Reblogged from The Darcy Allan Sheppard Documents:

It’s time once again for the 4th annual MAYDAY Alleycat fundraiser for the Bicycle Messenger Emergency Fund (BMEF). This year’s race takes place in Toronto on Saturday May 4th.

This  year’s event includes the long awaited Toronto premier of the new Vancouver messenger film, “Murder of Couriers” on Sunday May 5th at the Royal Theatre. proceeds from the premier will also benefit the BMEF. Visit the facebook event page for more information.

The Bicycle Messenger Emergency Fund is a 501 c3 non profit public charity organization that provides emergency compensation to bicycle messengers who are hurt on the job. Currently the BMEF allocates a $500 emergency cheque to help messengers anywhere in the world during the first week of injury. This provides a boost, to both the financial and the mental/emotional state of the injured messenger. The goal is to help the injured cope and recover.

“Murder of Couriers documents the lives of a group of bike messengers in Vancouver over a nearly three-year span. This feature length film was made by couriers, about couriers, for a wide general audience. The film offers the chance to experience a lifestyle that not many get the privilege to enjoy: the love and hatred for the roads we live on, the chaos of Friday night bike polo and alley-cat races, the affect of the party lifestyle, the poverty associated with the job, the inevitable pitfalls that come with living in the moment – and the individuals who endure it all.

Directed by Thomas MacLeod & Neil Brill
Produced by Douglas Kerr & Chris Judson

Toronto messengers expect a large turnout for both events with messengers coming from all over to raise funds for the BMEF.

A new project is looking for writing by former & current couriers, with the topic at least somewhat tangential to the job. Tentative deadline for submissions is March 1.

More details from the Facebook page:

My general idea is a self published print on demand type thing. Its not designed to make money, more of something for messengers by messengers. Any one who contributes can buy one at cost and for others maybe a $1 or $2 markup. If it does make any money, it’ll be donated to one of the BMAs.

I figure the final format will depend on the number of contributors and keeping it affordable. If there’s further interest, maybe additional issues will follow and then a fancy Best Of. That’s for the future though.

If you’re interested in writing something or know someone who might be (I’d really like this to reach the offline folks as well), please get in touch and I’ll get you whatever form of contact info you prefer.

Thanks and don’t forget to spread the word!

795

Visit the Facebook page for Bike Messenger Stories for contact and more information.

Mike Rankin

Toronto bike messenger Mike Rankin, 56 was killed after being struck by a taxi on Wednesday November 7. Rankin, who was wearing a helmet, suffered sever head injuries when he was hit at the intersection of Richmond Street and University Avenue by a taxi driver who said he was clearing the light. Rankin worked for Zap/Cys Courier house (#62)

“Clearing the light” is a term often used to describe a driver who upon seeing his light turn to yellow he puts his foot on the gas to speed through the intersection as the light turns to red. It’s also sometimes referred to as running a red light.

Most bike messengers are killed by large vehicles in the downtown core. It’s quite rare for a bike messenger to be killed by a car as speeds in the core are often slower. In this case Rankin’s helmet was destroyed by the car upon impact.

Toronto messengers are holding a memorial ride today (Friday November 9) at 5pm at the corner of Richmond St and University Avenue.

FIFTH, PARK AND MADISON is also included here.It starts at 19:35 of the video. It includes some good coverage of the proposed New York City bike ban that targeted messengers in 1988.

It will be shown again on September 28, 2012 at the Great Hall in New York.

This will be the 15th year that the award is presented. It was started by Buffalo Bill in 1998, to remember Markus and to draw attention to messengers whose work benefits all of us.

From the IFBMA’s Markus Cook Award page:

“The MCA for services to the International Messenger Community is not a prize for winning a race. At the time the Award was conceived, CMWC was beginning to be more about the racing than the happening. I [ Buffalo Bill] wanted to re-establish the spirit of the championships, to restate the reason that we all come to this event every year.

The MCA is a reflection of the axiom that everyone who comes to a CMWC is a winner, whether they race or not.

