
We need to apologize to anyone who came out to the Brooklyn Brewery on Sunday expecting Goldsprints. Because of miscommunication on the part of Champion Systems Cycling and liability issues on the part of the Brewery,
an arrangement between them & Getsum Entertanment couldn't happen. Keep your eyes on nybma.com for the next goldsprint event.
Trackstar, a small
community-based
bike shop located in the Lower East Side of New York
City,
is asking for submissions from artists involving
their interpretations
of cycling legends. Trackstar will be hosting a
not-for-profit
event to help aid displaced children from the recent
hurricanes. 100% of all
proceeds will be divided up between multiple
charities, such as The Children's
Health Fund, Operation Assist and Save The Children.
This project is open to all artists
working in any Fine Arts media. Artist teams are
eligible to apply, including
teams of artists from multiple disciplines. Works in
a variety of mediums and
forms will be considered. Examples of fine arts media
include, but are not
limited to paintings, sculptures, illustrations,
puppets, etc. Please, no artwork
involving fire, water, or explosives. In addition,
Trackstar has final say in
regards to all artwork submitted. Postmark deadline
for applications is 4
weeks from today - December 9th. Please direct all
inquires regarding your
submission to info@trackstarnyc.com or 212-982-2553.
There are few reasons for action more compelling than
the suffering of a child. -Shakespeare
Cops clearly cracking down - Bloomburg's now got a "mandate"
Scary stuff going on out there. But at least in some cases, even the officers who are giving you the tickets think it's completely bogus too. www.newyorkcyclist.com.
New Orleans Bike Build - Please Help or Donate
Hurricane Katrina was one the worst natural disasters in the history of the
United States. A group of
volunteer bicycle mechanics has formed to go to New Orleans (Dec 1-7) to
help give back mobility to the residents of New Orleans.
A local non-profit bicycle project, Plan B planb.bikeproject.org, has been donated over 600 used bicycles for the people of New Orleans. However these bicycles need work to make them
usable. NYC mechanics organized through Recycle-A-Bike want to repair these bicycles and make them available to the people of New Orleans.
The mechanics are taking time off from work, and donating their time, to go and work in New Orleans to make a difference.
It is estimated that each mechanic will repair at least 4 bikes per day. A conservative estimate for parts for each bike is $25.
If they are able to send 10 mechanics repairing 4 bikes a day they will have 280 bicycles for the people of New Orleans, at a parts cost of $7000.
The cost of sending each mechanic to New Orleans is $500 for travel and food. They want to send 10 mechanics at a cost of $5000.
This sets their total goal to $13,000. Please help reach this goal with a non-profit donation through the Internet or by mail at the address below. These are non-profit donations with all of the tax benefits allowed.
Please donate through the Network for Good
(search for: RECYCLE-A-BICYCLE INCORPORATED on their website).
You will see that they are located in Brooklyn, New York and Ms. Karen Overton is the Executive Director. You may make a note that your donation is for New Orleans, or New Orleans Bike Build.
Make checks payable to: Recycle-A-Bicycle
Mail checks to:
Recycle-A-Bicycle
New Orleans Bike Build
55 Washington Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201 Reply to Jared Krumrine - nyny_to_nola@yahoo.com for more information.
NYBMA members bike in NYC marathon
Early Sunday morning, five of our members - including 2 members of Team Puma - rolled out to the Brooklyn side of the Verazzano-Narrows bridge to wait for the wheelchair & handchair participants of the NYC marathon. We were part of a
group of 60 cyclists from several different city organizations including Major Taylor, 5BBC, NYCC, Times-Up, Kissena, CRCA, Fast & Fabulous and more. The group was put together by Richard Rosenthal, a lifetime cyclist who shares our ideals of a city
that is drastically more friendly to cycling than it is today. In anticipation of meeting that goal, he assembled Sunday's diverse group of cyclists.
The best story of the day was when Puma's Tadeusz left the finish line only to appear 20 minutes later with a wheelchair guy hanging on to the back of his bike. Apparently, the chair's crank had broken in the Bronx - at the 21 mile mark. The racer could only speak Polish & couldn't communicate to anyone around.
Somehow, the marathon's organizers got in touch with Todd, who is Polish (we call him the Polish Hammer), and told him he had to get back to the Bronx to pull the wheelchair to the finish line. None of us saw him leave, but we all saw him roll back through with the wheelchair. It was one of the dozens of inspiring
things we saw that day.
Halloweekend Results, Photos, & oh, so much more
We took our time to post these pics, so they'd be totally perfect for you. (or, we took naps & did lots of biking instead of updating this website. Sorry). Check out tons of pics from Amy "I think I'll do portrait shots today" Bolger
here. In addition, she's posted some of the same & some additional pictures at amybolger.com/halloween05. If you look really closely, you
might be able to see how she tweaked the colors & crispness of the pictures on her site. That professional photography for you, people!
Also, the generous Gregory Cross has provided us pictures from the "All About the Benjamins" race on Friday night. Check them out here. If you need more pictures, it just so happens that our favorite
pink fixie rider, Ashira, just posted a bunch of stuff on flickr. There are more CMWC 2005 pics there, plus her shots from the Bike Kill. Let's see. What else do
we have? Oh, miss pinkfixie has ALSO put her film, "Even The Girls", up on sketchspace.com, which we must say, is quite dope. Enjoy!
Was your bike clipped on Bedford or elsewhere?
As most cyclists unfortunately know, at the beginning of October, the
NYPD clipped two dozen bikes at the Bedford Avenue L subway station in
Williamsburg. Was your bike taken by the City there or from somewhere
else around NYC?
If you think that the NYPD or another City agency recently took your
bike, contact T.A. They are investigating legal action to stop the City
from taking legally parked bikes, bike@transalt.org
Minutes from tonight's meeting
If it was convenient to navigate to the minutes of our monthly meetings, that would mean that I'd have redesigned this site already. But that hasn't happened yet, so I'll just tell you that our monthly meetings are
summarized at nybma.com/minutes.htm. Bookmark that or something until this place gets cleaned up.
Tell us the buildings you hate most
Got any buildings that drive you totally apeshit? You gotta go up the back, but let you come out the front? They keep you waiting 20 minutes or so and treat you like dirt? Some of 'em just entirely suck to ever go to every time you have to go there?
We want to know about them. And we want to know why.
Email Brean with your gripes. Give him 3 or 4 buildings. (please be specific in your subject & include your name in the body of the email).
Timbuk2 & the design-savvy people at coolhunting.com have teamed up to
auction off a few one-of-a-kind bags designed by NYC artists. The funds go to the Humane Society's efforts to help animals affected by Hurricane Katrina. Go buy 'em now!
Erwin Cruz - (KR's correspondence with Judith)
I just went to see my friend Erwin Cruz and
there is good news. He is getting better but not out
of the woods yet. He can't talk because there is
something wrong with his jaw, but was awake when I saw
him and able to answer questions by nodding yes or
no. I gave him a small radio that fits on the ear so
he could at least listen to music as I imagine he is
bored out of his mind and can't move around much. He
is in room 10w25 now, and he will move to other rooms
as he gets better.
On a brighter note, the T.V. people
that Tone hooked me up with over a year ago have
finally finished the show that they were producing
on global warming and it will air 11/2/05
on PBS at 8pm. They put a camera on my bike and I
rode around the east 50's for them. It is called "
global warming:causes and effects" or something like
that, so check it out if you can.
Calavera! Benjamins! Goldsprints! The King is The King!
OK Kids, here are your top results for the weekend. More pics & results to come, as soon as Guerros Sin Frenos shake off their hangover & post it.
ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS: 6 guys & 1 girl put their money where their big, fat shit-talkin' mouths were and forked over $100 each to race for a $700 pot. And you know what happened? Felipe won. What can you say?
The King is The King. Make sure you congratulate him on Monday if you see him. He'll still be sporting the devil horns he crazy-glued to his head. First (and only) girl: Amy Bolger.
LA CALAVERA: It was a 27 mile course if you did all the checkpoints in the most logical order. But it was a 40 mile course once you followed the rules. For a while, the organizers had been smirking about some trick they had up their sleeves,
and now we know
what they were up to. Of the 102 racers, only 23 finished the entire course. Top Finishers: Alfred (prize accepted by Mike Dee), Speedy, Andy White (1st out-of-continent), Zach. First Girl: Dagga
TEAM RACE: 1st: Chunk 666 (Paul, Ellen, & Gonzalez), 2nd: Team Fuckoff (Brean, Ken, Brandon). However, Team Fuckoff came in 2nd only because of an obscure & arbitrarily enforced technicality.
GOLDSPRINTS: Boys: Chris. Girls: Dagga
Heightened ticketing
The NYPD is ratcheting up their ticketing policy, ostensibly in preparation for this weekend. Judith got two tickets today. One for a red light - one for not being in the bike lane. Keep your eyes open for the next few days. They've got orders from
the top to ticket bikers for anything. Avoid 6th Avenue in midtown if you possibly can.
HALLOWEEKEND
Only two more days before Halloweekend begins. You think you're the fastest mf out there?
Put your money where your mouth is. Or go to Critical Mass. Then hit Capone's for Goldsprints. Shake off your hangover & do La Calavera on Saturday. Bring some water. Or Sparks. Whatever's your preference. It's a __ mile race
if you DON'T get lost. By the way, I left out the actual figure just in case any of you pussies want to back out because it's too far. Black Label will come after you if you don't go to Bike Kill afterwards.
Erwin Cruz
Our benefit party on Friday raised over $500 for Erwin's recovery! Thanks to everyone who came out. Special thanks to KR for supplying all the food. KR is an old friend of Erwin's, and he's the first one to alert the NYBMA to his condition.
if you want to visit Erwin, here's the info:
Bellevue Hospital, First ave @28th street
Room 10 West 25, ICU Surgical Unit
You can only see him for 10 minutes, and you should
call ahead to see if he's awake - 212.562.3941.
They took him off the respirator but he's on a feeding
tube so he can't talk, but that could change - just
call up and see what's developed.
Car Free Central Park Rally
October 24 - 4:45pm at 72nd & Central Park West.
TA's having a rally to get enough support to close Central Park to cars
during the entire summer of 2006. Over the past decade, they've been able to reduce the hours cars are able to use the park and close down several entrances.
Team Puma races for charity
Team Puma is fast AND super-nice. Last weekend, they passed up the opportunity to represent NYC in DC's "I see Dead People" alleycat so that they could race in the JDRF Little 500 in New Haven, CT to benefit the
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Check out some pics and Squid's take on the day here.
Pick up the newest copy of VICE, and you'll get a fancy booklet about fixed gear riding - put together by the folks at Puma, and contributed to by NYC's Squid, Alfred, et al. (You can also download it here.
Make your own opinions about the guide. But keep 'em to yourself.
Or discuss 'em here.
Erwin Cruz - stabilized & doing better
According to Erwin's neice, his condition has stablized and he should pull through. We all wish you good luck.
Erwin Cruz has been working on and off for 20 years in New York City. Last week, he had a terrible accident. If it hadn't happened 5 blocks away from Belleview, he might not be alive right now. He has 2 broken legs,a broken
pelvis, a broken shoulder, broken ribs which pierced his lung...the list goes on. He is in very bad shape. There aren't too many vets from his day still around, but if you want to see him, he is in the ICU
surgical unit at Bellevue Hospital,room 10 west 24. Be cautioned that he is in VERY bad condition, and it is not a pretty scene. We're keeping track of his progress. Our monthly party next friday might be a benefit for Erwin.
Adam Staudt's bike - STOLEN BACK
Bike thieves are douchebags, but sometimes, they're complete morons as well. Luckily for Adam, his bike was stolen by one of the morons. And this morning, it was found only a few blocks away from where it was stolen - locked up with a cheapo
chain - cut off by Brad from Trackstar. We're still waiting to find out if he took the bike and left, or if he waited around for the theif and gave him a stern talking to. More news as it develops. Oh, and big ups to the scene for keeping their eyes out for his wheels.
