Weather wears on bike couriers `The wind feels like razor blades'
By Jim Wilkes
Toronto Star, January 23, 2003
Four words to avoid when meeting a bicycle courier these days:
"Cold enough for ya?"
If the frost on their faces doesn't give you an answer, their icy stares will.
"It does get a little annoying sometimes," said 29-year-old courier Glen Hofman, who's working his ninth winter zipping through snowbound city streets.
Painfully cold temperatures and cutting wind chills can make it tough for bicycle couriers to do their job.
"It's brutal," said Hofman. "It's pretty hard on the body and on the mind, too.
"When your concentration factor goes down, you just have to keep on moving, keep warm, take lots of fluids, lots of fruit."
On days like yesterday, when the mercury didn't climb any higher than minus 12C, the metal ring piercing his lower lip doesn't help, either.
"Yeah," he said, knowingly. "Like any jewelry, it can get kinda cold."
After a short break at downtown's Temperance Society cafe, Kevin Brady was ready to hit the road again yesterday.
His cotton cycling cap was just window-dressing.
"It's the face where you feel it most," said Brady who, at 48, admits he's one of the oldest bike couriers on the circuit.
"On days like these, the wind feels like razor blades slashing your face.
"But we've gotta do it. That's what we get paid for."
Despite the conditions, Brady actually chooses to work as a courier in winter. In the summer, he's a pro golf caddy.
"I can't stand it down here in the summertime. There's too much of everything I don't like - cars, people, cycle cops, heat, humidity and pollution."
He said the key to keeping his body and $1,000 bike going is the same: maintenance. "A lot of guys don't look after their bikes," he said. "They ride them into the ground.
"I keep mine immaculate. It's like any machine; keep it clean, keep the salt off, the crud off and it will last a lot longer."
In just his second winter on wheels, Anthony Coucoularis, 20, is a comparative rookie.
But he quickly learned the secret to keeping warm in the saddle.
"You've just gotta put your mind somewhere else and focus on your work, not your body," he said.
"It's difficult, especially when out for long runs. After 15 or 20 minutes on your bike, that's when your body — your toes, especially - start to break down.
"I don't care how many pairs of socks you're wearing, you're going to get cold.
"But you've got to suck it up," he said. "We're not the only ones out there in the cold. City workers and construction workers gotta deal with it, too."
Making a delivery can recharge him for the rest of the ride.
"Even if it's only for a couple of minutes, when you go into a building, you come out a little toasty again. That helps keep you going."