by Darren Stewart
Edmonton Journal, July 1, 2001
 
 

Michael Aporius, The Journal / Biker Bill Thain, in mirror, watches competing courier Mountain Bike Mike Lyons in a downtown alley. Thain is organizing the North American Cycle Courier Championships in Edmonton this summer.

The best, the quickest, the zaniest and the most pierced and tattooed bike couriers in North America will test their curb-hopping street smarts in Edmonton next weekend.

The fourth annual North American Cycle Courier Championships will be held at the University of Alberta as part of a three-day bicycle courier festival.

Veteran courier Bill Thain, known by colleagues and customers as Biker Bill, is co-ordinating the event. He expects 350 couriers from 25 cities, including New York, San Francisco, all across Canada, and even Anchorage, Alaska, which is serviced by three couriers.

"They tell me the winter up there is actually easier to work in than it is here," said Thain.

The main event features a meticulously planned five-kilometre course on campus grounds that couriers will have to manoeuvre through to make a series of mock pickups and deliveries. The fastest time wins the event, though Thain said it's not just about endurance and speed.

"It's all smarts," he said. "Each guy decides which route to take and what order to make their stops in."

During the "track-stand" event, couriers have to balance on their bikes without touching the ground with their feet. After five minutes, they have to take one hand off the handle bars, and they remove the other one five minutes later. If there are more than two contestants still standing after another five minutes, they have to remove an article of clothing while balancing in their pedals.

The courier festival will feature two nights of loud courier bands, a courier art show and a film festival and fair put on by local environmental groups. Thain explained that there has always been a bond between environmentalist groups and bike couriers.

"We're smog-free delivery," he said.

Thain attended the previous two North American championships in Minneapolis and Montreal and has been to a few of the world championships as well. He said Edmonton is the most "courier-friendly city in the world," though he's been hit by more cars here than he can count. He said local couriers have a great relationship with the city and with the community, but they are still seen as daredevils.

"People think we're either car-cutting-off jerks or insane and crazy," he said.

Thain has been an Edmonton bike courier since 1982 and said the number of jobs has drastically dropped since then. He estimates that fax machines and e-mail reduced courier work by about 40 per cent.

"If you're smart and do well with your customers, you can do all right," he said. The pay is sporadic, he said, and many bikers make less than minimum wage one day and $130 the next. The summertime is slow because the legislature is closed, the court schedules are slower and university activity is mostly dormant.

There are fewer than 30 couriers in Edmonton but about 200 in Calgary. They work year-round rain, snow or shine, breathing in car exhaust and pedalling 40 to 50 km a day.