Adam's red&black gunnar track frame with campi hubs/mavic rims, and drop bars with yellow keirin grips was stolen from outside 49 east houston, between 6:30 and 8 p.m. tonight, October 5th.
That's our offices, and we were having a freakin' meeting! How shitty is that?
if you see this bike, it's hot! grab it and call him at 646.778.1300
Minneapolis totally rules
I don't even know if this has anything to with the couriers out there, but whoever's putting this together has the right idea. Northeast Falldown - 5 bars in 5 hours by bike.
Fuck MBMA though.
Car Free Central Park?
Central Park might not be at the top of the list of places we want to rid of cars, but we're behind TA's effort to make that dream a reality. In the past few years, they've fought successfully for an increase in car-free hours. Now,
they're going to try to make 2006 a car-free summer. "The priority in many ways should be the taming of the car, in all manner of form," states Roberta Brandes Gratz in their short film "The Case for a Car-Free Central Park".
"And where better to start than in the lungs of our city?".
On Monday, October 24th at 4:45pm, they will collect the landmark 100,000th signature in our petition drive for a car-free park. Visit their website for more information.
NYBMA meeting tomorrow - Wednesday, October 5th
49 E. Houston. 6:30-7:30
On the agenda: Affinity Health Care (affinityplan.com). A representative will give us a presentation on their plans, "designed specifically to serve the needs of low income New
Yorkers.".
Messenger Appreciation Day. Last minute planning. We'll be at Father Demo Square (Bleeker & 6th) from 11-6am on Friday and at 49 E. Houston from 7-11pm.
Skidstrong - to benefit the Bicycle Messenger Emergency Fund
SPRINGBORO, OH October 4 2005
Fixed-gear fever is spreading throughout pop culture and the bicycle industry, and the real heroes, full-time bike messengers,
need your help. Cycles Gaansari launched the SKIDSTRONG brand on September 30 to raise awareness and funding for the Bicycle Messenger Emergency Fund
(www.bicyclemessenger.com), a 501(c) 3 non-profit based in Florida.
SKIDSTRONG-branded fixed-gear framesets, complete bicycles, clothing and accessories (including R U SKIDSTRONG wristbands in brown, gold or pink) will be available exclusively at
www.skidstrong.com. Proceeds from the sale of each product goes to the BMEF, based in Sarasota, Florida. Jean Andre Vallery established the Fund in 2001.
"The Bicycle Messenger Emergency Fund was created to help out bicycle messengers after they've been involved in a crash that knocks them out of work," Mr. Vallery said.
"This fund provides emergency cash for an injured bicycle messenger during the first 24 - 36 hours of pain from injuries."
SKIDSTRONG framesets are made in Ohio. Riders can choose from frame and fork or complete bikes. SKIDSTRONG T-shirts, wristbands, helmets,
wheelsets, saddles, wool jerseys, messenger bags and chainstay stickers are also available online. SKIDSTRONG partnering companies include Velocity USA
( www.velocityusa.com ), Cane Creek ( www.canecreek.com ), Chrome (www.chromebags.com ),
and Gaansari (www.gaansari.com ).
Bicycling Magazine
There's a super-dope 5 page spread on CMWC in the November issue of Bicycling Magazine (on newstands now!). The roadie rag didn't write too much about it - probably because they didn't get it - but there are some great photos. Especially
the one Boston's strangers drinking Sparks malt liquor in their yellow bibs.
In related news, the article mentioned our website, so I freaked out & cleaned it up a bit. I hope you like it.
The real deal with Breakaways radios
OK, so the deal with radios at Breakaway isn't as great as we had originally stated. It's an improvement though. The way it works is when you start to work
at Breakaway, they give you a Boost Mobile phone with a $30 credit on it. Boost Mobile phones charge you $1.50 a day for unlimited radio/direct connect use. $30 will last you 20 days. If you use it only during weekdays,
that gives you a whole month. After that, you've got to pay for it yourself, which comes to $7.50 a week. Compared to the $17 a week they once charged, it's definitely an improvement. Just not the sweeping
overhaul we were hoping for.
Bike Thief spotted in action (but not caught)
We get lots of emails from messengers & non messengers alike here at nybma.com. We can't
do everything for everybody all the time, but since this guy got such a good view of the theif, we decided to post his letter:
"Some asshole
stole my bike today, and I have a damn good description of the guy.
At approx 3:45, at 192 Nassau st. A black guy wearing a white jumpsuit
and
a brand new extra large red Manhattan Portage messenger bag (with yellow
trim) was seen clipping the lock of my bike. It was/is a Specialized
Cirrus Sport with disc brakes, black bar ends, and thick tires (yeah, I
know, not exactly a common messenging bike). It was completely covered
with black tape except for the bottom bar which was taped with green
tape.
Anyway, the police were not much help despite being almost at the scene.
I
assume this guy is cruising around hiding the clippers in his messenger
bag. Since extra large bright red MP messenger bags with yellow trim
are
not likely to be very common, someone is going to spot this guy. When
they
do, I'd like for them to beat the shit out of the fucker, and then call
me
at (917) 257-1490. I'm sure you are inundated with requests to help out
with stolen bikes, but I think this case might be different because the
guy
was seen in the act, and we know what he looks like.
Anyway, I'm not sure if/how you could help me out on this one. I've
already posted a note on Craigslist, but I have little hope that I'm
going
to be able to find my bike. At a minimum, I'd like people to be on the
lookout for this guy. I saw him biking ahead of me before my pickup,
and
he was biking really slowly and clearly (in retrospect) cruising for
bike
stealing. Given the description of how fast he clipped my bike, I
assume
he has a lot of experience, thus he'll be at it again.
Thanks for any help or advice.
From our wire services: "Just saw this on a commercial break during CBS's Martha Stewart TV movie.
Tomorrow's (9/26) CBS local news at 11pm will air a "Bicyclists--Out of
Control?" segment. Promo shows a lean male cyclist riding in Central Park
and it looks like it he may hit a pedestrian as he rides. Probably deals
with cyclists-pedestrian accidents, with the latter getting the brunt of
it."
Tune in, and see how major media paints us.
Bike Coalition updates & minutes
Judith has been our contact with the NYC Bicycle Safety Coalition. Their goal is...well...bike safety. Here are the minutes from their most recent meeting on September 14th. Issues discussed were the Bike Safety Action Plan, Outdoor Bike Parking,
Veloprop (the propoganda arm of the velorution), and George Washington Bridge Access
NYBMA members to assist wheelchair marathoners in the NYC marathon
The NYBMA was contacted by Richard Rosenthal of the New York City marathon last week with a request for fast bikers to accompany handicapped marathoners during the race this November 6th. The wheelchair participants begin
much earlier than the runners, so the streets are not yet closed down. Our job will be to act as fast moving marshalls to get pedestrians out of the course. How fast moving? Well, the average winning time for a person RUNNING in the marathon is about
2 hours & 15 minutes. The guys in the wheelchairs can do it in an hour & a half! That's pretty fast. In the past, bike marshalls were culled primarily from the NYCC, but Rosenthal wanted to generate a broader
representation of NYC cyclists this year. "In addition to NYCC, there will be riders from the CRCA, 5BBC, Fast & Fab, Kissena, Staten Island Bicycle Association, Major Taylor Club, and members of the NYBMA.
My intent is to present the NY Road Runners with the notion they should feel some gratitude for and indebtedness towards all cyclists...." Representing the NYBMA will be Lauren Klein, Tadeusz Marceli, Brean, and Ken Stanek (with Alfred Bobe on the
wait list).
John Campo's Book
John Campo is not only a strong & inspirational influence on the messengers who ride out at Kissena Velodrome, but he's also an
accomplished author. His second book, Missing Tiger,
is available on Amazon.com
with a fabulous pulp-influenced cover by Greg Ugalde. Campo's semi-autobiographical
novel is a visually oriented adventure through love, loss, supernatural events, and the profound effects of music on human nature. It is a continuation
of the Bobby Turner mystery series he began in his first novel 15 years ago, except written in the third person this time, to get the perspective of a woman. The out-of-the-ordinary experiences established
by Campo in his first novel continue further into the supernatural with Missing Tiger. Pick up a copy & be the first to give him a review on Amazon!
According to our sources, Breakaway Couriers has begun paying for their messengers' radios. Prior to this, Breakaway used the
common policy of charging a weekly fee for using a company radio. This widespread policy has come under fire recently as it became
known that a messenger can file for year-end compensation of those fees, which often come close to $20 a week. As one of New York City's
largest & most well known companies, this huge policy change is quite an acheivement for messengers, and we hope that the effect
trickles down to the rest of the companies who still charge weekly fees.
Minutes from the last few meetings
Here are the results of our meeting with Breakaway's owner Rob Kotch on August 3rd, and our next meeting on September 7th.
We totally should've put these up a long time ago, but we're lazy, and our note-taking skills have never been top notch. In related
news, who am I trying to fool by speaking in the third person? I'm lazy. I take terrible notes. Thank you Ben, for the minutes. You can read them here.
MEMORIAL RIDE for JEN SHAO
Thursday, Sept. 22, 7 p.m.
TIME'S UP! Space, 49 East Houston (bet. Mott and Mulberry)
Jen Shao , 65, was killed while riding her bike last Friday.
The driver of the charter bus that killed her in Lower Manhattan did
not stop. Bring white flowers and candles. Ride leaves at 7:30 p.m.
NYBMA Party at 49 E. Houston
NYBMAÊKICKS OUT THEÊJAMSÊSTARTING THIS FRIDAY, AT 49 E. HOUSTON,Ê6:30 - spread the word! bring someone! come git down! Beats'll be spun and rhymes'll be dropped. Our peeps in the field'll be bringing the food & the drink. Don't miss it!
DEATH RACE 2005
Top Finishers:
1: Yatika & Kali
2: Times Up! - Austin & Jamie (also first girl!)
3: Diablo / dot com - Carlos & Ken
Full results & photos here.
New NYBMA policy
In the case of an accident, the word about a fallen messenger needs to get out as fast and accurately as possible. Because of this, the NYBMA has implemented a new policy. If you are on the scene of an accident, collect as much information as
possible, and contact the
administrator of nybma.com. My name is Ken. My information is on the contacts page. On the scene, obtain the location, time, severity of the accident, and the messenger's name & company. I will post
the information immediately, and then draw up flyers for distribution. The flyers can be picked up from the the loading dock of 11 W. 42nd St (20 W. 43rd). NYBMA members should come by to pick up a stack of flyers and
distribute them throughout the rest of the day. In addition to this, the next Outreach Party (regularly scheduled for the 3rd friday of every month at 49 E. Houston) will be tentatively designated as a fundraising party for the fallen messenger.
Marcus Cook Award nominations
The Marcus Cook Award for services to the International Messenger Community is awarded once a year to "a person that inspires and empowers the wider messenger
community, and puts all of us before themselves." Nominations are being accepted by Joe Hendry (messvilleto@yahoo.com) until Sept 21st, and the winner will be named on Messenger Appreciation Day - October 9th. The basic criteria are:
- it doesn't have to be a practicing messenger;
- it must be mainly for activities that have taken place in the last
12 months; although you can also draw attention to his or her prior
work.
The decision will be taken by a committee of former recipients and will
be awarded on Messenger Appreciation Day (October 9).
In case you missed the Worlds, or you did really badly and want to prove yourself, or you just want to come and play with us some more...there will be three - count 'em - THREE days of messenger mayhem over Halloween weekend.
October 28th - "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" - an
all or nothing three-borough alleycat to find out who really is the King of these Fucking streets. You really have to think you're going to win it all, because it's it's $100 to enter, winner take all. If there are ten guys out there
and you win, you get $1000. That's the simple part. The race is what's gonna be hard. If you haven't had enough, Goldsprints Qualifiers take place that evening.
