Bicycle couriers leave the streets for internationalindoor race
By Christopher Hume - Toronto Star Entertainment Reporter
April 10, 1997
The cities of the world today are filled with two kinds of people, bikecouriers and everyone else: Those who spend their lives trying to avoiddanger and those who actively devote theirs to seeking it out. Those whopedal and those who drive. Or worse still, walk.
Couriers aren't alone in their dedication to living on the edge, butrisking life and limb - theirs and ours - to deliver a parcel?
Maybe in the beginning they were a bunch of pedestrian-hating, car-eatingpsychos, but couriers have flourished in the pandemonium of postmodernity.Surfing the city and its traffic instead of waves, they are uniquely adaptedto the discontinuity and chaos of the urban landscape..
So perhaps it isn't surprising that corporate culture has discoveredcourier culture; outlaws and bandits, each using the other for its ownpurposes..
In this case that means the Dunhill Alley-Cats Scramble, a winner-take-allbike race that will be run tomorrow and Saturday at 1401 Yonge St., ona figure-eight track designed and constructed especially for the occasion.
But the Scramble is more than just a race - it's the most visible andbest financed celebration of courier culture ever held in Toronto. In additionto the main event, there will be a lineup of messenger bands - see ClubCrawl column, below - and what organizers affectionately call ``the Mini-NightmareTrade Show.'''
``Bikes, bands and beer,'' declares Alley-Cats founder and driving force,former courier and pastry chef, John Englar, 33. ``Plus, we have a cigarettesponsor. Can't get much worse than that. But really Dunhill's been f---inggreat. They haven't bothered us at all.
``Of course, some people think we've sold out. We have. We're just tryingto take this thing to the next level.''
In fact, Scrambles have been held in cities across Europe and NorthAmerica for a decade. The difference is that most were illegal. But notthis time. No racing through the streets, shooting the holes and runningthe lights. This time it'll be indoors, safely hidden from nervous middle-classeyes.. And stop signs..
From a messenger's point of view, this is a mixed blessing: ``Playingin traffic is what it's all about,''' Englar observes. ``Being a pro-floater.You don't follow any line of traffic. You shoot the diagonal.. That's therush, going for the super-run. It can be very amusing and totally fun,or turn you into a complete mother------.'''
These days, however, Englar definitely seems to be having fun. Fiveyears ago he opened the Jet Fuel Coffee Shop at 519 Parliament St., andthe less aggressive existence suits him fine. Besides, his cafe is a gatheringplace for couriers, which means he can stay in touch with his buddies..
Being a messenger, one quickly realizes, is much more than a way ofearning a living - it's a way of life, an attitude, ultimately a paradoxicalmix of detachment and engagement. Like skateboarders,, couriers have notonly learned to navigate through chaos, they have embraced it..
In this way, they are true creatures of the urban wilderness, betterable to deal with the dangerous,, irrational but predictable conditionsof the metropolis than its more conventional inhabitants. The courier deconstructsthe potentially lethal breaks and warps in the downtown grid, and transformsthem into opportunities to perform..
He or she understands that in a nonlinear environment, you must forgettraditional assumptions about the quickest route between two points. Butgetting there isn't just half the fun - it's the only fun..
`Racing on the track is just as dangerous as on the street, except you'renot gonna get hit by a bus or truck.'
Crissima Pearce is a perfect example. Not only does the 23-year-oldBritish messenger make the rounds on a daily basis, but she's the defendingwomen's world champion courier. Short, muscular and bursting with goodwill, Pearce won the most recent Alley-Cats Scramble, held last year inVancouver.
Pearce is well on her way to legendhood. Born in Brighton, she courieredfirst in England, then in Munich for four years before Dunhill flew herto B.C. in August, '95. After her win there, Dunhill offered to bring herhere and she accepted. At the end of the month, she'll be taking off forAmsterdam, on Dunhill's tab, and after that, Barcelona for the fifth worldchampionships. ``I like it,'' she says in a heavily accented voice. ``It'sa good community. You get to ride around all day and meet people from allover the world.'''
As Pearce's career makes clear, courier culture has grown into an internationalphenomenon. This weekend, 35 of the 150 participating messengers come fromout of town, some from acrosss Canada, others from as far away as Spain,Germany, the U.S. and the U.K..
What's happening to this tribe is contrary to all standard notions notjust of couriers but of individuality and the group. Outsiders - i.e. non-couriers- see this community as a formless and disparate. They recognize only thatbike messengers are The Other..
Yet as couriers' growing internationalism and self-consciousness proves,their ideology is ideally suited to allow maximum individuality withinthe framework of the larger group. Though they operate beyond the limitsof ordinary society, they have now gained corporate sponsorship and enteredinto the mainstream..
``Couriers tend to be free-thinking, artistic, don't-tell-me-what-to-dokind of people,'' explains veteran Toronto messenger, Collin Slack, 27.``We're a small community, 300 or so in Toronto, but tight.'''
Slack, who will also participate in the Scramble, rates it as one ofthe highlights of the courier's calendar. ``The figure-eight race is afinesse thing, it's not just about speed. You need to use stealth.'''
Toronto landscape architect John Consolati, who designed the track withEnglar, says the intention was to create a course that allows couriers``to use their streetsmarts, cunning and agility. The track is 16 feetwide and 410 feet long from start to finish. It's a small, tight space.The speed doesn't get that excessive, but still they're doing laps in 12to 15 seconds. It's quite exciting to watch them jockeying for position.'''
When the track was set up in Vancouver last September, organizers invitedmembers of Canada's national cycling team to test it with them. ``We shutthem down completely,'' Englar recalls. ``If you don't know how to wrangleyour bike or counter-steer your way out of a corner, you're not competitive.Racing on the track is just as dangerous as on the street except you'renot gonna get hit by a bus or a car.
''No one's been killed yet,'' says Englar, in a tone that indicatesit may only be a matter of time.As long as it's not this weekend, he won'tmind.
The racing starts at 6 p.m. Friday and resumes Saturday at 10 a.m.
Admission is $5.
Contents copyright © 1997, The Toronto Star.
If you have comments or suggestions, email me at messvilleto@yahoo.com