29 April, 2022
Essay
Once upon a time long long ago in a country far from here, I was in New York City bike messenger. How I got into this profession is an interesting story in and of itself but suffice it to say, it was the best job that I have ever had. My work days were more interesting than almost any other profession I have ever had and there was something particularly compelling about getting to ride my bike for money.
There is something about a purposeful bike ride that simply steals the show from wandering around on the weekends. Maybe it’s the added pressure or maybe it’s just that you actually must do these rides. It’s not a matter of what you want if it is your job. When they call you to do a delivery, you have to do the ride.
But then there is the excitement of making these rides. New York traffic is always interesting. And although you do develop instincts and a very clear understanding of what cars are going to do, it is absolutely not a job that you can go to sleep in. If you’re not paying attention to what you’re doing, you could get hurt very badly. Many of my friends suffered injuries and I myself got knocked down by a suddenly opened car door enough times to make sure that I was never within range to get touched.
And maybe that was part of the appeal. Maybe I liked being James Bond. Or maybe it’s more like being a professional athlete. Getting paid for your legs is very complimentary. And it is definitely a high skill specialty that not everybody can do or would even want to do.
But the very best days were the days when we did the five borough bike ride. Every year, New York City would close off the freeways and roads right down the middle of Manhattan to cars and only bicycles had the right of way. There were no Auto fumes or traffic jams. There was no road rage and foolish people cutting you off. They were just friendly people pushing their bikes around as we all traveled through the five regions that make up New York.
The ride is about 45 MI, about 70 km and some of us raised, some of us took our time and a lot of us stopped off to eat and drink often. It is a day for families and for biking enthusiasts. It’s for both women and men. And it’s also for those more artistic folks who like to show off their style on their personalized rides.
I think however it was the mood of these days that made them so special. Cars and auto fumes are really obnoxious to be around every day. Yes, it was a hazard of the job that we had to be in traffic all the time. But I never really got used to it and getting caught behind a bus or a car that was spewing smoke right in my face was always a miserable experience.
I suffered from a long ailment in my first couple of months in New York that was very similar to tuberculosis. The air quality was simply too horrible for me and I suffered greatly. Perhaps I would have been smarter never to take such a job with such close proximity to so much toxicity. But at the time, the opportunity to ride my bike professionally was worth it to me. Just to stay on my bike a little while longer was something that made life worth living.
But there were moments on the bicycle when I absolutely loved being a New York City. At the beginning of my career, there was a moment where I came up near 53rd Street and suddenly had the empire State building appear in front of my face. The lights of the city are incredibly beautiful at night. At that moment I definitely felt that I was doing something very special and something that I would be proud of for a very long time.
And then there was a time when I felt I was probably as cool as I had ever been in my entire life. I was coming down out of the park into eight full Lanes of traffic and riding with no hands in a light rain. I felt so completely at ease on my bike that no one could ever put me off it.
If you’ve never thought of it, urban riding really is something worth doing. Sure distance riding has its pluses and riding off-road paths is a great way to get some exercise and some fresh air. But Urban riding is an amazing specialty and one that is also completely full of interesting moments. It is a test of skill and it is a beautiful way to get around a city.
It’s also an amazing way to make life in a city worth living for everybody. If you take your bike instead of your car, you’re not poisoning anybody with your auto emissions. You’re not burning 
fossil fuels or contributing to greenhouse gases or global warming. You’re not giving money to the oil companies and you’re not contributing to health problems and air pollution.
If you’ve never tried it, I highly recommend getting into urban riding today. Truthfully, you don’t need your car. If you live in the city or even a small town, all you need is a well-built bike and you can get to anywhere you need to go. And best of all, it won’t be just getting to your destination, you will enjoy the experience of getting there even more.
