Rode for Mobile Messenger, NYC '77. Best gig I've ever had, including getting paid to ski and light rock concerts. Nice flick, captures a bit of the taste of freedom. 64 now and resting a broken rib from going over the handlebars a week ago. You can take the boy out of the city...
I rode for Western Messenger in SF in 1999-2000 on a fixed gear road bike with no brakes. It was after a ten year road racing career, and I was one of maybe 20-30 messengers who was doing it. Interestingly, the short 1.5 years I did it I learned that the messengers making money weren't fast, or on road bikes at all, but were older folks on beach cruisiers with huge baskets. 90 percent 'of good runs were in the Financial District, which is flat, and it was mostly about being cozy with the dispatchers, good at navigating buildings, and knowing which shortcuts and elevators to take. There was an old lady who always wore pink, on some crazy old 3 speed bike, she was famous and making like 200 bucks a day. It's not anything like the movies. They used to send me out to the stadium and all the long hilly shit runs, because I was fit and fast. Like 30 minutes for a 8 buck run. Sucked. You could make 5 runs downtown in that time. All the dispatchers hated me, except one. The days I got him I made 80-130 a day. There was an angry lesbian who would make me do ridiculous stuff. I make 12 dollars one day. Also - I was drunk on Olde English 800 the ENTIRE time.
I'm not a messenger, but I carry a lot of packages on my bike to the post office. I basically live off of my bike, and yeah, I'm 55+, and ride an Electra cruiser because it's the "most bike" you can get for $300, it can take the punishment of horrible Silicon Valley roads, I've got a rack and panniers on it, and can haul 100lbs with my Burley cargo trailer. I rack up a ton of miles on the thing because I'm doing the post office run, the grocery run, etc etc yadda yadda. So far I've worn out one rear wheel and I might get a new front to match it soon. Best way to make money on a bike I've found: Practice trumpet. A lot. For years. Put trumpet in gig bag, folding red cloth "tip box" in bike pannier. Ride to good spot. Play your heart out. Profit.
@@blondemommyvomit She was kinda legend there, and just hated me because i was a newbie. But I have a story to tell. She was "hazing" me,, like really fucking with me for a whole month, so the other dispatchers were calling her out on it. I would do anything, as fast as anyone and not complain. But I was kinda new. Once she told me to do an "easy" pickup at a fancy restaurant. I thought it was to pick up a package. But it wasn't a package, it was a gigantic FOOD CART, full of fancy ass food,, like literally Russian caviar. I thought it was a joke, and played along. PUSHING that thing to the pyramid towers on Montgomery. To the office of Thomas Weisel. It was NOON, and the streets were full, and I pushed and push, dragged that thing up a service elevator. Security laughed at me, and then like immediately felt sorry for me. 110th floor. They took the cart, blew me off and I went back to the restaurant to get my bike. My bike had been placed out in the ALLEY. No lock. The owner gave zero shits, offered zero tips, and acted like I wasn't there. I went back to that lesbian lady and told her she was a wizard. In my whole life, NOBODY, has ever fucked with me that hard. I also quit and went to work for Legion, a little shop in the Mission. 3 months of that, super fun, and I was done.
I worked as bike courier as my summer job between high school and university in 97 in Adelaide, South Australia. I used to shred hard to make 103 drops a day and make 130. Used to hammer all day and get next to bring but loved it. The freedom and adrenalin rush couldn't be beaten. I stopped after getting knocked off twice, once breading my wrist, the next ending up in hospital unconscious where the surgeon said that is I continued is eventually ends up dead, or worse a quadraplegic... I went and did electrical engineering, but still have my crumpler bag and occasionally rude hard in the city through the alleys, but I'm 40 and have a 7 yo.....
I worked for City Mail in Sydney owned and operated by David Roper - This is going back to 1989... We used pagers and Dave dispatched from the office .Will Smith was involved then too (Roper started Crumpler bag in Adelaide - where he started City Mail but had to shut it down as they competed with the post office monopoly - he went legit after that. It was a lot of fun).
These guys are what motivated me to get a single speed road bike. I know it's not the same thing, but it's some what difficult. The amount of athletic ability these guys have is amazing.