Then there's La Calavera - Halloween XI. October 29th.
Presented by Trackstar and the Gueros Sin Frenos. Goldsprints finals take place after the race.
Sunday, Oct 30th - head out to Kissena, because we'll be there all day. If you haven't gotten your fix of NYC yet, Halloween will be the time to do it.
Canadian Messengers ride towards unionization
Yeah, Toronto! Joe Hendry reports that T.O. messengers are leading our northern neighbors in a union drive, assisted by The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).
They're fighting the universally terrible wages
and even pointing out that all the smog they constantly have to breathe could be killing them.
"CUPW national rep Valere Tremblay
says the union, which is organizing couriers in 36 cities, hopes to
'provide messengers with a grievance procedure' to address the
government's neglect in the enforcement of employment standards in the
industry".
This is the kind of thing we're trying to do right here!
Rooftop films & NLG benefit
Friday August 26th
Rooftop Films in NYC is collaborating with the Bike Film Fest
to raise funds for the National Lawyers Guild Friday August 26th. Films include "The Warriors", "Still We Ride" and "Monster Track".
It should be killer and it is a good cause - the NLG has been helping the cyclist arrestees.
Also, it'll be your last chance to see "The Warriors".
Thanks for stealing my handlebars, motherfucker
Yeah dude. Thanks a whole lot, you piece of shit. Hey, if anyone sees anyone with a pair of bullhorn bars and a Ritchie stem (possibly with some badly wrapped black bar tape), punch them in the face, then give me my bars back. They were
stolen off my bike on 43rd & 5th this afternoon. Sorry to use this website for personal stuff, but I'm pissed.
NYBMA parties
3rd Friday of every month - 49 E. Houston
We're going to start throwing parties for you. Why? Why would you ask why? It's a party! The first one is September 16th. Cheap Beer & free food! Proceeds benefit you. And the "buy Ken some new handlebars" fund. Hahaha, sike.
Amy's CMWC photo gallery
The best of the best. Amy takes pictures in her sleep. Here are her selects from the worlds: www.amybolger.com/cmwc2005
Ozzy's recovery in LA
Ozzy's at home and healing. He suffered multiple broken
bones (ribs, collarbone, pelvis, ankle, toe, multiple fractures around
his left eye), and it took weeks to stablize him enough to fly back to LA. It appears that he's going to be able to see out of
his left eye which they weren't sure about a few months ago. At this point, the LA crew is just trying to raise money for his hospital bills
which were enourmous. If you're in the LA area, there's a fundraiser for him tonight, Friday August 19th at 4th and Flower [aka the bridge] @ 7:30pm.
Spencer's recovery in Portland
According to his girlfriend, Spencer is making slow, but very steady progress. He is going to be discharged from RIO later this week, and will receive intensive home care and probably much better food. His doctors are very optimistic, and predict
that he will have close to a full recovery within the year. He's able to walk around, ride a stationary bike (no news on whether it's fixed gear or not), and make the kind of jokes we're accustomed to Spencer making.
His new address will be:
3261 NE Glisan St.
Portland OR 97232
Also, props to the portland crew for raising almost $300 for Spencer this weekend at the Monopoly Race & Polo Tourney. Results will be available soon on portlandmessenger.org.
You can get even with idiot drivers
If you're pissed off enough to send Albany $12, you can get a New York State Department of Motor Vehicles form MV-15. What's an MV-15? It's the personal information & driver's record of anyone with NY State plates.
That's right, according to an article in the New York Press,
the State of NY will put anyone's personal information in your mailbox for a $12 fee. The journalist at the NY Press takes a bit of an anarchistic slant on this discovery, but hey, there don't seem to be
many laws on the streets anyway. Be creative, as he says.
The latest from the cycling coalition
There's a lot of news about the TA-led group we're a part of. The bottom line is that we're trying to make it better for bikers in this city and all sorts of people have got our backs. You should read all about it here. And then,
if you've got opinions about it, you should come to our meetings and voice them.
Mid-month BMA meeting - planning for Messenger Appreciation Day
We're having a planning meeting for
Messenger Appreciation Day on Wednesday the 17th.
6:30pm at 49 E. Houston. Messenger Appreciation Day is on Friday, October 7th. It was a hit last year, and we can use your help
putting it together this year. Top priority is VENUE. Last year, we had the Frying Pan, but that's a no-go for this year. If you've got a space
in mind that you know you can get, please let Ben Stewart know.
The bad news is that there are still douchebags like this out there who
think it's ok to try and strangle a messenger who you almost killed because you cut him off, so he got mad and banged your car with the palm of his hand. Then you chased him down and tried to run him off the road before cornering him
and trying to slap him silly. Fortunately, the woman in the car behind you called the police because she thought you were crazy. Oh, you ARE a cop? OK then, officer. Go ahead and throttle me. I'm sure you're right.
You can kill anyone, as long as you do it in a car
Does this sound fucked up to anyone else? A FDNY firefighter was killed over the weekend while riding his motorcycle. The driver of the car that struck
him was making an illegal U-Turn. The driver got a summons. The firefighter died. What the fuck is that?
More BikeTV CMWC videos & pics
BikeTV is working on some giant CMWC production. They've been cranking out about two videos a week. The newest ones are Skids
, Bunny Hop and the Main Race. In related news, they've redesigned their website.
Make sure you check out Seng's gallery, too. He's good.
TA and the Coaltion we're part of
A few weeks ago, Paul White and Noah Budnick from TA represented several cyclist groups in a meeting with
the Department of Transportation, the NYPD, and the Public Advocate. They called on the city to undertake a six-point bike safety action plan to make the streets safer.
Read about the results of the meeting on their website.
Ghostcycle.org
Check out the memorials this Seattle group puts up for their fallen cyclists. Ghostcycle.org.
NYBMA meeting - Wednesday, August 3rd - 49 E. Houston 6:30pm
This Wednesday, the NYBMA has invited Breakaway Courier owner Rob Kotch to speak to us for a half an hour about the relationship he would like
to have with the city's messengers. You might love or hate Mr. Kotch. You might not know him. You might blindly hate all owners, no matter what. You might not care. A month ago, he contacted us with the
desire to speak, and since he's the owner of one of the largest courier companies in the city, we thought we'd hear him out. He supports cycling in many ways, and he realizes that the NYBMA is gaining power.
We recommend that, no matter what your views, you come out to listen to what one of the owners has to say to the bikers, and see if he can answer the questions you have. It's bound to be an interesting meeting
no matter what.
Party - Friday, August 5 - 49 E. Houston
Judith's arm was twisted quite a bit last week. She will not be riding for a
while! Benefit Party For her this Friday at 49 E. Houston St. Please turn out and support our good buddy who works so hard to help us all! Food and Music!
In an attempt to make her feel just that little bit better, here's one for the ladies: Fixed Gear Enthusiass.
This is a long one, but it's good. Focuses a lot on the Baltimore kids, but it's a Baltimore paper, so that's pretty understandable. Read Blood, Sweat, and One Gear.
Spencer's West Coast updates
Roy Wilkie from Portland, is maintaining his site, which will keep you all posted on how our brother is recovering. Also, on Saturday Aug. 13th the Portland crew will
be putting on a Monopoly Race and a polo tournament on Sunday as a benefit for Spencer. AND, this Saturday out at Kissena, there's a BBQ, racing, beer, prizes and so on and so forth as a benefit for Whitesnake, Ozzy, and Spencer. More info on that is
at trackstarnyc.com
CMWC article in The Morning News
Another pretty decent article runs today in the online magazine The Morning News.
Spencer's new digs in Portland
It might not have that brand-new-apartment smell, but it's got that you'll-be-back-on-your-bike-in-no-time smell for sure. The address for Rehabilitation Institute of Oregon is:
1015 N.W. 22nd Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97210
Cards/flowers, etc. for Spencer can be mailed there.
BBQ, Race, & Fundraiser - July 31 @ Kissena
Trackstar's throwing a fundraiser for Spencer & Ozzy tentatively scheduled for July 31st out at Kissena. There's gonna be a BBQ, some racing, and all around hooliganism. Details to come.
Spencer Morris has been accepted into the Rehabilitation Institute of Oregon in Portland, where he will receive much better, and much more attentive care than
St. Vincent's is able to provide. While we're really going to miss him here, we're thrilled to know that he's on a much better road to recovery. He's going to be leaving on Thursday morning.
Citywide Cycling Coalition Rallys at Department of Transportation's HQ on
Tuesday, July 19th
New York City is gearing up for another Mayoral Campaign, and we aren't
going to let the politicians off the hook without recognizing that cycling
has become much more popular in the past few years. The NYBMA has partnered
with Transportation Alternatives, Century Road Club Association, Five
Borough Bicycle Club, Free Wheels, Right Of Way, Staten Island Bicycle
Association, and Times Up! to address the city on issues that concern us
all. This body represents messengers, commuters, racers, and activists.
We're getting very strong. On Tuesday morning the Public Advocate's office
will meet with representatives from the citywide bike coalition, the
Department of Transportation and the NYPD at the DOT's office at 40 Worth
St. to discuss our concerns. Before the meeting, there will be a bike rally
in front of the building. Come out to show the city that we're not messing
around here.
Tuesday, July 19 at 11:00am
Department OF Transportation office - 40 Worth Street.
On Tuesday, July 26, Times Up! is having another rally and mass ride from Columbus Circle to the Mayoral Forum at NYU. Click here for more details.
Update on Spencer & Ozzy
It looks like Ozzy will be out of Belleview and on his way back to LA within the week. Among his injuries are a broken leg, some fractured ribs, and he has already had reconstructive surgery to the bone above his left eye. At St. Vincent's,
Spencer's family is weighing the options to move him back to Portland soon. His condition won't be entirely assessable until they get him into a recovery center, and he will be more likely to get better, personalized care if he's in Portland.
(Apparently, the expensive NYC hospital network is loaded with severe head trauma patients.) Plus, it'll get tough for his girlfriend to pay the rent pretty soon. His girlfriend, by the way, along with his mother, are with Spencer almost 24/7.
Those ladies are absolute saints. As is Ozzy's brother & friends for staying out here with him. One love from all of us.
Group Photo & Jerseys on sale
Check it out. The hot group photo, and the hot CMWC jerseys are now for sale on our shop, along with the rest of
our hot products. Get 'em while they're hot! By the way, all the proceeds from these sales go to the NYBMF's accident fund, which will now go to Ozzy, Spencer, and other future accident victims.
Fund & information for Spencer Morris & Ozzy Lopez.
Spencer and Ozzy are both making their recoveries in St. Vincent's & Belleview, respectively. Trackstar is collecting donations for both of them. If you are not in New York, you can send
your donation to Trackstar - 34 E. 1st. St., New York, NY 10003. Make your check out to Trackstar. Specify who you'd like your donation to go to. Otherwise, it will be split between the two men. Both of them
have family in town to support them, and they've been sincerly touched by the amount of support and concern we've shown. So keep the visits coming. It means a lot to them. Here is the hospital information
for both of them, in case you want to send them flowers:
Spencer Morris
c/o St Vincent's medical center
170 West 12th Street
room 1129, bed 2
New York, NY 10011
*visiting hours are between 2pm and 8pm
Full CMWC results are now available on the CMWC section of this site. We've also got a preview of the really fantastic group photo. I would put up a nice big one here, but
we don't want you living with crummy inkjet printouts of a compressed image. If we're gonna do schwag, we're gonna do it right. Genuine prints is what you'll get. They'll be available to order next week from www.nybmf.org.
Messengers down in NYC
A day after the end of CMWC, Spencer Morris, one of our housing coordinators and a great friend to all of us, was struck by a car on West 3rd & Mercer, sustaining several fractures to the skull.
He has awoken from his coma, but his head injuries are severe, and he will be in the hospital at St. Vincent's for some time. His condition is stabilized, but he is not accepting visitors into his room. The family
is at the hospital with him and you can come there to give them your support. Spencer is a fantastic person, a good friend, and we all hope he pulls out of this quickly. There is a fund
for him at Trackstar - 34 E. 1st. St at 2nd Avenue.
