Glimpse of bicycle courier world

[vtec]

Hi all, just a couple of vids that I enjoy watching, of some of my friends just doing their jobs. A job that I myself am kind of passionate about.
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Steve Williams in this video I bumped into taking cycle tours on the Death Road near La Paz in Bolivia earlier this year. He was the only person in my 4 months in SA that I knew from home. Total accident meeting him there.

Vid of Redbull eye in the sky fixie race round auckland.
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Shorter version of Redbull eye in the sky here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S90ZxEDAzwI

Not too much work at the moment, so only working part time, so I went visiting about 7 different people on my mountain bike yesterday (as my fast single speed is broken).
Here's what I did in about 6 hours, including stopping heaps for chats with people. Also checked out the crashed plane in the Macleans reserve.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3307787

Before everyone gets all up in arms about how dangerous it is. Bicycle couriers pay a sizeable chunk of their income in ACC. Really hurts actually, more than the crashes.

[Swoop]

Obviously a red light means fuck all...

[vtec]

Obviously a red light means fuck all...

Yes. Just like speed limits to all motorists, and safe overtaking laws give ways, I could go on. The laws fail to protect bicycles, so the only way to avoid people hitting you is to go fast :D. Just we don't do it with 100's of kgs of steel around us.

[Swoop]

Yes. Just like speed limits to all motorists, and safe overtaking laws give ways, I could go on. The laws fail to protect bicycles, so the only way to avoid people hitting you is to go fast :D. Just we don't do it with 100's of kgs of steel around us.
Nothing like changing your post.

Show us your ACC levy please!

[vtec]

Nothing like changing your post.

Show us your ACC levy please!

Can't remember exact figures. But I pay.
$250 for car?
$250 for motorbike?
$2000 for being a bicycle courier.
So about $2500 all up. and I bounce really well, hardly ever break my body, even with highsiding race motorbikes.

I know one guy who paid $5000, of his approx $70k bicycle courier income. You also pay the ACC after expenses and GST and Income Tax have been removed so it really stings.

I always change my posts when I'm not happy with how it reads. That's why my writing improves.
Anyway could we not turn this into a bitch fight about ACC or it'll get moved.

Did you enjoy the vids? :D

[Swoop]

$2000 for being a bicycle courier.
Sheesh!
:eek5:

Employee levy?

[Taz]

Awesome vids mate. Loved it.

[vtec]

Sheesh!
:eek5:

Employee levy?

We subcontract to the courier company so are self employed, and ACC works it out from our tax returns.

[McWild]

That looks awesome.

What kind of bikes do you use? What companies do you work for? And how does the pay work?

[vtec]

When you get good it gets awesome, but there is a huge learning curve, I'd say that less than half of people actually make a living with it and are able to stick at it. Some people don't have the traffic skills and crash every day and give up very quickly. You have to be fast and ruthless if you want to make good money. Motorbikes make more these days due to decreased workload so the jobs are fewer and further between. Still I was making good money on the bicycle filling in for a motorcycle, but I'm pretty hardcore.

I've made up to $300 ($500 customer) in one day, but some days you only make $100. We get 60% of what the courier company is paid for our deliveries. The different companies are Deadline Express, Urgent, Pace, Sub 60. Sub 60 work with a retainer and don't have a huge deal of pedally work.

A 1 hour job in the CBD might be worth $3 customer so we'd get about $2. However you get a fringe job due in 20 minutes from somewhere like grey lynn to the viaduct or Newmarket, and it might be worth $30 or $40 customer. Rare but gets the blood pumping. You live on adrenalin some days for 9 hours a day with no set breaks, so it can age you kind of fast. But the lifestyle is addictive and feels rewarding, don't ask me why, it doesn't make sense. Some days suck and some days are awesome. Weather is a big part. At the moment, you have to be a legend to stick at it, the work dried up with the economy, so have you to be top of the heirarchy for it to be worthwhile.

I mostly use a heavy old rigid (no suspension), 15 kg Giant Boulder mountain bike, as I have broken plenty of road bicycles and this is the only one that has survived. But otherwise I've got an old tenspeed that I destroyed and converted to a singlespeed, the rear wheel spokes blew so I'm getting it rebuilt at the moment, by Jenna who's one of the couriers in the vid.

[Mikkel]

How's your life insurance premiums? <_<

[vtec]

How's your life insurance premiums? <_<

I don't use insurance of any kind. I see it as one of society's evils. Another piece of personal responsibility taken away.