I've been a bike messenger for 8 years..... I'm 44 old and I still enjoy it, I would never change it. of course I also have a second night job, but I won't give up on my bike messenger.
So many faces / personalities / elevators I remember from the end of the ‘80s and the early ‘90s. Best music scene in the world. And Harvey was just the best human being ever. Now I’m fat (I got sober) and old (1/2 a century and then some) and back east (sadly). This is such a throwback to my early 20s and the best time and place that ever existed.
i wish i was that guy . . . that way I could tell you if I did. In reality, though, I would never. Biking to mx is like not a smart thing. and I am smarter than that. I hope that guy was, too.
and then i was flying down golden gate toawrds 6th street and this big ass SUV pulled in front of me with this big black guy jumping out then clocking me sucker punch because one of my colleagues ripped off his mirror. All us white guys look the same so mistaken identity hey its life =)
@@bornagainstraightedge they still do but very rare. Not like it was 15 years ago before covid. You'll be hard prssed to find a biker thats delivering anything other then legal documenst, paychecks, architectural plans or food.
would love to see what all of these folks are doing now, 33 years later. i lived in sf from 1989-2014 and knew some bike messenger bands. i wonder what that scene is like now--i imagine much smaller, but maybe i am wrong.
Yeah, this was before email, and waaayyyy before DocuSign. The high tech of the time was the fax, that's why there were so many back then. If you needed original signatures, you needed a bicycle messenger. Approval for graphics layups? Bicycle messenger. And so on. I guess it's just food delivery now
Even though I have been a bike rider all my life I hated messengers when I lived in Portland 30 years ago. This documentary has opened my eyes on the nature of the profession. Very nice video and thanks to whoever put it on here, and who made it. I wouldnt have lasted 5 mins doing this job because of the biking skills needed.
This is fucking amazing. I'm writing a character study about a bike messenger and what compels them to be a messenger to begin with. This gives 100 percent context of what I had in mind for my protagonist and confirms what I'd expect: creatives wanting to work on their own dime with flexibility and pursuit of something genuine. While I wish they showed more dispatching and the package end of receiving, this is a beautiful documentary.
This is cool. I grew up in the 90's in the Bay Area. This brings back memories. It was a time without social media and cellphones. People were more acutely individual then, I feel.
@@freddyjisp9420 No. Each bag you mentioned was "invented" for a specific purpose, and the "OG inventor" of the messenger bag is DeMartini of New York City.
@@WHDRWNshut up clown, car centric infrastructure is the opposite of freedom. True freedom is cities where you can walk or bike without risking your life because of assholes in their 5 passenger 3 ton hunk of metal, aka, a car by themselves, taking up immense amounts of space on the road, and running people over. Car brained idiots like you act like cars are the solution to everything and that it's just okay that people die so much from car related accidents.
Fun fact: UPS started out as a bike messenger company. I think of that whenever I pass a UPS truck on my bike with a bunch of packages for the USPS and FedEx (we don't use UPS).
you have to attack the algorithms...if you search for the things that interest you and give those videos likes, you will get interesting content like this. really smart folks over there at google.
@@camerondavisslag it's definitely part of the equation. It's direct communication between you and google about the content you enjoy. If they intend to keep you in their app for as long as possible it wouldn't make sense to ignore the videos that you smashed like on.
I was a bike messenger in San Jose in 2000-01 ish my buddy decided to go to San Francisco and bike messenger there but came back to San Jose,he said the experience in SF was just different.
Im from the Netherlands and I hate biking lol i had to bike 13 km (sorry but dunno your m.system)... and moved to a big (nothing compared to the us) city to never have to bike again funny, here in this doc its a cool thing... i guess it is because its dangerous here love this old school doc, thanks man love from Rotterdamn
hell fuckin yeah! i needed this.my first job was doing bike delivery and found a bike club to ride with.soo much free fun.now im a cook and not so many bikes around.might be time fora change
Sting King rockin' the 'Society System Decontrol' shirt @ 21:07? I miss when S.F. (especially that part of Market and the T.L.) was still a cool place to be. R.I.P. to S.F.s soul.
