You'd take awfully long if you waited out every red light... define "good", Retem. If by "good" you mean a law-abiding, outstanding citizen, than sure, you're right. If you mean someone who's fast on the job and knows how to play the city right (timing lights, figuring out which streets / routes are better to take than others, figuring out the best ways to run a light and not get killed when the oppurtunity becomes necessary), than I wouldn't necessarily call it a good thing to wait every red out.

How come there are never "A question from messengers" threads?

Because they know everything. That's right.

yes it would but most do not, and to be quite honest, till you've been a courier for quite awhile you don't even know the city you live in, delivering stuff will teach you things about a city most never ever even would think about or ever see

ever done 12 stops an hour for 7-8 hours without a break?

thats why you run lights and take shortcuts

and a helmet won't stop death, barely even slows it down, a car won't care that you've got 2" of styrofoam on your head

depends on the situation if the light is red and its totally clear do it but there are plenty of other options in my case alleys are fast empty and shorter than the street side often times i wait out most of the lights but that is also because I make courthouse runs and cops are all around

good is knowing what when and where traffic is and ways around it it is also being fast however you can ride as fast as you want and still get the clerk from hell that will waste a half hour of your time bottom line is pay attention time the lights and use common sense also don't ride with headphones on both ears its a 150 dollar fine in my parts I just have a helmet with built in speakers he he

wouldn't be a problem the longest run I do is about 2 miles one way

well you must be a rockstar then cause most people find it quite difficult to keep up that pace for very long, especially when you have buildings that can take 5-10 minutes just to get in and out of them

track racer in training and I ride a single speed with brakes I also have been riding around this town for a long time and love gridlock
my daily mileage is 60~70mi stop and go this town is a grid and flat if I had to work sf or nyc or a place with hills or long runs I wouldn't bee so effective

Photographic memory I suppose? See one street or Av and it's locked in your brain forever. But worst in N America would be Vancouver, since it faces NNE. TO is kinda weird too but easier.

But StreetSmart maps, those fold out laminated ones work really good and they don't fall apart and are not the size of city block when unfolded. A few bucks and you'll be set off well.

And if you get lost, do it again. Or just be oldschool and ask someone every single block for directions...you never know.

Totally true.. When you live someplace you only go to a few places, home, school, work, pubs, etc. Even if you go to one new place a week you still aren't learning like when you are forced to go new places every day.

I've lived in Boston for nearly 10 years; I know the places I travel in, but areas of town I only ride occasionally I have to ride by feel. No map usually but if I'm going someplace totally new I'll look before I set out.

/not a messenger
//slashies

actually youre pretty wrong. i hit the north end and beacon hill pretty frequently. you learn it all eventually.

Right, so there's a whole other half square mile. :p

+1. perlys are the standard.