This is rather old, but I was cleaning up some of my bookmarks and found it again.

Figured other folks might want to read it.

https://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2005/3/19/133129/548

Thoughts?

A lot of it I liked esp. the end where he had a small list of things to do like a backup bike, ect. Especially liked the part about saving up some cash from really good weeks for when you have bad ones. So true and no one really thinks about that.

"One thing I was surprised to discover is that pedestrians are almost as dangerous to the full-time cyclist as drivers are. Especially if you indulge in sidewalk riding."

If you ride on the sidewalk as a courier you're wasting time and shoudn't be hassling pedestrians.

On the other hand peds who step off kerbs without looking deserve to get hit. When silent electric cars become commonplace these people will soon be extinct. Modern Darwinianism.

i dread the day of silent electric cars

Actually I think it's a *she*. I have hazy memories of reading that stuff years ago and seeing a pic of the girl and her SS MTB with a preposterously high gear.
Either way, nice one

Edit: I'm more than likely wrong. The girly prolly had a rather similar blog entry and was also from Toronto. Memory FTW.

I'm pretty sure you are right in that the poster was a girl. Not bothering to check, but I know what you are talking about.

Someone should probably just check, but I think it was actually a photo of his (the author's) girlfriend posing with the bike or something.

For what it's worth, I did a click's worth of research. Definitely not a girl.

The user's bio from kuro5hin.org:
Bio:
transient0 is known elsewhere as 256 and, in the vast and confusing world outside of the computer, as Frank Duff.

Good read though, I enjoyed it quite a bit!
Oh and I guess he wrote a book.

the author of that "coder in courierland" article is frank duff -- a man.

it seemed pretty obvious, since there are a couple of places where he talks about picking up hot receptionists. although lesbian jams are possible, i suppose, the comments seemed very masculine.

LOL. Fair enough

You don't need to. It's the sound of the tires on the pavement that alerts you to the approach of a car, not the engine.

i liked the part where it was extremely easy for him to pick up a courier job.

I liked the "Magic helm +1 against asphalt" part.

ROFL. Thanks for pointing that out.

I don't know about that...I've definitely had a prius sneak up on me before.

No worries. The part that says "2 wheels and a meat motor" is also good imho.