I did about 4 years in this job in Victoria BC Canada, 86-90. A much smaller and less crazy place, especially back then, but pretty much all of this resonates. A lot of lifestyle upsides to the job but also dangerous as hell. Finally got out of it mostly because I didn't want to get injured again. The law of averages catches up sooner or later. Just after I left they were bringing in bike cops and making couriers wear ID numbers so they could be busted for doing insane shit instead of just vanishing up a one-way street to avoid pursuit. Don't think they even exist here now. It was a different world then.
It's been plates in Van since 1989 ... I had one of the first ones. I messenger-ed in Van, SF and Sydney OZ. OZ was the best of the three. You had to hustle hard in SF to make money and the money was not that great. The least of the three money-wise
A beautiful piece of doc' making about an era and a subculture that's probably had it's day. Those guys are probably all corporate CEOs, mothers or six feet under now. Where did all the time go? :(
Love it when that dude who looked hella up tight said that bike messengers had to be “on of the most skilled athletes know to mankind.” Skilled and useful for sure, way faster than a car in certain situations, but just as fast in other situations. Watch out for those tracks, they’re killers
Yep. Had my first track crash after 30+ years of riding. Concussion, broken hip, cut and bruised all up one side. Will never take them for granted again.
I’m so sad I didn’t get to live my 20’s in this generation. I worked as a bike courier during the pandemic here in NYC but now we have e bikes with box backpacks, or trailers attached in the back to do like 10 spots before coming back to get more. Not the same feeling as having a fixie.
Grasso and I, in early 1990, rode on a team of 4 msgrs for a graphics company shortly after he moved to the City from SoCal and were friends on and off our rides for good and bad for years good and bad. He fell into rough times and don't know what's become of him, but that mufucka could do anyfuckingthing on a bike. The shit we got into.....
I was a messenger in Philly in the 90s into 2000s. I worked some in NYC but mostly Philly. My brother and I we're both Messengers... He moved on to ride in SF for a while. I started at One hour on 2nd st then on to Philly express on 13th . Oh yeah can't forget heaven sent up on 23rd and Washington I think was the cross streets... Been a while.. It was always a party lol..
What an awesome little documentary. Love sub-culture insights. And yeah, i can imagine the misogyny too, read a more recent article about it too. Things haven't moved on that far unfortunately.
I rode for Western Messenger in 99, and it was before my time. Remember a bar called Zeitgeist I think, I can't remember much, I was drunk on Olde English 800 for 1.5 years straight.
I just finished my first day as a bike messenger. This shit is fucking real to me. You spend so much time out there on your bike that it's inevitable that your going to get hit from time to time and one of those time you could just die
22:23 and one of those guys owns the biggest courier services in SF.... the smirking smiley one... you know the one knowing hes poaching her customers...
That's a company bike that served mostly printing firms. It was an hourly position and they'd provide the bike. The dispatcher (Paul I think his name was), the owner, was a psycho. He'd scream at you over the radio - just lose it. But a great place to start as they'd hire anyone - but the owner was a PSYCHO
I feel this way about delivery driving. Lately been doing DoorDash, and its freeing to be able to work when you want anytime. I think some people need the typical 9-5 job where you are scheduled, expected to show up, expected to dress up, expected to do what you are told, expected to produce results, and to stay in line. Sure having a laid back delivery job "generally" makes less money, but it can be enjoyable, and it is rewarding.
@ true, or if you just need/want extra money while doing other work or in college
4 года назад
@@MrJimShorts Ah, a booster, eh? I'm not interested in anecdotal evidence. Show me data that the average wage can support a family with a degree of comfort...or shut up.
4 года назад
@@MrJimShorts You're just pulling numbers outya ass. I want average wages. I was a bike messenger for years and I know how people are inclined to treat the top 20% as the norm and not realistically factor in the costs associated with the job. Try again.
![[Helmet Optional]- Bike Messenger Documentary SF early 2000s](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/HQQqLvM1UE4/mqdefault.jpg)
![[Helmet Optional]- Bike Messenger Documentary SF early 2000s](/img/tr.png)
Rode for Mobile Messenger, NYC '77. Best gig I've ever had, including getting paid to ski and light rock concerts. Nice flick, captures a bit of the taste of freedom. 64 now and resting a broken rib from going over the handlebars a week ago. You can take the boy out of the city...