I hate to continue the bad news, since CMWC NYC was an undenialbly great time, but there's a messenger from Los Angeles in one of our hospitals too. Oswaldo "Ozzy" Lopez was hit in Brooklyn after the
final party at The Hook, and has suffered several broken bones. He is at Belleview, and his recovery will doubtlessly be a long one. If anyone knows of a fund set up for him, email me at (
ken@studionumbernine.net), and I will publicize it here.
Our profession is a dangerous one, and bicycle racing in all of its forms has a great risk of personal injury. There were several accidents during our races which sent people to the hospital. They all came out fine, but
Spencer and Ozzy are in much more serious condition. Since their accidents happened after CMWC, they are not covered by our insurance policy. Please do what you can to help these guys out. Now might be a
great time to donate to the Bicycle Messenger Emergency Fund as well. And again, I remind you to ride safe and please wear your helmets.
1: Charlotte - NYC
2: Sara - San Francisco
3: Megan - LA
TRACKSTAND
Men: Mike Cobb - Berkeley
Women: Mimi - Ireland
TOP VET
Bruce - DC - 49 years old!
YOUNGEST COMPETITOR
Melissa Aalderlink - 14 years old!
ARM WRESTLING
Men: Howie Boswell - Boston
Women: Stacy Hutton - Calgary
BEST SPIRIT
Tjeerd Massalt - Arnhem, Netherlands.
BUNNYHOP
(1 Sexual white chocolate-skateboard-markus-red hook) 24inch
1 Makka - Adelaide - 22inch
2 Jonas - LA-20
3 Road Rat - NYC
4 Ted Shred - NYC- BEST FIXIE-18inch
5 Beaver - Copeland
6 Juur - Amsterdam
7 Messman - NYC
8 The King - NYC(steped out-too drunk)
9 Mason - 2nd fixie-14
BEST STYLE
There was so much style all around us, we had to give the awards out to Jumbo from Copenhagen for his "bad acid trip" tights
out at Kissena, Team Smut for their sexy white Team Smut tights, and to the topless Irish girls, for obvious reasons.
BEST CHECKPOINT
Breakaway - for the Tiki Tent they made out of FedEx Boxes
SPECIAL SHOUT-OUT TO THE IRISH KIDS WHO RODE FROM PORTLAND
The Irish Kids. They Rode from Portland Oregon to NYC. We gave 'em some Phil Wood Pint Glasses & some other
schwag to fight over. None of them were there to accept their prizes, and here are the reasons why:
Ryan - Hungover
Murt - Trying to score in Manhattan
Louise - Lost
Sara - Hungover
TRIPLE THREAT ALLEYCAT
The CMWC funride.
KING OF THE FUCKING STREETS - MEN
1: Felipe - NYC
2: Austin - NYC
3: Mike Macca - Australia
KING OF THE FUCKING STREETS - WOMEN
1: Nona - NYC
2: Heather - NYC
MONSTER TRACK CMWC STYLE
1: Austin - NYC
2: Mike Macca - Australia
3: Philip - NYC
TEAM ASSAULT
1: City Bikes - NYC
2: Strangers - Boston
3: A-Team - Canada
For some reason, we're in an image gallery for Le Tour
Saturday, July 2 2005
Seriously. There are two pictures of Lance, one picture of the start of our first heat, and then 57 more pictures of today's Tour De France opening time trial. (Won by American David Zabriskie).
Why it got stuck in there, we might never know, but it's pretty damn cool. And we can guarantee you that our event was better to watch than the Tour.
Team Puma was interviewed by Univision Channel 41 which is going to air on Wednesday, June 29th between 7am - 10am.
Mermaid Parade Skids & Sprints results
Normally, I'd wax lyrical for a while about how the event went, and try to wow you with zany alliteration and zing you with witty comments, but I'm too busy with the Worlds. So as soon as that's over, I'll bug Amy for some pictures
and put up a gallery. Until then, check out what Carlos has put up.
Sprints Winners:
Guys: Jumbo from Copenhagen (?)
Girls: ...shit. I gotta check my notes. Sorry about that!
Skids Winners: Alex, by like 50 feet or so. No contest.
Freestyle:
Hugo calls him "Squid's Brother", but i'm pretty sure his name is James "the only person who did a trick - it involved two bikes" Bolger.
Trackstand: Charlotte. That's right. Charlotte. Out of dozens of dudes, half of whom flew from the other side of the world, NYC's own rising star knocks 'em all down by standing up longest. Fucking awesome.
Alleycat
1: Carlos
2: Flail
3: Yatika
Another Cautionary Tale
Another cyclist was killed yesterday by another driver who won't even get a ticket. Andrew Morgan, 25, from
Brooklyn, was crushed underneath a delivery truck on East Houston & Elizabeth at 10:25am after screaming at the driver to stop.
The NYBMA encourages you all to ride safe, always. But sometimes, our safety is completely out of our hands. Something can be done about this. You can come to our meetings, or you can help out
Transportation Alternatives. Our most common goal is a safer environment in New York City for our members.
Lightwheels - Free Speech & Public Space. Bikes & Transit
The people who bring you 49 E. Houston now bring you ten days of discussion on bicycle advocacy. LightWheels will be hosting a series of forums, meetings, workshops, exhibitions, performances, films, rides, & races from June 24th -
July 4th.
Under discussion will be creative remedies for the environmental, political, economic, & transportation catastrophe
which currently exists. Details & Calendar at www.lightwheels.com. In conjunction
with the CMWC, a special "Messenger Thursday" will be held on June 30th at 49 E. Houston from 10am - 1pm.
Last chance to register for $30
Friday, June 17 2005
This is the last chance you're gonna get to register for CMWC for the LOW LOW price of $30! Friday night at 49 E. Houston 7pm - 11pm - it's an NYBMF party. Cheap food (FREE food if you register) and beer. Don't miss it. And check out this sweet-ass Ugalde poster
to the right. We're gonna have a bunch of prints of this sucka for you when you get here, so get your register on! It's gonna close on June 23rd, so freakin' move it!
Memorial / Rally for Safer Streets - Thursday, June 16th 8am
Taliah got it right when she said to me that "it seems like there's been a lot of road badness lately. Accidents where things aren't just allright". She's right. It has been worse. 50% more fatalities than this time last year, in fact.
At 8 am on Thursday, June 16th, cyclists representing an alliance of New York City bicycle groups will embark on a Vigil Ride from 5th Avenue and Warren Street in Brooklyn to the steps of City Hall to memorialize
Elizabeth Padilla, Brandie Bailey, Jerome Allen and the 195 other NYC bicyclists killed since 1995. At City Hall at 9am the alliance will lay down flowers in memory of the 198 fallen cyclists and ask Mayor Bloomberg to convene a multi-agency task force to develop-- in cooperation with the NYC cycling community-- an action plan to prevent further deaths and injuries.
It was the biggest Rumble Through The Bronx Ever! 57 racers showed up. There were six ladies, and a couple out of town crews, particularly two strong ones from Baltimore and Boston. Top five: Carlos (54min:28sec), Hugo (57:57) Howie Boswell (1:03:42) BOSTON!) Speedy (1:03:53) Squid (1:04:24)
Top three girls:
Charlotte (1:33:26)
Nona Vornado (1:56:07)
Aylen M. (2:00:23 BALTIMORE - also won BEST FLAT for flatting at the finish line)
Best camouflage: Tone, hands down. See if you can find him in the picture.
NY Times 6/10/05 - Bike Messengers Take the Street to the Track
The Times is getting hip to who runs this city. Read the article.
In related news, gawker even picked up on the article.
Very gruesome death in Brooklyn. Ride safely & wear a helmet.
June 9, 2005
My ex-roommate sent me this email this morning because he knows I ride like an idiot and I don't wear a helmet. It's *very* graphic, so if you have a weak stomach, don't read it:
"Walking back from the store in Brooklyn this morning I heard some screaming at
the intersection ahead of me. Lying in the street still on her bike, was a
woman, maybe 20-30 who I think was hit by a car. I called 911 and as I came
around her I saw that the front half of her head was missing and the remains
and contents were scattered on the pavement. She was not wearing a helmet.
Please wear your helmet.
This happened around 5th Ave & Warren in Brooklyn around 9:00 this morning. I'm going to buy a new helmet today.
Hello registered messengers who have registered as couch surfers. Due to serious space
limitations in our beautiful city, we are having concerns housing everyone. If there is
anyway you can afford a hostel or hotel, we strongly urge you to do so. We have a great
housing coordinator at www.markhamtravelinc.com who will be happy to find you a great
rate on a room. If you are traveling with a group, how about booking one hotel room for
all of you?
If you have found someone to take you in, or booked yourself a hotel room, please log on
to your account and change your housing status from 'couch surfing' to 'I'll
take care of my own housing'.
If you have signed up for couch surfing and get a place on a couch you will receive an
email from us with your housing providers infomation. If you have not, and do not receive
an email from us, let that be a sign that you have not been placed with someone and
should be looking to book yourself a hotel room.
Through the magic of technology, we can provide you pretty much real-time results from our alleycats from now on. For instance, the results for today's premier race by Arone Dyer, the Lady Libertine Race, are at our newfangled race results page.
It's sorta...uh...incomplete. But as a nerd, I find it very cool.
Provided I never race in a race again, or provided I get a faithful assistant, I'll post this shit before the race even starts, so you loyal & dedicated readers can find out who finishes when. Hot shit, right? Word.
Lady Libertine - Photo Gallery - WET BOXERS CONTEST
...because we know what the ladies want. Try not to crash our server downloading all of these pictures. And an overwhelming congratulations to the winners: Ken & Riler.
Except, we don't. But some moron in some Madison Avenue advertising firm thought it might be cool to make it look like we're all about the Lincoln Navigator. In fact, they even used Squid, Bronx John, and Loopy Linda's names without their permission.
It's not quite cool. There might even be some litigation on the matter of the rights to use their names. And since GM's got tons of money and tons of lawyers, some support on Squid's end might be needed. Of course, he's a bit
busy organizing CMWC right now, but check in with us later. We might have some interesting news. For now though, keep your eye on this rant: www.adrants.com/2005/05/lincoln-goes-for-bike-messenger-street.php.
Lance in Wax
Thursday, May 26 2005
Madame Tussaud's in Times Square has unveiled their "Lance Armstrong Experience" with a special promotion for NYBMA members. (In case you don't know, if you're a messenger in New York,
we technically consider you one of our members. One Love, Baby!) Until July 4th, with this coupon (pdf), when you buy one ticket, you get one FREE! Squid, Amy, and Ken stopped by this morning for the unveiling
of the figure, clad in the Tour De France's Yellow Jersey and mounted on the actual bike he rode to his 6th tour win in 2004. While Amy & I scurried back to our stupid work, Squid went inside to "race Lance" on
a stationary bike set up to simulate an uphill time trial. If you're in front of a TV at 10 p.m. tonight, he's going to be on the WB11 news!
Media! NYPost
Wednesday, may 25 2005
The Post reported on Saturday's Kissena race. Check it out.
Results from Canarsie & Kissena
It was a busy weekend. Team PUMA triumphed again in Ivan's team race, which hauled from Harlem to Canarsie Pier. Click Here for pix & results.
A borough away at the velodrome, some of New York's finest competed against pro racers at Kissena. We even got to hang with Marty Nothstein! Righteous! Click Here for pics from Kissena and an article by John Campo.
Full results from Kissena are here.
Bike Show At the Armory - Saturday, May 21
It's just gettin' crazy out there, what with all the bike stuff going on. If you're not doing the Team Race this weekend (see upcoming events) or going out to Kissena on Saturday, check out the bike show at the Armory.