[McWild]

So by the sound of it there's no really entry into it for newbies anymore?

I suppose it would have to be in a large city like Auckland to be worthwhile anyway.

[Drunken Monkey]

That's awsome mane.

Reminds me of this:

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[Mikkel]

I don't use insurance of any kind. I see it as one of society's evils. Another piece of personal responsibility taken away.

Unless you have a bankroll that will enable you to cover any potential fuck-up you might end up being responsible for, insurance is a good idea.

...and that is, also, assuming that everybody else aren't lacking moral fibre and common decency.

And while the first is rather unlikely, the latter has - sadly - been repeatedly proven not to be the case.


And anyway, we are talking life insurance here - which has nothing to do with personal responsibility and everything to do with taking care of your dependants in the case of your untimely demise.

[vtec]

Unless you have a bankroll that will enable you to cover any potential fuck-up you might end up being responsible for, insurance is a good idea.

...and that is, also, assuming that everybody else aren't lacking moral fibre and common decency.

And while the first is rather unlikely, the latter has - sadly - been repeatedly proven not to be the case.


And anyway, we are talking life insurance here - which has nothing to do with personal responsibility and everything to do with taking care of your dependants in the case of your untimely demise.

Firstly I'm not going to do much damage to your car on my bicycle, but fair point for all the cannonball drivers around. Secondly, I have no dependents. If you think people take care of their dependents then I think you should watch "Idiocracy". An excellent but underpublicised movie by Mike Judge, and seemingly an indication of where society is heading.

[vtec]

So by the sound of it there's no really entry into it for newbies anymore?

I suppose it would have to be in a large city like Auckland to be worthwhile anyway.

There's potential in Christchurch, however, we are a dying breed. The electronic communication has really killed a lot of work. Numbers of bicycle couriers have halved in the last 5 years. So until the economy turns around there will be no entry unfortunately unless you are an established legend.

I met bicycle couriers in Santa Cruz when I cycled from San Fran to LA at the start of the year, a tiny town. So it's totally doable in Christchurch.

[retro asian]

Did anyone see that bicycle courier on 60 minutes the other day?
He was insane, riding in front of cars that were pulling out...doing all sorts of crazy stuff. Drivers or pedestrians had no chance of seeing this push bike.

At least he kinda admitted that he was a bit dodgy with his riding, so if he gets hurt he deserves it.

[RantyDave]

I've made up to $300 ($500 customer) in one day, but some days you only make $100.
Jesus! That much risk for $100-$300 a day? Screw that.

Nice riding, though. FWIW I used to hoon around London in a similar style until a bike courier pulled up next to me at the lights and said "Like your riding man, you are NUTS!" and I thought I'd better start calming down a bit :)

Dave

[YellowDog]

Complete nonsense. The cops should get onto this.

Who needs insurance for such an obvious accident waiting to happen?

[vtec]

Trust me RD it's not about the money. Being able to live on the earnings from doing something you love is pretty cool though. I keep coming back to it from much higher paying office jobs. I lose my mind in offices.

YellowDog, the cops should get onto speeding motorcyclists, runners, wheelies, stoppies. Nah just kidding, I like that stuff too.

P.S. The cops are onto us, there's not much they can do to us though (unless we actually do damage or cause harm). Please note there are probably only about 15 bicycle couriers left in Auckland, and we are very much in the minority, so this doesn't represent the majority of the cycle community at all. They get annoyed with us too.

[Mikkel]

Firstly I'm not going to do much damage to your car on my bicycle, but fair point for all the cannonball drivers around. Secondly, I have no dependents. If you think people take care of their dependents then I think you should watch "Idiocracy". An excellent but underpublicised movie by Mike Judge, and seemingly an indication of where society is heading.

It doesn't take a lot of scratches on a new Ferrari to make it expensive - then there's the unlikely, but not impossible, situation where for some reason you muck something up, cause a car to swerve and hit another vehicle. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to think up a scenario where a small "harmless" mistake causes a very nasty situation. ...highly improbable, but "Shit Happens!". Just because you are the one most exposed to potential consequences of your actions doesn't mean it's ok to create dangerous situations - something that some motorcyclists also seem to forget in the heat of the moment.

I'm not saying that people, in general, are taking good care of their dependants but just because you live in a democrazy doesn't mean that the norm is right. I'll look for Idiocracy - although I fear it'll just make me even more depressed.

[Drunken Monkey]

Complete nonsense. The cops should get onto this.