I rode for Mobile Messengers in NYC in '82. There was already a sense that the golden days had passed, but it was still fun.
But you cannot take the city out of the boy.
*'s hole.
I rode for Western Messenger in SF in 1999-2000 on a fixed gear road bike with no brakes. It was after a ten year road racing career, and I was one of maybe 20-30 messengers who was doing it. Interestingly, the short 1.5 years I did it I learned that the messengers making money weren't fast, or on road bikes at all, but were older folks
on beach cruisiers with huge baskets. 90 percent 'of good runs were in the Financial District, which is flat, and it was mostly about being cozy with the dispatchers, good at navigating buildings, and knowing which shortcuts and elevators to take. There was an old lady who always wore pink, on some crazy old 3 speed bike, she was famous and making like 200 bucks a day. It's not anything like the movies. They used to send me out to the stadium and all the long hilly shit runs, because I was fit and fast. Like 30 minutes for a 8 buck run. Sucked. You could make 5 runs downtown in that time. All the dispatchers hated me, except one. The days I got him I made 80-130 a day. There was an angry lesbian who would make me do ridiculous stuff. I make 12 dollars one day.
Also - I was drunk on Olde English 800 the ENTIRE time.
I really enjoyed your post - thanks for sharing those details. I have to say though that I imagine that last line was the salient point.
New York is the best place for bike couriering, I used to work in North Dakota and make 80km journeys for $5
I'm not a messenger, but I carry a lot of packages on my bike to the post office. I basically live off of my bike, and yeah, I'm 55+, and ride an Electra cruiser because it's the "most bike" you can get for $300, it can take the punishment of horrible Silicon Valley roads, I've got a rack and panniers on it, and can haul 100lbs with my Burley cargo trailer. I rack up a ton of miles on the thing because I'm doing the post office run, the grocery run, etc etc yadda yadda. So far I've worn out one rear wheel and I might get a new front to match it soon.
Best way to make money on a bike I've found: Practice trumpet. A lot. For years. Put trumpet in gig bag, folding red cloth "tip box" in bike pannier. Ride to good spot. Play your heart out. Profit.
Militant homosexuals are atrocious.
@@blondemommyvomit She was kinda legend there, and just hated me because i was a newbie. But I have a story to tell. She was "hazing" me,, like really fucking with me for a whole month,
so the other dispatchers were calling her out on it. I would do anything, as fast as anyone and not complain. But I was kinda new.
Once she told me to do an "easy" pickup at a fancy restaurant. I thought it was to pick up a package. But it wasn't a package, it was a gigantic FOOD CART, full of fancy ass
food,, like literally Russian caviar. I thought it was a joke, and played along. PUSHING that thing to the pyramid towers on Montgomery. To the office of Thomas Weisel. It was NOON, and the streets were full, and I pushed and push, dragged that thing up a service elevator. Security laughed at me, and then like immediately felt sorry for me.
110th floor. They took the cart, blew me off and I went back to the restaurant to get my bike. My bike had been placed out in the ALLEY.
No lock. The owner gave zero shits, offered zero tips, and acted like I wasn't there.
I went back to that lesbian lady and told her she was a wizard. In my whole life, NOBODY, has ever fucked with me that hard.
I also quit and went to work for Legion, a little shop in the Mission. 3 months of that, super fun, and I was done.
Harvey was a Saint.
He was in China during WWIi while it was blockaded by Japan. He said he knew what hunger felt like...
Wow, thanks for sharing.
He seems like a vital part of the community!
I worked as bike courier as my summer job between high school and university in 97 in Adelaide, South Australia. I used to shred hard to make 103 drops a day and make 130. Used to hammer all day and get next to bring but loved it.
The freedom and adrenalin rush couldn't be beaten. I stopped after getting knocked off twice, once breading my wrist, the next ending up in hospital unconscious where the surgeon said that is I continued is eventually ends up dead, or worse a quadraplegic... I went and did electrical engineering, but still have my crumpler bag and occasionally rude hard in the city through the alleys, but I'm 40 and have a 7 yo.....
Once shredder , always a shredder. Respect, man, and keep riding.
thank you for sharing darryl. hope things are well with you.