Glen from the show wants some messengers to talk about being a messenger/getting a job as a messenger/etc. They've also got indoor drag racing and they need racers. (Cash prizes!). So, if you're not into alleycats or velodrome racing, you're probably more representative of NYC messengers, and you've got something to do this Saturday!
Contact Judith (crankgirlnyc@yahoo.com) if you're
interested in this.
Bridge Battle! Bike Film Fest!
A simple race: Hit 5 bridges - Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Manhattan, Pulaski, Queensboro. Except, bridges suck. Especially for us flat-city pampered New Yorkers. See the results & some pictures here.
NYCMASSIVE
A while ago, Vic took down his website, but it's back up & running, and looking better than ever. Best part about it? Forums. Lots of 'em. Even one specific to CMWC discussion. Go. Talk. DO IT NOW! www.nycmassive.com www.triplerush.com
Red Light Go available on nybmf.org
We've finally gotten our shipment of the awesome alleycat racing documentary Red Light Go, featuring Hodari, Mike Dee, and a host of New York's finest messengers. In addition
to the 52 minute feature, the DVD also includes messenger profiles, bike stills, filmmaker profiles, a music video, and a promo for CMWC.Order it now for $25!
Scumbag steals copies of our DVD
Some scumbag piece of crap at last night's meeting stole 18 copies of Red Light Go. Let's all put our heads together and think about how un-fucking cool that is. It's entirely un-fucking cool. If you're reading this, douchebag,
we'll give you an opportunity to return them to 49 E. Houston. But you better not show your piece of shit face, because stealing from the messenger community is sort of completely against what we're trying to do here. And anyone else
who's reading this - if someone tries to sell you a copy of Red Light Go on the street, call Ho: 173*274488*1 (Nextel DC)
Art Auction raises mad loot!
Friday's Art Auction was yet another tremendous success on the part of the organizers for CMWC 13. Over 30 pieces were sold, several for more than $100! All in all, we raised around $2,500
for CMWC. Thanks to the artists, the buyers, our sponsors, our DJ's, and our cooks for a great night. And thanks, Amy, for putting the whole thing together! Stay tuned for pictures from the event. (Hey...uh...so does anyone
out there have any pictures from this event? I'll gladly put 'em up here. Thanks. - Ken).
CMWC NYC - emphasizing the NYC
To clear up any confusion, this is NOT going to be CMWC New Jersey. The main race course is there because the officials in New York City weren't able to accomodate us on the planned date.
Jersey city is a really short & cheap train or ferry trip across the river. This doesn't at all mean that you're going to be spending all of your time in Jersey. We've got parties, concerts, film screenings and more planned
for venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn. So book yer tickets! It's on!
CMWC is ON!!! June 30-July 4
No need to hold your breath any longer, couriers of the world. The date is on for CMWC 2005! After months of chasing geese all over NYC, we packed our bikes onto the PATH train and
headed over to our new favorite state, New Jersey, to see if they might be a bit more receptive to a thousand of the world's fastest messengers on 4th of July weekend. And guess what? They were!
Apparently, according to Squid, the cops are even nice over there. Unbelievable. And I used to think the only redeeming quality of New Jersey was a lower sales tax. Not any more! We Heart NJ!
New York sporting events held in New Jersey aren't wholly without precedent. The NY Giants play all their games in the bustling metropolis of East Rutherford, NJ. Jersey City is a hell of a
lot closer (and nicer) than East Rutherford - Satellite Map. It's pretty dense with tall buildings and it's got a better view of Manhattan than Manhattan itself. (cuz you can't exactly
see Manhattan's skyline when you're on the island). It rocks. It'll be a great course. And there are all sorts of ways to get there and back: New York Waterways Commuter & Ferry Routes.
We're thinking of doing trackstands on the ferry.
Get a sneak preveiw of the race course:
pdf.
Art Auction TONIGHT - Friday, May 6 - 7 to 11 p.m.
Don't forget about tonight's Benefit for CMWC.
A silent Art Auction, Dinner and CHEAP BEER! Featuring art by Eddie Williams, Taliah Lempert, Julie Benedetto, Donna Alberico, Ashira Siegel, Amy Bolger, Ken Stanek, Gregory Ugalde, and many more!
Location:
Fred George Photography Studio
40 West 27th street, 11th floor -
Between 6th and Broadway
7pm -11pm
DJ Jen and DJ Claudia are spinning!!!!
flyer
Bike Film Festival
May 12-15
The 5th annual Bike Film Fest is coming up, and some cool shit is goin' down. Friday the 13th (whoa) is unofficial messenger day. Actually, it might be Saturday, the 14th. What the hell. Go both days.
Trackstar's running some events, some of Lucas's films are gonna play, and as a special shout out to
myself, I've got some slick graphics thrown in there too. On Saturday, don't miss out on NYC Bridge Battle - start at 23rd St & the West Side Highway at noon and race to Queensboro, Pulaski, Willy B., Manhattan, and Brooklyn Bridges.
End up at the Anthology Film Archives - 32 2nd Ave @ 2nd St.
Don't miss it. bicyclefilmfestival.com.
It's Bike Month in May. Well, for us, it's always bike month. But TA's doin' a bunch of stuff that might be cool. bikemonthnyc.org.
Personally, I think you should get your bikes blessed at St. John the Divine (Saturday, April 30th. 9:30 a.m.). It's pan-denominational, so you heathens out there won't turn into a pile of dust if you step into a church.
Stickers
We got's NYBMA stickers with our logo, website, and phone number (yeah, phone number - 212.726.1BMA, fyi). Sarinya handed them off to me Saturday night. She looks great, by the way. Fire Academy is kicking her ass,
but she's doing well. But I digress. Come to the NYBMA meeting this Thursday at 49 E. Houston and pick up a stack. Put 'em at your office. Stick 'em on phone booths. Put one on your bike or your favorite messenger center.
Skip Work! Play Games!
The NYBMA does not advocate the actions depicted in this game, and reminds you (and any lurkers that might be spying on us) that it is only a game, and clearly does not reflect reality. But man...this is just fun. I'm not gonna get anything done today.
http://storage.act-9.com/2005/0222/nanaca.htm
ART AUCTION. Friday May 6, 7-11pm.
Call for Submissions!
Featuring art by Eddie Williams, Taliah Lempert, Julie Benedetto, Donna Alberico, Ashira Siegel, Ken Stanek, Amy Bolger,
Greg Ugalde, and more! Some of NYC's finest messenger/artists are
gonna auction off their hot work to raise money for CMWC. As if the mind-numbing talent weren't enough, there's gonna be a dinner and dancing! You got something you want to show off? The more submissions the better.
Call Amy: 646.872.7634, or drop it off at her studio: 40 W. 27th St. 11th floor. Flyer
Trackstar
The Trackstar kids have been busy running the raddest track-bike-only shop in NYC, and
putting together a slick website at the same time. They're also linking back to us, so it's only fair that we give our shoutouts as well. www.trackstarnyc.com.
NYBMF Shop!
We've got so much stuff, we decided to open up our own store. Finally, you can get genuine NYC messenger
Tshirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, caps, underwear, and books online, only at www.nybmf.org. We've got a ton of cool shit already, and word on the street is that you'll be able to
pick up a copy of Red Light Go from the store soon. There's always gonna be new stuff we make, so keep on coming back. All the proceeds
from sales go to benefit this summer's CMWC. Be sure to give props to Jo Ann for building the site, Amy for the great photography, and Hodari for runnin the whole thing.
More Races!
You know you need to train for CMWC. There are a bunch of opportunities coming up. Contrary to several opinions, there will be no Death & Taxes race. At least, not
any time soon. But if you need your fix, check out the Moustache Riders' Food Delivery Alleycat this Saturday, March 19th. $5 to enter - 295 Grand St., Brooklyn. Next, May 1st is Global Gutz. No word yet on
whether or not NYC's gonna host one, but we'll tell ya if we do. Then Ivan's throwin' a Team Alleycat on May 14th.
If you want to try to beat Puma, knock your socks off. It'll be worth it. First place team gets $500. Second place gets $300 and 3rd place gets $200. Teams consist of 5 members, and three must finish together to win. For info,
contact Ivan: 718.915.2071. Race begins at 124th & Madison and ends at Canarsie Pier. Then it's the return of Rumble Thru the Bronx on June 11th.
If these aren't enough for you, and you're the type of person who likes to travel, check out It's a mad mad mad mad W.orld on April 30th in DC, hosted by The Demon Cats.
How many other cities have a sponsor that will buy their fastest messengers flashy red jerseys, flashy red bikes, and flashy red plane tickets to fly them across the country?
And if there is another city like that, does their team end up winning all the time too? Cuz ours does. Last week in Los Angeles, Alfred took 1st place at the velodrome and second in the alleycat.
The rest of Team PUMA placed in all of the events, too. Check out some of Amy's pictures: www.amybolger.com/losangeles
Stop NICA
The National Independent Contractor Association is trying to get a leg up on the Messenger & Courier industry. This effects a lot of us. Check out this site, and
see what it means to you. www.stopnica.org
TA Advocate Noah Budnick seriously hurt in Manhattan Bridge Accident.
Noah Budnick, one of Transportation Alternative's
most active members, was seriously hurt on Tuesday, March 29th on the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge. Noah has tirelessly advocated for the safety of ALL cyclists in this
city, and we all owe a him a great deal of credit for any improvements that make your lives just that much easier. This Sunday, April 10 A group of cyclists will conduct an Operation Hazard ID ride through
Brooklyn to spot and report road hazards. The ride is to
support Noah and to help improve the city streets for cyclists, as Noah has
been doing tirelessly for many years. For details, email
maggiebowman@yahoo.com. On Monday, April 11 there will be a silent vigil for safer Manhattan Bridge access at 5:30pm.
Meet at the exit/entrance to the Manhattan Bridge bicycling path in Brooklyn.
(http://www.transalt.org/press/releases/050330NB.html)
Stolen Bike
The frame is steel and on the left bottom bracket an olmo logo is
depressed into the frame. The paint on the top and bottom bar is scraped
off. The seat pole is kalloy and a specialized saddle. My radio frequency
is172*7112*116. My cell is 7188012901 and i work for new york minute at
212.691.9191. Thanks.
IMPORTANT: Likely Date Change for CMWC!!!
Note: We've resolved this as of April 22nd. Jersey City, baby! If you're lusting over your July 4th weekend plane tickets to NYC, don't get too excited just yet. We've recently received some unfortunate news
from the NYPD, in association with the Sports Commission and the Department of Transportation. Because of security concerns and the NYPD's allocation of resources
for the holiday weekend, they are not approving the dates of June 30-July 4 for CMWC. The NYBMF is currently exploring alternative dates for the championships, keeping
in mind that many travel plans have already been made. We will try to keep the event as close as possible to the originally planned date. This was a completely unforseen
circumstance, and we sincerely apologize for any hardship this may cause.
Please keep posted to www.nybma.com for up to date information on this major change. We will let you know the actual dates of CMWC within the week.
NYBMA Tax Filing Assistance
At next NYBMA meeting: March 31 6:00pm. 49 E. Houston
Your taxes are due on April 15th. Taxes are not fun. Not fun at all. They're daunting and confusing. But chances are, the government actually owes you money. For serious!
All you have to do is bring your W2 form (ask your employer) to our next meeting, and we'll help you fill out your taxes. We can answer questions about your 10-99's, if you're an IC, but we won't
be able to help you with your tax forms. Please RSVP so we get an idea of how many people to expect: 212.726.1BMA.
Also, depending on the turnout, our Tax Assistant Marc McLean, might need some of his own assistance. Email ken@studionumbernine.net if you're comfortable enough with tax forms
to lend Marc a helping hand. Flyer
More Babies!
Taylor James Dappio - March 8 2005 - 7lb 13oz
This place is just crawling with freakin' babies! First, Felipe had his kid, then Chad & Pit, now Bill Dappio brings a strapping young lad into the world! Congratulations, Bill.