Who needs insurance for such an obvious accident waiting to happen?

erm....LOL........?

[vtec]

Back on the insurance thing, you would find that the crashes that people have that could have been avoided WOULD be avoided a lot more often if they weren't insured. Put life ahead of money. I'm only risking my own life doing this. It's been a long time since someone has managed to get me with their car.

[vtec]

Did anyone see that bicycle courier on 60 minutes the other day?
He was insane, riding in front of cars that were pulling out...doing all sorts of crazy stuff. Drivers or pedestrians had no chance of seeing this push bike.

At least he kinda admitted that he was a bit dodgy with his riding, so if he gets hurt he deserves it.

Just one point, he wasn't relying on anyone seeing him. That's how you have to behave to survive. Sure you don't need to go that fast and most cyclists don't... but he was a bicycle courier. Totally different animal. He know's we are dodgy, but he's been doing it for 15 years 9 hour days 5 days a week, 2 weeks of holiday and he's still in good working order. I think that's testament to the safeness of his actions.

[Ender EnZed]

this doesn't represent the majority of the cycle community at all. They get annoyed with us too.

I can imagine that. And I should point out that if you grab onto the back of my jacket at the lights you're going to sustain a lot more damage than any car could do to you.:bash:

Aside from that it looks like a lot of fun for something (I assume) you can't go to jail for and kinda makes me wish I wasn't so unfit.

[vtec]

80% of people don't notice us holding their cars (we are invisible remember). Also, if we're holding onto a bike it's because we've asked and they've said yes, otherwise it wouldn't be safe.

[YellowDog]

Must be funny when the rear spoiler comes off in your hand :Oops:(unless it's your rear spoiler)

[vtec]

Must be funny when the rear spoiler comes off in your hand :Oops:(unless it's your rear spoiler)

Yeah, um, rear spoilers are fixed with screws and bolts and things. Out of the thousands of cars I've held onto I had one come off the side (was still fixed to the car, just wonky), because the boot was all rusted through, car was a mess. Generally if you use the spoiler to shut your boot, you'll be using similar forces to me holding onto it, try it. Mostly I hold onto wheel arches or Ute trays or the back of trucks though, cause spoilers went out of fashion in the 90's and less and less cars have them.

However, I could possibly break one of these cause of the leverage, so I won't try holding onto it.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lYGmyP9d4XM/R3dHoGzSWGI/AAAAAAAANxI/-tLJYq8Eesk/s320/1wira.JPG

[vtec]

This video features Mike from Waiheke, the oldest bike courier in Auckland. He's always intrigued to hear my motorcycle racing stories, he enjoys that passion.
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Also, in the first vid I posted up there's some footage of Jenna, who last year representing NZ at the bicycle courier world champs, WON IT. Auckland is arguably the toughest CBD in the world to work as a bicycle courier. Makes machines out of the couriers.

This is cool too. About NYC couriers. It's pretty big there, some awesome characters.
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[vtec]

Here's a photo of Angus, representing NZ at the Tokyo 2009 bicycle courier world champs... he won the Cargo racing world title.

And the second photo is Ezra, winning one of his heats. He's the most high profile bike courier in Auckland. Awesome guy. He introduced me to Serj Tankian. Bah photo didn't work, here's the link.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bakapucka/3956780615/

Oh yeah, I just learnt to ride a unicycle in the last week. I know, no pics or it doesn't mean anything. It's not my unicycle so I can't get photos now, it's at my mates house.

[jrandom]

... until the economy turns around there will be no entry unfortunately unless you are an established legend.

I'd just like to pop in here and give vtec some props for letting me have his job when he left the country at the beginning of the year.

:D

(Yes, it really is hard to get into bicycle couriering in Auckland. This is why he has to go find a real job now. Ahaha. Ahahahahaha. Ahahahahahaha!)

(Love you bro.)

[XRVrider]

Nice one vtec. Can relate to what you are doing, yeah you get some shit but its not all bad huh.

I was a bicycle courier for a couple of years or so in London. Got to the top of my company, so made good dough. To get there was to know the city super well, go fast and deliver quickly and turn up every day. I had heaps of scrapes, nothing major though.

It was nuts, and I did my best to earn as much as possible, grabbed onto every car, bus and truck going by on longer stretches and up hills. Fastest uphill ever was just over 40 miles and hour, only put myself at risk and never went to a doctor or hospital. We didnt pay tax at all and so definitely nothing toward the government.