I worked for City Mail in Sydney owned and operated by David Roper - This is going back to 1989... We used pagers and Dave dispatched from the office .Will Smith was involved then too (Roper started Crumpler bag in Adelaide - where he started City Mail but had to shut it down as they competed with the post office monopoly - he went legit after that. It was a lot of fun).
rock on !!! 😁
Watching this from Adelaide, not expecting to stumble across your comment. Much respect 🖖🏽
These guys are what motivated me to get a single speed road bike. I know it's not the same thing, but it's some what difficult. The amount of athletic ability these guys have is amazing.
I've been a bike messenger for 8 years..... I'm 44 old and I still enjoy it, I would never change it. of course I also have a second night job, but I won't give up on my bike messenger.
This is the most 90s documentary I've ever seen. Should be called "Grunge Bicycle Deliverists."
the most 90's coloured bicycle bag goes to...
It's really something man this is pure gold lol
Only met Erik a couple times but 30+ years later I still use my Zo Bag.
So many faces / personalities / elevators I remember from the end of the ‘80s and the early ‘90s. Best music scene in the world. And Harvey was just the best human being ever. Now I’m fat (I got sober) and old (1/2 a century and then some) and back east (sadly). This is such a throwback to my early 20s and the best time and place that ever existed.
Those bags are sick! Props to Erik!
I hope that guy got to rode to Mexico
i wish i was that guy . . . that way I could tell you if I did. In reality, though, I would never. Biking to mx is like not a smart thing. and I am smarter than that. I hope that guy was, too.
Jason was my first boss as a bike messenger and he was great. Told me i wasnt doing good enough so he pushed me to be better.
I also worked for Jason. He is a great guy.
amen .. amen ✌️🥹
and then i was flying down golden gate toawrds 6th street and this big ass SUV pulled in front of me with this big black guy jumping out then clocking me sucker punch because one of my colleagues ripped off his mirror. All us white guys look the same so mistaken identity hey its life =)
@@frock241 Is the subculture still around? Do these bike messenger companies still exist?
@@bornagainstraightedge they still do but very rare. Not like it was 15 years ago before covid. You'll be hard prssed to find a biker thats delivering anything other then legal documenst, paychecks, architectural plans or food.
i love this so much. i was 845 at Western Messenger, biked in SF for 5 years
That guy who holds it down wit the credit in the store tho 💯💯💯
Legend has it harvy woo is owed millions,and he don't care cause he's helping people.........
You guys are awesome. Helping each other, living empathy. And still people call you names. Good and bad ones. 💪✨
Besides the focus of bike messengering it was great to see SF when it was great.
The 2001 fixie flick made me lose my appetite..
This one brings it back. Thanks
What's wrong with the fixie one? Haven't seen it yet myself.
would love to see what all of these folks are doing now, 33 years later. i lived in sf from 1989-2014 and knew some bike messenger bands. i wonder what that scene is like now--i imagine much smaller, but maybe i am wrong.
i bet these guys are stoked about the mission bike lane we have now lol cool doc thanks for uploading
Yeah, this was before email, and waaayyyy before DocuSign. The high tech of the time was the fax, that's why there were so many back then. If you needed original signatures, you needed a bicycle messenger. Approval for graphics layups? Bicycle messenger. And so on. I guess it's just food delivery now
Even though I have been a bike rider all my life I hated messengers when I lived in Portland 30 years ago. This documentary has opened my eyes on the nature of the profession. Very nice video and thanks to whoever put it on here, and who made it. I wouldnt have lasted 5 mins doing this job because of the biking skills needed.
This is fucking amazing. I'm writing a character study about a bike messenger and what compels them to be a messenger to begin with. This gives 100 percent context of what I had in mind for my protagonist and confirms what I'd expect: creatives wanting to work on their own dime with flexibility and pursuit of something genuine. While I wish they showed more dispatching and the package end of receiving, this is a beautiful documentary.
This is like publicly stating how great it was for your jerk off session. Do you really think we care about your "character study"?
Can I read it
Awesome Documentary !! 👏🏼👏🏼👍🏼 Vive la messengers !! They are artists of streets !! 🚲 ❤️Frim Paris (a delivery person)
This is cool. I grew up in the 90's in the Bay Area. This brings back memories. It was a time without social media and cellphones. People were more acutely individual then, I feel.