Asked to comment on his baby boy, he was so overcome with awe at the miracle of life and joy of being a father, I could barely understand him say "He's Cute". picture 1 | picture 2 |
picture 3
Congratulations Pit & Chad!
Magnus Erik Selberg - 7.9lbs
It's the face of the 33rd Cycle Messenger World Champion, just born a few days ago. Look out CMWC 2025! This kid's got Old School blood. Thanks, Daddy for the pics.
There will be a memorial for Page on Friday, March 4th at 49 E. Houston at 7pm. He died in a tragic accident on February 19th
after Monster Track. There will be cheap food and drinks at the memorial. No one will be turned away. He is survived by two young daughters and his mother & father. If you're interested in making a donation, checks should be made out to NYBMF and sent to: P.O. Box 505 New York, NY 10276-0505
Monster Track Results
145 racers from 14 cites came out for temperatures colder than Minneapolis in early February for the biggest Monster Track ever.
Click here for results and pictures.
Messenger's body found in Hudson after Monster Track
The NYBMF has been informed of the death of a member of our community
following Saturday's Monster Track events. At this time, the death
appears to be a tragic accident. Police are withholding the identity
of the man until the family can be notified. Anyone with additional
information is encouraged to contact the 10th Precinct. As always we
are deeply saddened by the loss of a member of our community and our
sympathies go out to the family and friends of our fallen comrade.
Swap Meet a tremendous success
The swap meet was an overwhelming success. We signed up over 30 tables
with vendors coming in from Maryland, DC, Philly, Boston, upstate NY, NJ
and Conneticut! The geek out started at 9am and we had one bike nerd
coming to shop at 7:30am! Combined with cycling caps sales, we made about
$840!
Last Week's meetings
Department of Labor
Sarinya, Judith, Dave and Hodari met with the Department of Labor on Wednesday,
February 16th. The DOL was interested in investigating the
messenger/courier industry in order to write the first industry guidelines
about independent contractor/ employee status classification. This would
affect the NYBMA greatly on an organizing and labor rights front. The
interviewers asked us a myriad of questions about how we work. They also
met with the NYSMCA a day before they met with us. They will take what
they learned from us and formulate a draft that they will show us before
it is finalized. We will keep you posted!
NYTWA - cancelled. Keep tuned though. Our sticker campaign to reduce dooring will move forward shortly.
Vintage, one of a kind Messenger shirts for sale
You gotta check this out. Joel Metz has accumulated a ridiculous amount of shirts in his messenger career, and he's decided to open up some closet space.
He's got dozens of unique shirts for sale at http://www.blackbirdsf.org/tshirts.html. Order by March 10th.
Crash Statistics
Check out this fantastic study of the safety of our streets by Transportation Alternatives:
www.crashstat.org
The Messenger Prom
Who knew that bike messengers cleaned up so well? The first ever Messenger Prom was a tremendous success. Dubbed "The Zero Gravity Gala" by it's organizer, Drew, it helped
pull in over $850 for CMWC. Look at the pictures! You can see Judith falling into a maniacal lust for that stack of cash.
New Yorkers Rock Minneapolis at Stupor Bowl
Six New Yorkers braved the frigid 50 degree February weather in Minneapolis (wtf?) to race in the 8th annual Stupor Bowl. It was well worth the trip. Trackstar's Alex came in FIRST overall, and Team Puma's Alfred took 3rd, while Puma's Squid, Diablo, and Todd took 5th, 8th, and 14th respectively.
Check out www.mbma.net for full results and pictures.
Meeting with the Department of Labor - Wednesday, Feb 16th, 9:30AM
That's right. It's unfortunately during work
hours because this is how these bureaucrats work. If you want to go, YOU
HAVE TO TELL SARINYA, and NOT FLAKE OUT. The reason is that your name will be
put on the guest list for security purposes. We are meeting with them to
let them know more about our industry. They are making new guidelines
about Independent Contractors vs. employee status WITH or WITHOUT our
input. After they meet with us, they will meet with the NY State
Messenger Courier Association (AKA our bosses' association). If you cannot
go but feel you want to put your 2 cents in, you can download the list of
questions that they will ask us at the meeting here. If you care, please give
your responses to sarinya@riseup.net at least the Monday before the meeting.
Meeting with the New York Taxi Workers Alliance - sticker campaign
The sticker campaign is to legislate for all cabbies to have stickers
warning passengers about dooring cyclists. We are going to meet at their
NEW office: 37 E. 28th St. Ste. 302, 6:00. Thursday, February 17th.
Memorial Benefit for Dellee Covington - Friday, February 4. 49 E. Houston
Great success from the fundraiser for Dellee Covington's sister,
La'Shawn. We were able to raise $379 and Squid was able to get $50 from
the organizers of the Stupor Bowl in Minneapolis for a total of $429.
Thanks to everyone who attended and a big thanks to those of you who
volunteered. Thanks to Dave for the wheels, KR for the pasta, Hugo for
the Mama's hookup, Road Ratt and Chino for the tunes and Ken for the
flyers.
Dellee Covington
Dellee Covington was killed at 49th & 8th on November 18th while making deliveries (more). He lived and worked hard on his bike.
Any fallen messenger deserves our rememberance and their families deserve our support. Please come out on Friday February 4th to help Dellee's family through this tough time. Now that he has been laid to rest,
the family is embarking on the difficult task of determining who is at fault and who should be held responsible. To help directly, contact:
La'Shawn Miller
738 Kelly Street, Apt. 1
Bronx, NY 10455
Make checks out to La'Shawn Miller
No Guts, No Glory! Results?
OK, so the results for December 18th's Caribbean Team race were...questionable, at best. If it were up to me, I woulda declared myself the winner, and it woulda
gone like this: 1st: Ken ; 2nd: (tie) Ben, Steve, Eric, Wesley ; 3rd: Zach ; 4th: Speedy ; 5th: Brad .
But it isn't up to me at all, so the official, yet questionable results are:
1 Zach 2 Brad 3 James "Speedy" Hines 4 Eric 5 Steve "Pops" 6 Wesley 7 Ben 8 Ken
It's really a long story about why these results are so questionable, but part of it had to do with the fact that the top 8 of us beat Jose
to the finish line on 242nd St. Regardless, it was a good time, and a great ride for those of us who never EVER get above 125th St. A little
greasing of the chains of the Caribbean team, and this should be a great alleycat next year. Results & Pictures
NYC in San Fran
Two teams represented New York City for Joel's 10th anniversary alleycat this past weekend, December 11th. Squid, Alfred, Hugo, & Todd came in 1st among out of towners.
Click here for details, results and pictures.
Holiday Party
That's right, the NYBMA's got a bag full o' goodies just for you! After our next meeting - December 30th - we'll be having a holiday party for everyone.
Beer will be supplied by Rheingold, and food will be supplied by the nice folks over at Mama's. Location: Judson Memorial Church - 243 Thompson (at Washington Square Park).
Click here for the flyer.
After 20 years, Eddie Williams has finally released his book of photos, and it's awesome. Again, thanks to Carlos for gettin the scoop on this one. http://mysite.verizon.net/vze3vsmk/id60.html
Media Media Media
The New York Times ran an article on 49 E. Houston and Steve Stollman today. We got a bit of a shoutout. Unfortunately, they
don't use the picture online.
Also, there's a "Heard on the Street" segment in New York Magazine that interviewed a couple messengers. Click here for it. Or if you want to avoid the god-awful pictures
of some of us, click here.
Cranksgiving
It rained, but 18 people still came out to the 6th annual Cranksgiving benefit race for the homeless. Together, we donated an estimated $200 worth of food and raised $220 for Sasha, who was injured while on her third day working for A to Z a month ago. Click here for full results.
The top winners are:
MEN 1 Andy "Thanks for showing me the way, Alex" White 2 Alex 3 Jack Blackfelt
WOMEN 1 Coralie 2 Ryan "the girl" 3 Charlotte "The pedestrian gave me directions to the wrong supermarket. I'm gonna kick her ass"
Messenger Killed in Midtown - November 18
Sarinya, Squid, Ken, and others have been beating the pavement trying to find out something, anything about Delee Covington, the messenger who was killed
after allegedly being doored at 49th and 8th on November 18th. He might've worked at Supreme. He might've gone by "Dell" or "Malik". We've been to Supreme, we've been to 825 8th, we've visited hospitals, and talked to detectives. Nobody
knows this guy. The city hasn't even been able to contact his family yet. Please, if you know anything about him, or if there's a messenger from your company who
suddenly disappeared on that day, let us know, or contact the Midtown North Police Precinct (18th Precinct). Their phone number is 212.767.8447 and the
address is 524 W. 42. Read more about him here.
Very little information has been able to be gathered about the messenger who was killed on Thursday. His family possibly lives in West Africa, so they have
been extremely difficult to reach. Until his family has been notified, his name cannot be released. If anyone has any information about this man, please contact us.
Tonight's memorial was a testament to the strength of our community. Nearly 200 people came out to pay their respects. A large thank you should be given to
the NYPD, who respected our grief, keeping the avenue safe for us and allowing us to ride in memorial of our fallen friend.
This morning, November 18th 2005, a messenger was killed while on the job at 49th Street and 8th Avenue.
When a death happens in our community, it is a tragedy that effects us all. There will be a memorial ride for him on Friday, November 19th - 6pm at 49th & 8th. Our deepest sympathies go out
to his family and friends. May he Rest In Peace. Ride Safe.
The following is our official statement:
"Today the New York bike messenger community mourns the loss of a fellow bike courier. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends. This tragic incident is a reminder of the dangerous conditions in which bike messengers work every day. We are gathered here now to recognize our fallen colleague and to pay our respects. We trust that his employer will extend the same respect to his family by providing the benefits due to his dependents.
We hope that this incident will highten public awareness of the dangers that all bike messengers face every day. Such an awareness would be a step toward improving our work conditions, enhancing the safety of all urban cyclists, and helping prevent tragic accidents like yesterday's."
Anti-Biking bill in City Council
The transalt people have brought this to our attention. Councilwoman Madeline Provenzano has sponsored a bill that would require all city bikers over 16 years old to
be licensed and could impose up to $300 worth of fines or 15 days of jail time. This ridiculous bill could have huge impacts on messenger work. Read it and do something about it. http://www.transalt.org/press/askta/041116bikebill.html
KRYPTONITE Lock Exchange
Kryptonite is offering an exchange on their faulty locks. Click Here for more details.
1. Todd
2. Macca
3. Zach
4. Speedy
5. Brean (as Mr. T)
6. Eddie
7. Aaron M. from Boston (First Out of Towner)
8. Felipe
9. Hugo
10. Brian P. (from DC)
Top 3 Girls:
1. Nicole from Boston
2. Charlotte
3. Lauren
Judge Rules in Favor of Critical Mass!
Some crazy stuff has happened in the past two days. Judge Pauley partially granted the preliminary injunction barring the NYPD
from seizing bikes at Critical Mass, and completely denied the city's injunction to bar Critical Mass from happening without a permit.
Read the full decision here (PDF). What
the hell does this mean? It means they're not gonna arrest you just for being there. And it also means they can't just go ahead and
take your bike, if you lock it up when you see an army of cops heading your way, without actually charging you with something.
That would be a violation of due process. Which is part of the Fourth Amendment.
For an analysis of the ruling, visit skizzy.biz. Also, read a statement by Chris Carlsson, one of the guys who
originally founded Critical Mass in San Francisco in 1992.
In other related news, it turns out that the law about "riding two abreast" is completely bogus, as is the law about keeping to the sides of the streets or in the bike lanes!
Visit info.interactivist.net for some details on that one. Happy Halloween!
Critical Mass Under Fire from NYPD
Ever since August, the NYPD has been trying to choke the life out of Critical Mass. 262 people were arrested then, and in September, 9 people were arrested and 40
locked bikes were seized by the cops, who claimed the bikes were "abandoned". Now, they're trying to pass an injunction that will find any participants in contempt of Federal Court.
