Any current or retired messengers out there?
- Thread starter Traffic Jammer
- Start date
I worked for 1 month as a bike messenger simply because I was unemployed. The pay sucked so I quit after a month. Was the hardest job I have ever had, and I did 180 miles a week and biked in 2 complete days of rain. At least I lost 5 lbs while eating a little bit much.
A month? A summer month, pay always goes down in the summer with the glut of people thinking it'l be a neat summer job. You tried though.
Traffic Jammer said:
I worked in April or May and did 40F rainy weather and froze my fingers. I also worked for a company that was known for low cost job runs - hence the low comissions. At least it gave me work experience as a messenger so I can apply at the better messenger companies. But I'm well employed now and won't consider a messenger job unless I was unemployed again and it was March or later. I would mostly do this job for the training and weight loss.
Yea it's a great job for training. I rode messenger quite a while ago when the money was better. Best job I ever had in terms of freedom and fun. 6 years as a messenger, and my handling skills are aces because of it.
Traffic Jammer said:
You must have really suffered in the cold being a bike messenger in Canada. Up to how cold did you work in?
The variety of places you go and see is interesting. I only worked in the Chicago Downtown / Michigan Ave area.
It's funny that there are no other responders to this post.
I worked using a 2004.5 Giant OCR 1 with 2 Jand Commuter Panniers. What kinda bike did you have?
Long as you're smart about it ...not too too bad. I mean it was COLD but I never thought I was going to die from it of anything. Frozen feet and fingers, ears, ice on the goatee and eye lashes. This was in Montreal, in Feb, you'd get down to -25 sometimes then apply your wind chill, you could see temps of -40...-50. Throw a cup of water into the air and it turns to snow. Rare to get that cold for longer than a week at a time, but as Montreal is an island it's humid too. When it was like that we definitely HAD to warm up alot more indoors, none of this out riding all day stuff, hanging outside to smoke a spliff. (Had to smoke indoors)...lol
I rode an old Italian racing frame with a club shape on the fork crown and the lugs. Never knew what kind of frame it was. Columbus Original tubing, campy everything...so 70's...comfy OMG and fast. BB was punched out for weight, drilled brake levers and dropouts. Was a fixed when I got it, slapped a BMX freewheel on it, it had Looks, so I bought some cleats and away I went. A variety of MTB's in the winter. A couple Specialized, a Bianchi, I really wanted a Trimble back then...carbon was just starting.
Strange not more messengers.... or they just not admitting it...
maybe one day http://www.alaskaultrasport.com/
I rode an old Italian racing frame with a club shape on the fork crown and the lugs. Never knew what kind of frame it was. Columbus Original tubing, campy everything...so 70's...comfy OMG and fast. BB was punched out for weight, drilled brake levers and dropouts. Was a fixed when I got it, slapped a BMX freewheel on it, it had Looks, so I bought some cleats and away I went. A variety of MTB's in the winter. A couple Specialized, a Bianchi, I really wanted a Trimble back then...carbon was just starting.
Strange not more messengers.... or they just not admitting it...
maybe one day http://www.alaskaultrasport.com/
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