One of the most boomer things I've ever read
@@joepitts2570 Even when it's the truth - Nappy Boy proving his point
Yeah O.K boomer.
@@Horus-Lupercal seethe cope dilate
@9:30 that's the OG inventor of the messenger bag. Timbuk2, Chrome, Rickshaw etc owe it all to that guy.
He got it from the actual inventor of the messenger bag: DeMartini of New York City.
@@Gabrielishere Who got it from the postman who got it from the military. Go figure
@@freddyjisp9420 No. Each bag you mentioned was "invented" for a specific purpose, and the "OG inventor" of the messenger bag is DeMartini of New York City.
Where’s the love for ZO Bags? Local SF boy. I think predates Timbuk 2 by a year or two.
@@CDMX-cdmx1234 Erik Zo is legendary, but I recently saw one of his bags for $800 on ebay... laughable, at best.
"there shouldn't be any cars in the financial district" haha starting to happen after all
I am a car guy but I remember being in the financial district in SF a few years ago and I was like "Why the fuck are cars allowed here?!"
@@SolarBlackShine yep, the idea of having your own vehicle and travelling on your own accord will soon be illegal.
@@WHDRWNget out of town
@@WHDRWNshut up clown, car centric infrastructure is the opposite of freedom. True freedom is cities where you can walk or bike without risking your life because of assholes in their 5 passenger 3 ton hunk of metal, aka, a car by themselves, taking up immense amounts of space on the road, and running people over. Car brained idiots like you act like cars are the solution to everything and that it's just okay that people die so much from car related accidents.
@@WHDRWNdid you know that you can travel… on a bike? :) sounds like a skill issue to me 😌
I watched this in the 90s, when I was a teenager, it taught me how to cycle in the city.
There are many days when I would give anything to be messengering in SF 90's again. Such great times.
What do you do now?
Fun fact: UPS started out as a bike messenger company. I think of that whenever I pass a UPS truck on my bike with a bunch of packages for the USPS and FedEx (we don't use UPS).
No wonder UPS sucks so bad.
I miss Erik Zo coming by a bicycle Odyssey in sausalito. Super down to earth guy, and always eager to talk bikes!
My Mom worked in an office in the early 2000s, she said these bike messengers were important for expedited documents
early 90s... those were the days.
Got there in ‘89. Best job I ever had!
I was only 3 back then.
Awesome! I wasn't there at the time, but this feels so evocative of a time and a place and a subculture.
there are so many of these amazing pockets of content on youtube. i wish there was a way to source this stuff more easily
you have to attack the algorithms...if you search for the things that interest you and give those videos likes, you will get interesting content like this. really smart folks over there at google.
@@Kevinschart do likes and engagement like that actually impact the algo?
@@camerondavisslag it's definitely part of the equation. It's direct communication between you and google about the content you enjoy. If they intend to keep you in their app for as long as possible it wouldn't make sense to ignore the videos that you smashed like on.
@@camerondavisslag depends...cameron is both a male and female name. tbd
i just hope it works out
I LOVED this! Fantastic!!!!!! Thank you!!!
I am planning to visit New York and defiantly going to ride one day with a bike messenger. very excited.
I was a bike messenger in San Jose in 2000-01 ish my buddy decided to go to San Francisco and bike messenger there but came back to San Jose,he said the experience in SF was just different.
Ah the 90s. So much cooler than today.
the 90s was the last era to appreciate solid nicknames
You never meet a guy introducing himself as Squid anymore.
@@JustDatBoi Hi, I'm Fur. Nice to meet ya.
Harvey's place for the win! thanks for all the food Mr woo. I couldn't have done it without you.
You talkin about Harvey's on 5th St? Yeh.... shoulda waited till Harvey appears!
@@nickdoubleu5637 what? Harvey gave credit... That allowed me to eat, and drink!
HARVEY WAS A SWEETHEART
Cashed my checks at Harvey’s for years!! 5th st.
Harvey lived through the Japanese occupation of China.
He said he knew how hunger felt.
Absolutely incredible place and time that was, SF in the 90s and early 00s
Yep
Born in SF. 96’, started fixed gearing w homies9th grade. we need SF back like this or the essence.