This crap's gotta stop, but we don't have much time. Wednesday, October 26th at 3pm is the date of the hearing on the injunction. Read the full text of the story
on interactivist.net. What can you do by tomorrow? Show up at the hearing! The address is below. If you can't do that,
write a letter to the judge explaining who you are, what you do, and why you think Critical Mass is important. Address the letter to:
Honorable William H Pauley III
United States District Court
500 Pearl Street
New York, NY 10038
Bring the letter, by tomorrow morning, to the Times-Up space at 49E. Houston, or fax it to 212 674 6206 (no cover sheet needed).
HALLOWEEN ALLEYCAT
You know it's the most killer race of the year. It's happening Saturday, October 31st at St. John the Divine (111th & Amsterdam) at 3pm (2pm registration). If you don't already have a
map of the course, look for someone at Critical Mass the day before, handing out fliers. The front of the flyer looks like this. The afterparty is at Rockstar Bar (Kent Ave. & S 5th in Williamsburg).
BLACKLABEL BIKE KILL
BLACKLABEL is also doing BIKE KILL the same day as the alleycat. They regret the overlap, but we're all invited to their afterparty, at the Warehouse on Flushing Ave at Classon Ave (used to be called Happy Birthday
Hideout). It's free for those who were in the Bike Kill and in the alleycat (show your spokecard to get in). Bike Kill goes from 2-9 at Sanford & Willoughby in Bed-Stuy, and the afterparty will start around 9pm. There are TWO fliers! Flyer One . Flyer Two .
Register for CMWC!
Registration for next July's Cycle Messenger World Championships has opened, as of October 9th. Registration fee is $30 for now,
and will rise to $40 on January 1st, and $50 on May 1st. Another good reason to sign up now is to reserve your racer number!
Register now!
Messenger Appreciation Day
The first ever Messenger Appreciation Day in NYC was pretty freakin' cool. The NYBMA gave out spiffy little lunch bags full of
bananas, bagels, candy bars, and propoganda during the day, and free food and cheap beer at the Frying Pan later that night. Hugo
again won the trackstands competition with style, doing backwards circles with one leg on the pedals after Charlotte, his last competitor,
dropped. Felipe beat out Road Rat & Todd at Foot-down, and a bunch of people got free stuff at the raffle. Click here for some pictures from the event, and full results.
Bike Messenger Appreciation Day
October 8/9
BMAD! Or, "be MAD" as we could call it if we wanted to. We don't though, because we want to be happy. But we should be mad,
if we thought too long about the crap money we get paid and the conditions we have to work in, goddamnit. But, NO! Messenger Appreciation Day is all about
celebration! And recognition of our hard work. See, that's how it all ties into the "We should be mad, but thanks for showing your appreciation" theme.
Since the 9th is a Saturday, we'll be observing the international holiday on Friday, October 8th. There's gonna be a party, some food, cheap drinks, and maybe a massage table or something. Keep posted for further details. If you're not a messenger, consider giving a donation
to the Bike Messenger Emergency Fund. Click here for a flyer.
WARNING!!! KRYPTONITE LOCKS EASILY BROKEN!!!
You gotta check this out. The word has gotten out that you can bust into a kryptonite lock with a bic pen and NOTHING else. We don't want
to knock Kryptonite's product or anything - their chains are still the best - but if my bike can get swiped by a guy with a ballpoint pen, I might wanna think
twice about the kind of lock I'm using. http://video.bikeproducts.net.
NACCC Montreal
Hugo! NYC MVP
Take a look at our fantastic pictures from Montreal!!! Hugo took New York's biggest honors at the 2004 North Americans, winning the trackstand and freestyle competition. Alfred wasn't too shabby himself, coming in 5th
in the alleycat. Here are some pictures. Make sure to check out Portland next spring for NACCC 2005.
RNC - Huh? What the?
August 29 - September 2 Recap
So it came and it went, and it totally blew, but do we even really remember it happening at this point? If were lucky enough not to get netted up in
a random display of excessive authority, then your only inconvenience was probably having to avoid MSG on Monday. However, if you had the distinct displeasure
of spending the night in that rathole of a pier they "stored" the arrestees at, rest assured that there are people out there prepared to sue the pants off
the NYPD for that crap. Times-Up
MESSENGER APPRECIATION DAY:
October 8th: Noon - 10pm
Father Demo Square (6th Ave at Bleekery & Carmine) and The Frying Pan (pier 63 - 23rd St)
12-4pm: Father Demo Square: Free food, info, energy drinks, & energy bars. Stop by and refuel as you head uptown!
6:30 Round one of the Messenger Challenge Game Show 7:00 Track Stands 7:30 Round two of the Messenger Challenge Game Show- FOOT DOWN!
Round three: Secret physical challenges
Round four: Final round face off 9:00 M.C. Battle Royale
Prizes for the track stands, game show and m.c. battle! ALL FREE! Tell everyone!
You must be 21+ to party at the Frying Pan.
THANK YOU NYC BIKE MESSENGERS!
AND Thanks to our sponsors:
City Bikes, Bike Works, Bicycle Station, Rockstar, Rheingold, Mama's Food
Shop, Bailey Works, AFLAC, Adam White, Elan Nutrition, and Dixie Cups.
And super thanks to all our volunteers for donating your time and
services! Party Flyer
Republican National Convention
August 29 - September 2
Street closings, overwhelming security concerns, and an enormous backlash from
protesters will make next week's RNC a bit frustrating for messengers. We've compiled
a list of official street
closings, but a further discussion on the effects of the RNC will take place at the
next BMA meeting - Thursday August 26 @ 7pm. 49 E.
Houston.
And if you're interested in protesting, there's a way that you, as a messenger, can help
out very specifically. Click here for the
information on that, or contact Ken. We'll also talk about this
after the BMA meeting, and if you won't be there, we will meet on the steps at the South end of Union Square
before Critical Mass on Friday.
Film Festival a HUGE Success
It was hot, it was a 5 story walkup, and the projector pooped out once or twice, but judging from the reactions
of all those who attended, the first ever Bike Messenger Film Festival was a huge success,. Many thanks to all of you guys, and mad props to the organizers
for pulling the whole thing together. We raised over $600 for the NYBMA!
NYBMA Schedule
Aug 6: Party at Dynamex - 26 W 39th, moving to 21st & 7th. Outreach.
Aug 12 Bridgeparty: Queensboro Bridge
Aug 19 Bridgeparty: Williamsburg Bridge
Aug 20: Film Festival Contact Sarinya for more info.
Bike Repair Clinic
Thursday, August 26th 7:00pm - 49 E. Houston
Our next BMA meeting will focus on a bike repair clinic to teach you the basic skills to keep you making
that money no matter what happens. Come learn to fix your bike, pick up a copy of the Know Your Rights manual, and
debrief the day before the biggest Critical Mass you'll ever ride. Check out the
flyer for our meeting.
Bike Messenger Film Festival
Friday, August 20th 7:30pm - 184 Kent Ave. #509; Brooklyn
There's been an overwhelming demand for tickets to the first annual Bike Messenger Film
Festival, so get 'em quick, if you can! Contact Sarinya for tickets: working messenger-$3, friend-$5, groupie-$7,
yuppie/philanthropist-$10 (if you are buying for your non-messenger friends, they have to pay the
friend rate). There's also gonna be a race (with prizes!) from Tompkins Square Park over to the film fest.
You don't need to race to see the films, but you do need a ticket to race. flyer.
PUMA: Unstoppable!
Team Puma took top honors at the BMC Messenger Challenge, again proving their dominance on the road.
Check our events page for full results and pictures.
1.
Team Puma
2.
Trackstars
3.
The Strangers
4.
Philadelphia BMA
Global Gutz Results
NYC's Global Gutz representation had a pretty small turnout, but that's what happens when you only have a week to plan a race. Here are the top three finishers. Check our events page for full results and pictures.
1.
Felipe
37':17"
2.
James Hines
38':02"
3.
Ken
38':03"
BMC Software Bike Messenger Race
Sunday, August 1, 2004. Sign in at 9:45 AM - Gouverneur Lane and Water St
$1000 in prizes! This is the pro event in Downtown Manhattan, and, like the last two years, it's gonna feature a messenger relay race before the pro criterion. Right click here to download the fact sheet. (WordPerfect Document)
Official Site:procyclingtour.com
Next open BMA meeting
Thursday, July 29th 7:00pm - 49 E. Houston
Things are steamrolling towards a solid foundation for the Bike Messenger Association. At this meeting, we'll be going over details
on all of our services as well as our strategies for direct actions, and what we've learned so far from the Taxi Workers and the Brennan Center. On top of that, you'll be able to get a FREE copy of our new
"Know Your Rights" manual. This will be an invaluable asset to anyone in our profession, and you should definitely get your hands on one.
Bronx & Goldsprints results
Our webmaster had to go to Boston to be closer to Sam Adams this weekend, so we're letting Carlos host the full results for the past weekends' races. Thanks for being on the ball while I was on the bus, Diablo. Rumble through the Bronx |
Goldsprints
Check out some pix
Kissena racing to continue on Fridays
As a result of not having a promoter, John Campo announced today that the
Sprint series being held on Friday nights at the Kissena Velodrome has
been cancelled. Instead, the messenger series, which has been the best attended and most
successful race series in many years will be moved to Friday nights.
Tuesdays are now availible for open training. Should a promoter step
forward and pay the permit and insurance fees, then racing may be held.
BRIDGE PAR-TAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday July 15 - Manhattan Bridge
5:30 pm until whenever. Since the North side bike path has re-opened, we're not entirely sure where we'll be. Check back soon for an update.
Skids & Sprints results
It came down to The King vs. Diablo at yesterday's sprint competition at the Mermaid Parade. You could almost feel the tension in the air, and if you were standing on the sidelines of the not-so-well-paved course, you could certainly feel the spray of perspiration as the racers flew by. Click here for complete results.
BRIDGE PAR-TAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday July 8 - Williamsburg Bridge
5:30 pm until whenever. Meet in the middle of the bridge before you turn right onto the bike path.
Tonight at Kissena! The official TEAM PUMA announced!
June 22, 2204. The eight weeks are over and from the dozens of messengers who pushed themselves closer and closer to exhaustion and glory every week, eight elite members have been chosen for team PUMA. The top riders are... Alfred, Eddie, Felipe, Carlos, Hugh, Ugo, Todd, and Charlotte. Go to our Kissena page for detailed results.
But wait! Are the eight weeks really over? Stay tuned for more details.
NYC Messenger in feature film
As loathe as we are to promote anything coming out of Disney, this particular film happens to feature one of our own: Yac. Besides, it's not like it's a Disney Film...they just fronted the dough to get this documentary distributed. So it's more like Fahrenheit 9/11 than the Lion King. Except with much more irony. We've got a promo still with a nice little message here.
NYC's Team Puma Tears up the East Coast
Between Mayhem on Memorial Day weekend and the Wachovia Race in Philly the week later, our boys have been rakin' in the glory all over the place. This bodes well for a clean sweep on the home turf next year for CMWCXIII. Take a look at some of Diablo's pics from Mayhem here and from Philly here. For Quick reference, at the relay in Philly, Team Puma (Alfred, Felipe, Carlos, & Squid) came in #1, and Team NYBMA (Hugh, Todd, Charles, & Zach) came in #2.
BRIDGE PAR-TAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday June 17 - Manhattan Bridge
Thanks to eveybody who showed up at the Queensboro and at the Willy B. You guys
made it happen! It was a blast and we accomplished a lot - filled out
surveys, handed out flyers and most importantly, connected with other
messengers.
It was so good that we are going to have more parties! Come on out, help us hand out fliers, fill out surveys, and meet other messengers. We'll be there from 5:00 to 7:30 or so.
JUNE 17 - Mahnattan Bridge - Meet on the Brooklyn side before you go down the stairs.