Raced motorbikes a bit, we were faster in the centre (if you went for it) like bunny hopping up footpaths around pedestrians, and over traffic islands, running just about every red light. The trick, to avoid every other thing on the roads, and you dont come a gutsa. Plenty thought us crazy and dangerous, but really all we cared about was the dosh and the freedom you had. Upshot was that you were super fit and got pissed on 2 cans.

Keep up the good work mate, and stay out from under a bus :niceone:

[jrandom]

Hi all, just a couple of vids that I enjoy watching, of some of my friends just doing their jobs. A job that I myself am kind of passionate about.

Now that I've actually had a chance to watch the video - fuck me, that's nicely put together.

Makes me kinda proud to be out there doing that shit. For that matter, it makes Auckland look kinda cool, too, dunnit?

Notice how there's no footage of anyone climbing though. Heh. Bicycle couriers are lazy motherfuckers.

[Ender EnZed]

Notice how there's no footage of anyone climbing though. Heh. Bicycle couriers are lazy motherfuckers.

Climbing what exactly?

[vtec]

Climbing what exactly?

He means there's no shots of hill climbing... apart from when Ezra grabs on the back of the white Toyota Celica going up College Hill Road in the first video... But that's just as lazy. There's some more of Steve williams going up wellesley street. Actually there's a few more, like Jenna at the bottom of Airedale going up the walkway and more. But who wants to watch a bicycle courier doing the grind up hills instead of the blast down them.

[R6_kid]

I just rode from Greenhithe to Haldanes in Panmure and back. Did 75km all up, went down along the waterfront, through town and up College Hill on the way home. It's bloody good fun and some times its more fun than riding a motorbike. Drivers seem to think that they only need to give you room when they pass you so it's always interesting passing them on their right when they stop at the lights!

I had a close call the other day when I was doing about 50km/h down a hill in a 50kmh zone where a car sped out to about 50m in front of me and then decided to turn left across my path without indicating... really felt like I was going to body slam the car but luckily I saw a gap and just made it through - braking wouldn't have helped... the driver in the car that was following said driver drove past me fairly slowly with a rather shocked look on their face!

It's also good fun racing buses down Queen Street. They act like the own the place and often run up right against the curb instead of leaving some room to get past. They don't like it when you beat them across the intersection and then sit at 30kmh in front of them on the way down to the ferry building!

[MarkyMark]

That is awesome. And I thought I was a loose unit on a bicycle...

[jrandom]

They don't like it when you beat them across the intersection and then sit at 30kmh in front of them on the way down to the ferry building!

Queen St is a 30kph zone now anyways. If you're actually doing 30, I doubt the bus drivers GAF.

You don't realise how much of an evil trap it is until you go along it on something other than a bicycle.

Just for giggles, I spent a day as a motorcycle courier on the 1400 a few weeks back. Fuck that shit. Took me a full ten minutes (riding legally) to get from Cook St to Britomart via Queen! Those new double pedestrian phases at all the lights absolutely rape you.

(And then later on I got lost in Glendowie, but that's another story.)

The council has certainly done a good job of discouraging motor vehicle traffic from using Queen St as a thoroughfare.

[kiwifruit]

Looks like an easy job

[jrandom]

... we are very much in the minority, so this doesn't represent the majority of the cycle community at all. They get annoyed with us too.

When they can catch us.

Not too many roadies out there getting in 30+ hours a week of training.

:rockon:


Did anyone see that bicycle courier on 60 minutes the other day?
He was insane, riding in front of cars that were pulling out...doing all sorts of crazy stuff. Drivers or pedestrians had no chance of seeing this push bike.

At least he kinda admitted that he was a bit dodgy with his riding, so if he gets hurt he deserves it.

Aha. Ahahaha. Y'reckon eh. Thread link forwarded to Wayne; I suspect he might want to comment...

[retro asian]

Aha. Ahahaha. Y'reckon eh. Thread link forwarded to Wayne; I suspect he might want to comment...

Well he admitted that already on the show, and told of his past injuries etc...
I don't think he's worried.

[jrandom]

Looks like an easy job

A little bit, aye. Unfortunately, to bomb down all the hills in the vid, you have to climb up them first.

[R6_kid]

A little bit, aye. Unfortunately, to bomb down all the hills in the vid, you have to climb up them first.

Haha, but it is great fun! I've found that I quite enjoy some of the back roads out Albany way. Going through them at 35-40kmh on a pushie is just as, if not more enjoyable than doing it on a motorbike at twice the speed.