That ship has sailed and sunk in the Bay
@@freddyjisp9420 womp womp lol
25:35 fender Jaguar, I love this guitar. I love my track bike. I love this old video.
Im from the Netherlands and I hate biking lol
i had to bike 13 km (sorry but dunno your m.system)...
and moved to a big (nothing compared to the us) city to never have to bike again
funny, here in this doc its a cool thing... i guess it is because its dangerous here
love this old school doc, thanks man
love from Rotterdamn
hell fuckin yeah! i needed this.my first job was doing bike delivery and found a bike club to ride with.soo much free fun.now im a cook and not so many bikes around.might be time fora change
Good to see Markus again. Miss that guy.
That tree ride at 27:20 was badass.
I believe that is Craig Grasso. He’s interviewed earlier and is an OG street BMX rider alongside Pete Agustin, etc.
I LOVE THIS VIDEO THANK YOU FOR SHARING AND LETTING ME REMEMBER OLD FRIENDS... SO GOOD!!
I think the Internet may be impacting the bicycle messengering business.
Sting King rockin' the 'Society System Decontrol' shirt @ 21:07? I miss when S.F. (especially that part of Market and the T.L.) was still a cool place to be. R.I.P. to S.F.s soul.
The most fun job and the most fun time of my life.
Let's play the 'fall down the stairs game'.
If Craig Grasso would watch this now.... 30 years later, Market Street is car free zone now. Only bus and taxis only.
Hell yeah, you’re both Real Ones and Toni is a legendary racer. I’ll call off the Yonkers hit squad….for now. 🍀
Thank god for these historical time capsules!
I did about 4 years in this job in Victoria BC Canada, 86-90. A much smaller and less crazy place, especially back then, but pretty much all of this resonates. A lot of lifestyle upsides to the job but also dangerous as hell. Finally got out of it mostly because I didn't want to get injured again. The law of averages catches up sooner or later. Just after I left they were bringing in bike cops and making couriers wear ID numbers so they could be busted for doing insane shit instead of just vanishing up a one-way street to avoid pursuit. Don't think they even exist here now. It was a different world then.
It's been plates in Van since 1989 ... I had one of the first ones. I messenger-ed in Van, SF and Sydney OZ. OZ was the best of the three. You had to hustle hard in SF to make money and the money was not that great. The least of the three money-wise
i wanna pay for their tab at that store. these guys deserve more.
4:31 looks like Bill Meir, i've just watched a video about him, RIP Bill Meir
Legend.
4:42 Brook Lopez.
@@ohno1657 that was Markus Fur Cook
There were a few of these guys still left where I live in downtown Sacramento up until Covid. The shutdown seemed to kill the job.
A beautiful piece of doc' making about an era and a subculture that's probably had it's day. Those guys are probably all corporate CEOs, mothers or six feet under now. Where did all the time go? :(
Love it when that dude who looked hella up tight said that bike messengers had to be “on of the most skilled athletes know to mankind.” Skilled and useful for sure, way faster than a car in certain situations, but just as fast in other situations. Watch out for those tracks, they’re killers
Much faster downtown, especially in SF -
Yep. Had my first track crash after 30+ years of riding. Concussion, broken hip, cut and bruised all up one side. Will never take them for granted again.
Homie is on the BEACH CRUISER RIIIIIIIIPPING LOL
This was San Francisco at least up until 2003.
Eric Zo. He and his father were quite the characters. I had a blue bag and rode it for years. U lock in the back pocket for those suckers who tried😂
holy crap i never knew this existed and I love seeing how hardworking they are.. i guess the world is too convenient now for mass bike deliveries now
This is amazing. So accurate. I love it
Half of this thing feels like a Portlandia sketch
😂
"I don't crave danger... but it feels really good at the end of the day to come that close to death" MENSA membership NOT required to be a messenger
7:45 He'd be surprised to find out SF actually shut down Market St to private vehicles!
This is awesome!!
Harvey’s the MVP
Let's revisit this crew...See where this path has lead them.
