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Here is an
article from the Boston Globe. As usual that means it will be inacurate and
wrong. We should also note that the Boston Globe had to let at least 2 reporters
go because they made up ficticious quotes and stories. One of them was Mike
Barnicle, a notorious messenger hater. Now if we apply the Globe's logic
on couriers to the Globe itself then we could forsee a headline saying that
the Boston Globe is a reckless paper that lies and fakes artciles.
Before reading the biased reporting about the infamous pedestrian-courier
accident read the "Boston Crash Controversey".
Seattle vs. Boston
A champion rider assesses the cities for their 'bike courier
friendliness'
Boston Globe, October 26, 2003
By Joe Berkeley,
Adam Ford went to the 2003 Cycle Messenger World Championships in Seattle
a humble bike courier from Boston. He returned a world champion.
Among a field of 700 competitors, the 5-foot-10-inch, 155-pound Ford won
both the sprint -- a 250-meter dash from a dead stop -- and the Alley Cat
-- an event held at night in traffic to determine which messenger can go
the fastest navigating open city streets.
The day after earning his world champion title, Ford was back at work at
RS Express in Boston. His job as a bike courier there does not offer paid
vacations, health insurance, or a guaranteed salary; it does create, he says,
a visible stab of envy in those who would rather be riding but are chained
to corporate cubicles.
Ford has earned a living as a bicycle courier for a decade, collecting commissions
of 50 percent of the delivery charges for every trip he completes. For a
6-mile ride -- considered a long one by courier standards -- billing a $12
fee, Ford keeps half, or a dollar per mile. For a short trip, say, from an
attorney's office downtown to a client a quarter-mile away, the bill would
be $6.50, with $3.25 going to Ford -- an impressive $13 per mile.
Given the economics of the job, it would be more profitable for Ford to make
more short trips than long ones. But he prefers the long trips. His life
has never been about making the most profitable choice.
Ford chose his vocation after graduating in 1993 from Wesleyan University
in Connecticut with a dual degree in studio arts and pre-med. It is, he says,
''one of the few ways to get paid to ride a bike.
''I realized riding a bike for a living was a lot more worthwhile to me than
going to grad school and going into that kind of profession," he says. ''[It's]
an honest living. Every single dollar I made, I've earned, and that means
a lot to me."
On an average work day, he puts in 50 to 60 miles on the bike. One day each
weekend, he goes for a long ride of 75 miles or more, for a weekly total
of about 350 miles. In a normal year, he rides enough miles, 18,000, to cross
the country five times and then some. During the course of his career, he
estimates he has ridden about 180,000 miles -- the same as spinning around
the earth seven and a half times.
If Ford, 33, continues to turn the pedals over at his current pace, he will
have ridden the equivalent of the distance from the earth to the moon by
his 36th birthday.
It is a testament to Ford's skill as a cyclist, his tough Australian heritage,
and his decision to wear a helmet that he hasn't become a longterm patient
of one of his Wesleyan classmates who did attend medical school. Being a
courier, especially a courier in Boston, is a dangerous job.
In 1999, the International Federation of Bike Messengers named Boston the
worst city in the world to work as a messenger.[The writer fails to note
that in part the reason for the award was the press' response to the reckless
behaviour of William Spring below and the witch hunt that followed] That
same year, Bicycling magazine designated Boston as the worst city for bikers
in the United States and Canada.
[Note: the William Spring was running a red light and the
courier had a green light when Spring slammed into the courier below]
Boston is also a dangerous place to be a pedestrian, partly because of the
couriers. In the most publicized case, William Spring, a vice president of
the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, was struck and seriously injured by a
bicycle messenger in 1997 while crossing [jaywalking] Comm. Ave. The
incident prompted legislation to regulate couriers, requiring them to be
insured and have visible license plates on their bicycles. [This is also
wrong. The only new addition was insurance. Laws for the other restrictions
were already in force]
A 2002 study by Jack Dennerlein and John Meeker at the Harvard School of
Public Health titled ''Occupational Injuries Among Boston Bicycle Messengers"
found that ''most working couriers have incurred an injury resulting in days
away from work (70 percent) and in visits to a health-care professional or
hospital (55 percent)."
Ford is no exception. He has been ''doored" twice -- had a car door flung
open as he rode past, causing him to plow into the door or rocket over it.
Last year, he was struck by a Jeep. On two other occasions, he says, he was
hurt badly enough to be taken away by ambulance.
Remarkably, he has sustained no catastrosphic injuries and considers himself
lucky to get off with a few severe lacerations on the throat, the occasional
post-concussion disorder, and sprains and strains too numerous to count.
As a result of all his riding, Ford has a resting heart rate of 50 beats
per minute, far better than average.
That beat spikes to an impressive 195 when he pushes his bike to the max
-- known in cycling circles as the redline.
He thinks the thing that has protected him for 10 years on the savage streets
of Boston, including last winter's cold and slush, is his keen sense of observation.
''When you're in traffic, you look at stuff, like what the driver is doing.
Because more often than not, they're not looking where they're going," he
says. ''They're not using their directionals. They're talking on cellphones.
You have to look for little things. The way they move their hands can tell
you which way they're going to go."
Even at rest in a coffee shop, Ford's observation skills are on alert.
During an interview, he notes everyone who walks into the shop, keeps an
eye on the clock and makes sure his bicycle, a stunning Independent Fabrication
cyclocross bike with custom flame paint job -- is safely tied to a post.
Following a 70-mile ride on his day off, the South End resident took a moment
to apply those skills to Boston and Seattle and to choose the more desirable
city based on a number of criteria. Like making the decision on whether or
not to go into an opening in traffic, Ford reacted instinctively, with no
hesitation.
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