Markus himself was very much in love with the CMWC, and in many ways he was the unlikeliest bike racer imaginable. He was several other things, of course. Editor of Mercury Rising messenger zine, unofficial spokesperson of the SFBMA, leader of L Sid, and a friend to all. The enthusiasm of Markus brought CMWC and the international messenger community toSan Francisco, and it saddens many people to this day that he did not live to see it.

This award is for people that inspire and empower the wider messenger community, that put all of us before themselves.”

There is no limit to the number of nominees and anyone can nominate someone. The messenger community is fortunate to have many people who are willing to devote time and effort to improve the lot of others. The difficult part is narrowing the list down to just one recipient every year.

Nominations will close on Sunday September 16

So send your nominations to the messenger list and/or by a reply to this post below.

The basic but not so strict criteria are:

  – it must be mainly for activities that have taken place in the last 12 months; although you can also draw attention to his or her prior work.

 - they don’t have to be a working messenger; they can be a former messenger

The decision will be taken by a committee of former recipients and will be awarded as close to Messenger Appreciation Day (October 9) as possible.

Past recipients of the Markus Cook Award:

2011 - Stephanie ‘Papillon’ Bartczak, London, England

2010 – Nadir Olivet, Toronto, Canada

2009 – Luk Keller, Zurich, Switzerland

2008 - Martin Larsen, Copenhagen Denmark

2007 – Andy Zalan, Washington DC, USA

2006 – Amy and Kevin “Squid” Bolger“, New York City, NY, USA

2005 – Jean Andre Vallery, Sarasota, Florida, USA

2004 – “Buffalo” Bill Chidley, London, England

2003 – Wayne Scott, Toronto, Canada

2002 – Derek Chadbourne, Toronto, Canada

2001 – Joel “Magpie” Metz, San Francisco, CA, USA

2000 – John Kenda and the Philadelphia BMA, Boston/Philadelphia USA

1999 – Rebecca “Lambchop” Reilly, DC/NYC/SF etc. USA

1998 – Joe Hendry, Toronto, Canada

More on Markus:

Markus Cook at the Messenger Memorial

Mercury Falling from SF Weekly (<somewhat flawed)

Letter replies to Mercury Falling

Video clip of Markus:

(Apologies for the video quality)

New York Times, August 16, 2012

It took a lot of nerve for the director David Koepp to include a chase under an elevated New York City train in “Premium Rush” about a bike messenger’s frantic race to deliver a package from one end of Manhattan to the other.

…….

Mr. Koepp’s vision was confirmed early on when George Aguilar, a seasoned assistant director and stunt coordinator, asked one of the stunt doubles, a real-life bike messenger, Austin Horse, to “ride as fast as you can.”

“Really?” Mr. Horse replied in Mr. Aguilar’s retelling, “I’m pretty fast.”

With camera rolling, Mr. Aguilar said, he was stunned at how fast Mr. Horse accelerated from a standstill to a winding weave in deep traffic. When he showed the footage to Mr. Koepp, Mr. Aguilar said, “Now we know what this movie is about.” (Danny MacAskill, a Scottish street stunt cyclist whose jaw-dropping YouTube videos garner millions of views, is another double.)

more in the New York Times

Craig Etheridge from Seattle, USA

and

Josephine Reitzel from Lausanne, Switzerland

Check the official results at Chicago CMWC .

If it’s not the endless hills and ancient cobbles, it’s the tangle of tramworks tying up much of the city centre. Cycling in central Edinburgh can be a challenge for the most experienced rider. For cycle couriers it can be akin to a daily assault course.

Next week, the city’s bike messengers will pit themselves against the best in the world as Edinburgh hosts the European Cycle Messenger Championships. It’s the 17th year of the competition but the first to open its doors to any cyclist who thinks they can match the pace and panache of the couriers: trousers rolled up, radio holsters strapped on, D-lock in the back pocket.

“Over the years, couriers have been this kind of subculture, kind of us and them, so this year we’re really trying to involve everybody,” says Eva Ballin, 41, a veteran Edinburgh bike messenger and organiser of this year’s event.

“This year we want to have it open to anyone with a bicycle. We think Edinburgh is a beautiful, and challenging, city to cycle in.”

More…