Next Meeting: Cabbie Collaboration
Thursday, June 24th 6:30pm - 49 E. Houston
Since it was such a success, we are going to have the NYTWA come to US
this time at 49 E. Houston St.
WE NEED LOTS OF PEOPLE TO COME TO THIS! I promise you will think
differently about organizing when you listen to the organizer, Bhairavi,
speak. THEY DID IT- SO CAN WE! And yes, there will be press there so be
aware of that.
NYC Messenger on NPR
An NPR host caught up with Ken during the first bridge party under the Queensboro, and Ken hooked the public airwaves up with
a messenger's insight on the state of the North American "Bird". Listen to the broadcast here. Realplayer or Windows Media required. Funny stuff.
Legal Clinic
Thursday, May 27th 6:30pm - 49 E. Houston
Next Month's NYBMA meeting is a legal clinic with Adam D. White, an attorney who will give a presentation on what to do in case you get into another accident. Trust us, he's got some information you probably don't know about, so come prepared with questions. He'll also be offering a FREE consultation for those whose questions may be more pressing.
Meeting with the New York Taxi Alliance
A Messenger and Cabbie collaboration? Yeah, it's like flies and spiders getting along. But last Wednesday, members of the NYBMA met with Bhairavi from the NYTWA for the first of (hopefully) many discussions on how to organize our dispersed and diverse workforce. Bhairavi formed what is now the largest Taxi workers group in New York City in 1998. That May, 95% of their workers went on strike to address a number of grievances. Bhairavi, frankly, rocks. We're glad to have her on our side. She's been invited to our June meeting. Be sure to attend to hear this inspirational woman speak.
Health Insurance
The NYBMA has met with representatives of AFLAC to arrange accident coverage for the messenger community. For as little as $6 a week,
you can get compensation in the unfortunate, but often likely case of a nasty accident. Get the word out about this great opportunity! Email Sarinya for more info.
Past event:
Crumpler Art Bag Auction
Sept. 22 - 24
30 hand designed crumpler bags are up for grabs at their shop - 49 8th Ave. More importantly, there are
parties. Opening party: Sept 21 at Like the Spice - 224 Roebling. Closing Party: Sept 24. Details to come. Crumplerbags.comFlyer.
Two person team race. Do it all together, then sprint to the finish to find out who's the hero and who's the
lameass sidekick. Flyer. qandanyc@gmail.com. Results
It's a new game where you race around and yank flags off of other people's bags. Trust me, it's going to be
awesome. 7pm, Bay & Columbia - Red Hook, Brooklyn.
Afterparty at Bait and Tackle Bar. Flyer
Bike Works & Kissena Roller Racing
Jan 17 - Brooklyn Brewery
7:30 pm. 79 North 11th St, Brooklyn. USCF license mandatory, $5 one-day licenses available on site.
Entry Fee $8. Prizelist: TBD.
Ken's Birthday Party
Friday, Jan 13 - Capone's
The guy that runs this website is turning 29! Last chance before I turn 30! Everyone's invited to Capone's - 221 N. 9th in Williamsburg. GOLDSPRINTS! FREE PIZZA!
Flyer
It's like "alleycat lite" for anyone who doesn't usually want to race because there are way too many way too competitive people out there. More info. Flyer Results
Kinda Special Olympics
New Year's Day 2pm
Ace Bar - 531 E. 5th St (btwn A & B). Stumble out of bed and into the city and shake your hangover off doing trackstands & drinking 40s.
results
King Kog
Dec 10 - Empire St. Bldg
Coinciding with the opening of 49-16's new store in Williamsburg. 4pm registration. $5 - winner takes all. flyer
Rico Suave Race
Dec 3 - Wash. D.C., 3pm
$10. Proceeds benefit D.C. vet Rico, who's been hospitalized in serious condition due to an accident. Meet at Dupont circle.
Cranksgiving
November 19th, 2pm
Plaza across from Javitz Center. Bring money to buy food. Flyer.
Thanksgiving Potluck Dinner
Friday, Nov 18
7-10pm. 49 E. Houston
Thanksgiving dinner for NYC messengers, brought to you by the NYBMA. It's a potluck, so bring some food. If you will be cooking, email Ted or Ken to let
them know. Sponsored by Brooklyn Brewery. Flyer.
Presented by PUMA The greatest urban cyclists in the world converge on the greatest city in the world for the greatest competition ever! Begins July 1.
A CMWC pre-event. Second annual Rumble thru the Bx from Yankee Stadium to Orchard Beach. Checkpoints are posted on trackstarnyc.com Flyer
email: Hodari
Lady Libertine Race
June 4
3pm registration, 4pm race - Allen St. Plaza Seven. $3 girls, $9 boys. Rock some shit, girls.
Afterparty at ACE Bar - featuring a hot WET BOXERS CONTEST! Proceeds go to CMWC. Results | Pix
Team Alleycat
May 21 - 1:30pm - $10
Five Man Team, $10 per person. 124th & Madison to Canarsie Pier, Brooklyn. $1,000 in prize money!!! Three teammates must finish together to win. Contact Ivan for info: 718.915.2071.
results
Bicycle Film Festival
Five freakin cities this year! Featuring alleycat films by Lucas Brunelle. Get your tickets online soon, cuz this WILL sell out! NYC - May 12-15 LA - June 17-18 London - Aug 25-27 San Francisco - Oct 6-8 Tokyo - Nov 4-5 www.bicyclefilmfestival.com
NYC Bridge Battle
May 14 - 12pm Noon registration
Start at 23rd & the West Side Hwy & race to 5 bridges, plus two "wildcard" checkpoints. Ends up at the Bike Film Fest.
Art Auction
Fri, May 6. 7-11pm
Local messenger/artists auction off their goods to raise funds for CMWC. Flyer
April Fools Alleycat
Friday, April 1
Winner: Freakin Craig from Boston. 2nd: Zach. 3rd: Eric the Red
Zero Gravity Gala
Feb 12 2005 8pm
DJ, Band, Booze. It's like a Prom for messengers. Dress to Impress! $15 singles. $25 couples. Asterisk art lounge.
258 Johnson Ave., Bushwick.Flyer
All proceeds go to CMWC
Monster Track 6
Feb 19 2005 3pm
The world's biggest track-only event outside of the olympics returns for another reign of terror! SNARL!!! GNASH!!! register Flyer | Promo Video: WMV (541K)
Bike Swap Meet
Feb 19 2005 10am-2pm
Before Monster Track, come out to sell or swap your stuff. $20 per table. Free to swap. Flyer
email: NYBMA_SwapMeet@yahoo.com
Kinda Special Olympics
Jan. 1, 2005
169 bar - 169 east broadway
Registration starts @ 3
$5 to enter
ALL TRACK EVENTS. YOU KNOW THA USUSAL SHIT!!!!!!
No Guts, No Glory!
Saturday, December 18th - 2pm. 72nd St & Central Park West. $5. The Caribbean Team brings you uptown! flyer results
Bike Messenger Life: Book Signing
A book of photography by Eddie Williams. Nayako Gallery: 125 Ralph Ave; Bed-Stuy. Saturday, December 4. 7:00pm. J train to Gates or C train to Ralph. Contact nayakous@yahoo.com for more info.
Cranksgiving
November 20 - 2pm. 11th Ave & 36th St. - Across from the Javits Center
It's the 6th Annual Cranksgiving! No fee, but you'll need money to buy food at checkpoints. All food gets donated to a homeless shelter at the end of the race. Best reason to race, ever! results
Halloween X - October 30
From St. John's The Divine on 111th St. to Rockstar Bar in Williamsburg, blood was spilt on the streets for Halloween's 10th Anniversary. Click here for results.
The successful Goldsprints series returns to the bar formerly known as Lulu's for three more weeks of
blisteringly fast competition. 5 bucks to race. The bar is at 113 Greenpoint Ave & The corner of Franklin. 
Hodari took 2nd place in the Cargo race to Scrooge from DC. Yatika came in 1st out of town in the alleycat - a grueling 2+ hour haul
through Philadelphia and some of it's suburbs. In the alleycat, we can't believe we forgot to mention that Kym won for the girls! Mike Dee
kept all this winningness at bay by pulling in DFL in the main race. On Monday, in addition to the bunnyhop, Felipe won footdown. And over
the weekend, the 
Bronx John is currently in critical condition at Belleview Hospital. He was in an
accident with a car approaching the Williamsburg Bridge at South 4th & Roebling on Wednesday night. Witnesses described the
accident as "violent", and said that the car was moving very fast. His injuries are very extensive, but the hospital is waiting
until they can locate a next-of-kin to give us more information. We are all hoping & praying for him to pull through.
The first stage of the Velo City tour wrapped up in Los Angeles this weekend. Team Puma and Team King Kog all went out to roll with the LA crew.
And the winners of round trip tickets to Australia for the 
Back in Portland over the weekend, Bill had a bad accident playing bike polo. He broke a rib, and it punctured his lung. He's going to be in intensive care
for a while. We all hope he heals quickly, and is back on the road soon. Visit 
If you don't already know, there's a shit-ton of stuff going on this weekend, and you'll regret it for the rest of your life
if you miss any of it. It's Bike Month, people. 
You couldn't have asked for a better day to ride around one of the most
scenic areas of Brooklyn. A pleasant 69 racers registered, including one Blacklabel tallbike, and a couple on a tandem. Had Blacklabel not flatted
twice, he honestly could've come in top 5. Maybe. He was hauling.
About 30 people committed to the short trip out to New Brunswick for the "Smells Like Jersey" alleycat.
Here are some 
Massamba's Chrome Cannondale track bike was stolen today at 588 Broadway.
The ulock broken. It had straight bars (not like the ones in this picture) and was set up as a single speed
freewheel w/brakes.
click to enlarge.
148 racers from at least 20 cities came to race from as far away as Copenhagen, Tokyo, and Australia.
In a chaotic twist to a Le Mans style start, everyone spilled off the side of Marcus Garvey Park on 120th & 5th, running down cement
stairs, hopping over stone walls, running through mud & stone and jumping over fences to unlock their bikes below. 20 miles later in Williamsburg Brooklyn, after
a 5 mile sprint down 5th Avenue and a tricky navigation through downtown Manhattan, the winners fell into place at Rockstar Bar.
REMINDER - there's a fundraiser for 49 E. Houston tonight!!!
Lots of groups use this space, and we'd like to be able to keep it. Prices on the flyer are subject to change, but hey...it's a fundraiser.
Be generous.
bicyclemessengersmovie.com
Our boy Brean is laid up with a broken thumb. He isn't hospitalized, but he just can't do anything for a while. Trackstar's having a fundraiser for him at 
55 racers made the 7th annual Cranksgiving charity race the largest Cranksgiving ever. We raced from the Javits Center up to Gristede's grocery stores on 96th & 3rd, down to Battery Park, and back to the Javits center. Over 200 items of stuffing,
potatoes, cranberry sauce, and canned soup were donated to St. Mary's food Pantry at 440 Grand St.
Bike thieves are douchebags, but sometimes, they're complete morons as well. Luckily for Adam, his bike was stolen by one of the morons. And this morning, it was found only a few blocks away from where it was stolen - locked up with a cheapo
chain - cut off by Brad from Trackstar. We're still waiting to find out if he took the bike and left, or if he waited around for the theif and gave him a stern talking to. More news as it develops. Oh, and big ups to the scene for keeping their eyes out for his wheels.
The frame is steel and on the left bottom bracket an olmo logo is
depressed into the frame. The paint on the top and bottom bar is scraped
off. The seat pole is kalloy and a specialized saddle. My radio frequency
is172*7112*116. My cell is 7188012901 and i work for new york minute at
212.691.9191. Thanks.
Our webmaster had to go to Boston to be closer to Sam Adams this weekend, so we're letting Carlos host the full results for the past weekends' races. Thanks for being on the ball while I was on the bus, Diablo.
