Bicycling to New Jobs

by Martin Larsen, messenger

Bicycle street vendors in Copenhagen are forging new ways for the city.

There were new businesses on bikes this summer as a couple of guys started to sell coffee from trikes. They are quite popular.

Now that the cold has descended on the city there are half a dozen rolling soup kitchens moving about the core providing hot meals to those in need. Fortunately they tend to their jobs while being at their bikes. A lot of the messengers have had to change from the traditional Copenhagen lock that just attached to the frame and was enough for working until the last year and a half . There has been an upswing of theft targeting messenger bikes. So now something like 75% of the messengers in Copenhagen use Kryptonite mini locks to keep their tools safe.

2008 Markus Cook Messenger Award Announced

by Buffalo Bill, Moving Target Ezine

The International Federation of Bicycle Messenger Associations (IFBMA) has announced that Copenhagen messenger Martin ‘Banana’ Larsen has been honoured with the 2008 Markus Cook Award. The MCA is presented annually to the courier who inspires and empowers the wider messenger community, the messenger that puts all of us before themselves.
Martin is a veteran messenger who, as IFBMA president, Andy Duncan, notes, is known for tireless hard work, organizing messenger races and pulling people together. Messenger championships all over the world have benefited from his sacrifice and dedication. From Copenhagen, Oslo and New York City to Sydney, Dublin and Toronto, Martin’s influence is not only upon the Championships but also the messenger community.

Congrats to our friend Martin!

Winter Adventure

by R-

Plenty of snow around here; we got almost 2 feet from 2 storms in 2 days. If you can’t have an outdoor adventure, have an indoor one. My great adventure of choice is reading...the best way to exercise the gray matter! I can go back in time or to other worlds. I can walk with famous people of the past, or visit someone’s idea of the future. If the story is scary enough I can get my heart rate up as successfully as any other aerobic workout. Rain, snow, sleet and wind can not keep me from my unbreakable bond with reading.

So, if you can’t get outside for your adventure; pull up a chair, add marshmallows to the hot chocolate and grab a good book.

Wishing all bloggers and readers of the blog a safe, healthy and Happy Holiday Season!

One More Picture From The Camera Phone

The last time Rob Z. was in Taiwan, he snapped this picture of a BMW police car - no Crown Vic's to be found there. You couldn't miss this coming up in your rear view mirror. Bet they don't have too many officers calling in sick when they have something like this to drive around...

Kids Don't Try This At Home

Those of you who know Rob Z., our Director of Engineering, know that he's a guy who is quite comfortable in the woods, spending his free time expending a lot of energy in very cold temperatures. One of his latest projects is no exception. Rob, and a few other hearty souls, agreed to help a good friend raise a barn on his NH property. This is no prefab wonder - it is the real deal post and beam...complete with pegs the size of a large man's thumbs and constructed from tools you won't find at the local orange or blue big box hardware store. Here are a few shots of the work in progress...it is going to be a thing of beauty when all done. If you wondered where Rob got the strength to maul products the way he does when he's doing destruction testing, this should give you a clue...

Very Cool Last Minute Gift Idea

Over the weekend, my hubby stumbled onto a very cool gift idea in December issue of Wired Magazine. If you haven't seen it yet, check out this bicycle helmet design, perfect for the commuting or recreational cyclist who doesn't want to look like a velo club refugee. You can find more information on them at http://www.coolhunting.com/.

The Royal Flush Poker Run

by Eric Anastasia, National Sales Manager, Bicycle

Last week I helped support an alley cat here in Boston. The guys who put it together are also opening a new shop soon in an undisclosed spot in the Harvard Sq. area….stay tuned. openbicycle
These guys are real good guys and are super energetic about bikes and the community that surrounds it. They are a focused and progressive crew that are making huge efforts to help build the urban cycling culture in the city that I have called home for the past 10 year. (damn, time flies).
Anyway with 20-degree weather, gusting winds and our first snowfall, The Royal Flush Poker Run was better than we imagined! Over 80 people from all over New England collected cards, drank beer, ate burritos, completed the Poker Run and partied to their heart's content. Here are some pictures of the night.

Photos courtesy of Justin Keena - http://www.justinkeena.com/

Business Slow Down? Not If The Perewitzs Can Help It!

By Jody Perewitz...
Our crew has settled at the shop for the month of December. After many miles of traveling it is nice to have a month off!

With all the talk about the economy and such I thought I would share a couple of Perewitz theories. I am sure that everyone no matter what has been hit by the economy in some way or another. Hopefully it hasn’t been anything major! Maybe with any luck a new president will bring change!

I feel as though the motorcycle industry is one of the last hit. We haven’t been extremely busy but still busy enough that everyone has something to do. So that is the important thing that we can keep working. We are also able to adapt to new things. We have been dipping into the metric market. Fortunately our mechanics can work on a plethora of things, making our business able to change with times. One of our latest projects was a Vespa Scooter!

In the summer time when the gas prices were $4+ a gallon, motorcycle sales skyrocketed! It was much more efficient to ride a motorcycle to work than your gas guzzling car. So as you can imagine we were busy with service work. Now gas is down to under $2 (we never thought that would happen!) it is the perfect time to bring your bike to us and drive your car in the cold winter months! We can winterize it, store it, upgrade it, add chrome, etc.

Another effect of a slower economy is the repairs of older stuff. Many people are fixing their old vehicles, motorcycle or car, rather than buying new ones. Although we would love to work on clean new bikes, we like the old ones too! Our customers seem to be adding chrome, paint, motor work, etc. to their bike. Some minor adjustments can make a bike look like something totally different.

We are hoping, like most Americans, that this draught won’t last much longer. America needs some aid and I really hope that Barack Obama is what we need…

Bike2Work

Three cheers for the latest UK/US collaboration! Two cycling mavens written about before in our blog, Carlton Reid and Tim Grahl, have completed their book, Bike to Work, and to borrow their words, it is a page-flippin' beauty! To download a free 50 page sampler , go to http://tinyurl.com/Bike2Work. Once you do, I bet you won't be able to wait for the full 250 page version due out at the end of December.

Another Happy Cranksgiving!

Congrats to our friend, Ken Stanek, and all the hearty souls who made the 10th Annual Cranksgiving charity alley cat race in New York City the best one yet. 106 racers succeeded in raising and donating more than $1000 in food to Saint Mary's soup kitchen on the Lower East Side, as well as over 200 jars of baby food for two Women & Children's charities (Nazareth Housing & Hudson Guild). If that wasn't enough, $1682.40 was raised for City Harvest and $420.60 was raised for the New York Bike Messenger Foundation.

Plans are already underway for the Cranksgiving 11 event, so if you'd like to know how you can help or join in the insanity, bookmark http://www.nybma.com/ and watch for details.