Originally Posted by bikiola

hello fellow bikers
so i started messengering this week. i wanted to share some thoughts, and perhaps get your responses... some of this will be cheesy but here goes:

a) the job is tough. really tough. i commuted daily from brooklyn to manhattan AND would go up to columbia occasionally and often to queens. i'm not scared of city traffic and i'm in good shape. that said, the job is still extremely difficult, and just a few days has forever changed my opinion on the actual, very real differences between "normal" city biking, that is, when you don't have the pressure of time and people, and messengering. so when you see those messengers around you, even on their crappy bikes and they don't look like cool "red web" messenger type people, these are folks to be respected.

b) i've never appreciated clothing meant for biking as much. that is, i still don't think a 200 jacket is worth it, but i've definitely started appreciating the little things on my bailey bag and such that i never thought of before. some stuff, like a tshirt, is of course indispensable. but there is actually a need for breathable stuff, whereas i never cared before. also, padding + brooks saddle: my butt feels amazing, even after 6 hours on the bike.

c) there is a class issue at stake here; half the time is spent dealing with real pieces of sh11t. that is, in the office buildings downtown and in the midtown offices, where people ask you to wait outside while some fat dude brings down a corporate contract you are delivering to other fat dudes in other shiny white corporate offices around the city, you realize that there is definitely such a class difference in new york; there is some short of shell economy where there are nice restaurants and woody allen's new york, but there is a dedicated underclass of extremely hard working immigrants, students, and in general other people who staff the city -- the city is on their backs. the more and more i do this, the more relieved i am to return to brooklyn at the end of the day, where the population is diverse, the people are nice, and life goes at a much more reasonable pace.

d) i HATE midtown traffic. i HATE midtown traffic. i HATE midtown traffic.

e) i see the need for better designed cities. why, for instance, is 979 park avenue at 84th st and 979 6th ave at 35th? why does w 10th intersect with w4th in the village? this and other wonderful things (although i know the causes are abstractly from the times at which they were built, etc) will always make me wonder.

f) can one actually make money on this? i realize its my first week, but i busted my ass and did only 6 runs in 3 hrs. i know this isn't good, but this is because you wait for packages, go from wall street > upper east side, and etc.

anyway, suggestions, comments, notes? thanks for being my support group.!