Meth and Fet 😆
great documentary
I’m so sad I didn’t get to live my 20’s in this generation. I worked as a bike courier during the pandemic here in NYC but now we have e bikes with box backpacks, or trailers attached in the back to do like 10 spots before coming back to get more. Not the same feeling as having a fixie.
That culture is dead, all those messenger companies from mid to downtown, gone.
What a time.
what an awesome unique time capsule this doc is
Grasso and I, in early 1990, rode on a team of 4 msgrs for a graphics company shortly after he moved to the City from SoCal and were friends on and off our rides for good and bad for years good and bad. He fell into rough times and don't know what's become of him, but that mufucka could do anyfuckingthing on a bike.
The shit we got into.....
Crazy how many interesting jobs were made extinct by tech/internet
Interesting job made extinct?
A whole entire thriving impactful sub culture eventually went virtually extinct. Mostly all gone up in smoke.
loved this thanks for the upload. miss my mess days for sure
Watching that psycho rip around the city got me PUMPED UP!
bicycles are life.
Cool film. Thanks for uploading.
Commenting to appease the algorithm
Priceless!
3:37 I appreciate this woman’s honesty.
NEIL SMITH here. Dispatchers are indeed the lowest form of life (looking at you Ernie), except Cindy at Aero. She was a saint.
I was a messenger in Philly in the 90s into 2000s. I worked some in NYC but mostly Philly. My brother and I we're both Messengers... He moved on to ride in SF for a while. I started at One hour on 2nd st then on to Philly express on 13th . Oh yeah can't forget heaven sent up on 23rd and Washington I think was the cross streets... Been a while.. It was always a party lol..
What you guys up to now?
What an awesome little documentary. Love sub-culture insights. And yeah, i can imagine the misogyny too, read a more recent article about it too. Things haven't moved on that far unfortunately.
bad ass film!! love riding a bike
1993?
I only rode for a short time but remember all of this very well.
91 was when the gig was shot
I rode for Western Messenger in 99, and it was before my time. Remember a bar called Zeitgeist I think, I can't remember much, I was drunk on Olde English 800 for 1.5 years straight.
@@tranzco1173 The Zeitgeist was fantastic
@@tranzco1173 zeitgeist is still there. they still let you wheel a bike in and hang it on the back patio
damn, crazy that kevin from the jonas brothers used to be a bike messenger
I just finished my first day as a bike messenger. This shit is fucking real to me. You spend so much time out there on your bike that it's inevitable that your going to get hit from time to time and one of those time you could just die
22:23 and one of those guys owns the biggest courier services in SF.... the smirking smiley one... you know the one knowing hes poaching her customers...
for real he does now you mean?
The dude doing it on the beach cruiser with a giant basket on the front has the biggest nadz for sure!!
That's a company bike that served mostly printing firms. It was an hourly position and they'd provide the bike. The dispatcher (Paul I think his name was), the owner, was a psycho. He'd scream at you over the radio - just lose it. But a great place to start as they'd hire anyone - but the owner was a PSYCHO
From Harvey's straight to the Covered Wagon on payday
How much did it cost and how much did they make?
I can tell what year it is by that dudes handle grips let alone the cars im thinking. 90 to 93 at the latest
I like it has the same font as the old real world on MTV
I feel this way about delivery driving. Lately been doing DoorDash, and its freeing to be able to work when you want anytime. I think some people need the typical 9-5 job where you are scheduled, expected to show up, expected to dress up, expected to do what you are told, expected to produce results, and to stay in line. Sure having a laid back delivery job "generally" makes less money, but it can be enjoyable, and it is rewarding.
@
true, or if you just need/want extra money while doing other work or in college
@@MrJimShorts
Ah, a booster, eh?
I'm not interested in anecdotal evidence. Show me data that the average wage can support a family with a degree of comfort...or shut up.
@@MrJimShorts
You're just pulling numbers outya ass. I want average wages. I was a bike messenger for years and I know how people are inclined to treat the top 20% as the norm and not realistically factor in the costs associated with the job.
Try again.
the problem with cops is....friend butts in..they're cops an we're not...lol...
Ah yep. 🍻
really cool. thanks for uploading
This has got to be early 90s at latest. I'm seeing Wyse VT-100 terminals and shit.
When SF had character ! need to add this to library of congress one time.. very culturally important