Today's Stats

Weather: Sunny, Breezy, Pleasant

Temperature: 83

1st Run Taken: 9:23am

Last Run Dropped: 6:26pm

Total Runs Completed: 23

Sangfroid: 8

Holy 7 layers of magic bar it was a beautiful day! The sun was shining in a milder, less debilitating manner, there was a cool breeze blowing, and the humidity was nearly nonexistent. And you can bet the pleasantness of the day was not lost on the people of New York City as they chose to dine outside, take their pocket pets for walks, and ride their bikes. However, the added inconvenience caused by the excess bicycle traffic was little cause for concern, as it was entirely manageable in light of the fact that tomorrow is Friday. Gotdamn.

Not only was today a good day for me weather wise, but it was also a good day for me physically. As you might imagine, riding a bike for 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, is taxing. At the beginning of the summer, I would perform well for the first couple of days, then towards the middle of the week, I would start to feel it in my calves. Usually, by the end of the week, I would be near spent. However, for the past few weeks, I have been riding consistently and strongly throughout the whole week. Today, I still felt fresh and had good acceleration in my legs. This development of increased physical ability and tenacity is what's known as building a "base". In short, I have whipped myself into shape.

I started to feel this way at the end of last Summer, and was able to bring some of that fitness back to Colorado. However, the type of fitness developed through bike messengering doesn't transfer well to road biking. Road biking involves more climbing, longer distances, and generally more sustained efforts, often at high speeds. The style of riding in bike messengering is very "stuttered". Its all about super quick acceleration, riding a wave of 30 or so blocks then STOP. Messengering also involves a lot of time riding out of the saddle. Unlike road biking, staying out of the saddle is considered good bike messenger technique. It helps you see above the traffic, weave in and out of cars, and roll your gear over faster to get out of harm's way. Every now and then you get some big long runs coming from downtown going way up West or East (in which case I like to cruise 6th and 3rd Avenues, respectively), but that may only be 3 or 4 miles. So, in a day, you may only ride between 50-70 miles, sometimes more if it's really busy. That may not seem like a lot, but it is a very exhausting and again, "stuttered" type of riding. Obviously there is a "flow" when riding in traffic and making drops, but what I mean by "stuttered" is that the riding is very fast, but follows a very aggressive "start and stop" tempo. Thus, messengering helps develop good power, some endurance, and an impressive capacity to suffer, but overall, it doesn't translate well to road biking. However, bike messengering and track racing go hand in hand. (Track is the most fun form of bike racing in which I have participated. Plus, I got that build.)

Having a good base for this job is the key to making good money. If you don't have the energy and motivation to ride, you won't. If you don't ride, you don't work. If you don't work, you don't get paid. Lots of guys I know, don't even call in asking for work, they wait for the dispatchers to call them. Fuck that. I annoy the shit out of those guys. I call in at least every 15 minutes or so. Even when I'm busy. The money is out there, but it's not going to make itself.

To stay consistent with my earnings, and make sure I take in enough work to have a decent check, I follow a routine that allows me to get the most out of my days. The morning is the first phase of my routine. In the morning, I have a lot of momentum. This momentum is a combination of strong mental psyche and well rested muscles. It is important for me to ride this wave of momentum and take on as much work as they will give me. I try to get over the bridge as early as I can and be the first to call in from midtown. It seems silly and superstitious, but I usually gauge how well my day will be based on how many runs I do before Noon. Ten is what I shoot for. If I do ten runs before Noon, it usually means that it is decently busy, and that I am moving well. Lately, however, the ten before Noon has become more elusive, and it hasn't been my ability. Business is just slow. So, I try to ride that wave of momentum until around 1 or so, then I grab some food. Most people in New York seem to eat around this same time, so there is a lull until about 3pm. I try to do another 10(at least) between 3pm and 6pm. Most of the time, this isn't too hard to accomplish, and often I exceed this. This is a second wave of momentum I have after lunch that I sometimes try to segue into the last, and most important time of my day, the evening work. (Unfortunately, because of the heat, I sometimes have to eat again and recharge before the evening work. This is detrimental to my food budget.) The evening work is my bread and butter. It consists of either payday or managerial documents sent out by Douglas Elliman Property Management to the uptown residential buildings they manage. These runs are all uptown on the East Side, carry an additional nighttime surcharge, and usually lie in a somewhat contiguous, semi-logical pattern. The reason this work is so important is the quantity. Sometimes, they will send out 20 packages after 6pm. Most of the time it's only a singe envelope per address. Therefore, I deliver 20 or so valuable, lightweight runs, all in the same part of town. Granted it is sometimes exhausting and discouraging to have to work that extra hour or two, but come payday, it is totally worth it. Plus, it's the summertime. Make hay while you can, right? Then, to save myself some energy, and begin recovery as soon as possible, I like to take the train home. I do this to avoid riding all the way back to midtown, climbing over the bridge, burning off whatever dope is trying to race me, then riding another few miles along Queens Blvd. Trust me, I don't feel like a wussy for taking the train. On the contrary, it makes me feel like a bad ass, like a New Yorker. I take the 6>N>7>Home Sweet Home.

This is a mural I happened upon while delivering to The Blue School. It first caught my eye because of its Dali-esque derivations. However, upon further inspection, the artwork revealed itself to be quite explicit.