Moving Target

Marcus Cook Award nominations
5 September 2008 by Buffalo Bill

Nominations have opened for the Marcus Cook Award for services to the international bicycle messenger community.

What is the Markus Cook Award?
The MCA for Service to the International Messenger Community is not a prize for winning a race, or a contest to find the funniest or most outrageous member of the international messenger community. At the time the Award was conceived, the Cycle Messenger World Championships, which is the heart of the international messenger community, was beginning to be more about the racing than the happening. I wanted to re-establish the spirit of the championships, to restate the reason that we all come to this event every year. I wanted the MCA to be a reflection of the axiom that everyone who comes to a CMWC is a winner, whether they race or not.

North American Cycle Courier Champs
4 September 2008 by Buffalo Bill

Happened at the weekend. Austin and Kym won the main race. No word on the other competitions yet, although the polo looks like it was fun. Full results from the final here. Official NACCC 2008 site here.

Updated – again!

Kym’s messenger status has been disputed. This has echoes of the DQ from Rollapaluza X of Cas, who was judged not to have been a working messenger (although there was also some question about Charlie’s messengerness too…). In the interests of a good stir, purely because it’s ages since we had a proper slanging match on this site, I reproduce the email which outlines the nature of the dispute below, with some comments from other parties.

I don’t have a problem with non-messengers competing in messenger events, as I said here. However, if it is true that Kym was asked if she was a working messenger, and lied, then that is kind of a shame.

London Bicycle Film Festival 2008 October 2nd - 5th
4 September 2008 by Buffalo Bill

The fantastic Bicycle Film Festival rolls into town again next month, hosted this year by the Barbican Cinema. There are 7 different programmes, running over 3 days. The Barbican’s blurb describes it as an itinerant carnival of films, music, seminars and events bringing together many diverse aspects of cycling life and culture from around the globe. Moving Target describes it as too much fun for one weekend. The programme has a special messenger night on the Saturday, with the obligatory Lucas Brunelle travelogue, a feature on the ‘King of New York’, Felipe Robayo and short doc on the TO CMWC. There are, of course, heaps of other films on the other programmes, including a feature on 6 Day Races, a new Niestadt Bros film and a load more other interesting looking stuff.

Is British Cycling doing enough about road danger?
3 September 2008 by Buffalo Bill

This is what the ever-thoughtful Keith Bingham asks in Cycling Weekly following the publication of an interview with Olympic gold medallist Vicky Pendleton, in which she complained that there will be one occasion per hour where somebody takes a stupid risk and basically puts me in danger when she is out training around Manchester. Here is an excerpt from the article, the whole of which is well worth reading.

While BC remain reluctant to openly speak about the dangers facing their members, they happily advertise the virtues of taking silver or gold membership because of the insurance benefits. They are rightly proud of the legal expertise available to them in helping to recover damages for injuries sustained in road crashes caused by drivers.

But they don’t want to go public on road safety concerns, for fear losing members, of putting people off cycling. You can see their point.

However, surely they aware that the vast majority of the public already consider cycling on the roads too dangerous. That’s why they don’t do it. By taking a public lead might not British Cycling grow their membership even more than the impressive increases this year?

Amen to that.

Gertie 40/20
3 September 2008 by Buffalo Bill

Former Cargo Bike World Champion in the New York Times
3 September 2008 by Buffalo Bill

Unburdened by Gas Costs, Bike Couriers See a Chance, from the New York Times, spotted by Joe Hendry, of Messmedia.

New York City’s bike messengers remain a fixture on the streets, having weathered the advent of the fax machine and, of course, e-mail. Now, with the cost of gas pummeling courier companies that rely on motorized vehicles, a few enterprising cyclists are using the opportunity to generate more business.

A sign on Hodari Depalm’s delivery bike. His business has increased by 20 percent in the last year, he said. A small but growing number of pedal-powered messengers are outfitting their bicycles and, in some cases, tricycles, with boxes and flatbeds on which they can load hundreds of pounds of cargo.

“Eighty percent of the jobs done in a van I can do,” said Hodari Depalm, the owner of Checker Courier, a cargo messenger company in Manhattan that says it can move up to 200 pounds of documents by bike. Mr. Depalm said his two-man messenger business had increased by 20 percent within the last year.

This makes a nice change from the normal bicycle couriers are a dying breed story that we reviewed here last year. The rider mentioned is a former Cargo Bike World Champion and rides a Bilenky cargo bike, as well as the Long Haul shown in the picture accompanying the article. And you can take a look a Cyclehawk’s trike bike over here.

The BBC run a story a few months ago which focused on the effects of rising petrol costs on the transport business.

Bad Man Cyclist Massive
2 September 2008 by Buffalo Bill

12 tracks of anger-fuelled dancehall ragga music, inspired by 12 years of cycle courierisationment. Nobody can test this ex-cycle courier’s temperament. This is the album of the year! – Raggatisation Magazine

Hmmm. How many alter-egos does one bicycle messenger need? I know it’s well boring in Brum, but still…

For those that missed it...
1 September 2008 by Buffalo Bill

Here are the pics that Jono took of four of the spots where London bicycle messengers were killed whilst working. Jono deliberately took them so that they looked anonymous. Could be any piece of road, anywhere in London. Nothing to mark the spot, no sign of commemoration, a flat black surface. The authorities in this country, unlike France, believe that road-side memorials are a dangerous distraction to drivers. No, that’s not a joke. I understand that life has to go on, indeed when we all went down to the junction of Upper Thames Street and Queen Street Place in 2004, it was as much to celebrate Seb’s life, and vigorously proclaim our own vitality in the face of numerous daily fatal threats, as to mourn his passing.

Igor, the world's most famous bike thief
31 August 2008 by Buffalo Bill

Now is the age of the bike punk. Fakenger is last year’s label. Hipsters don’t do pedalo races, and ride bikes into the Serpentine. Art school types don’t attempt skids and fail spectacularly – that wouldn’t be cool, now would it? No, messenger culture has crossed over and the bike punk has been born – or reborn, or still-born or whatever you want to call it – but bicycle counter-culture has snuck up and happened.

London's Calling II success!
31 August 2008 by Buffalo Bill

The event had over 80 registrants, and no doubt many hundreds more spectated. And over £1000 was raised for the London Courier Emergency Fund. An absolutely brilliant effort. A full report is over at the London’s Calling site.

Missing Target
22 August 2008 by Buffalo Bill

As mentioned in my previous post, I will be indisposed for the next week.

London's Calling II coming to a street near you very soon!
22 August 2008 by Buffalo Bill

When I left the Foundry, the party was just starting to swing. If you rush down now, you might still be able to register, and you will certainly be able to check out the exhibition downstairs, curated by Sarah. I believe and hope that it will be open all weekend and beyond. Amongst those showing is Moving Target’s own favourite photographer Selimski. Simone and Jono have some stuff in there(I have to say that I was most taken by Simone’s stuff – quite striking and thought-provoking, whilst Jono’s pictures are deeply moving), and I believe that some of the other nice stuff is by Matt. I have seen a lot of bicycle culture exhibitions, but I reckon that the quality of the show puts it right up there amongst the best.

There are, of course, a bunch of other events occurring this weekend. I am very sorry that I will be missing them all, due to a previous engagement with sun, sea and a rather large mountain in Provence. I hope that you all make it to at least one or two of the events, and that everyone has fun. My congratulations to the organisers in advance.