QUOTE OF THE WEEK

'So we have a job for you.You can start tomorrow.There's one thing though-don't even think about riding without the front brake.And by front brake I mean a calliper connected by a cable to the lever,on your bike-not in your bag."

Two wheels or four wheels?

So the quickest rider on Creative Couriers circuit is switching from two wheels to four.Are you sure it's going to be faster,Jacob?

Halloween

Wookie and American Mike are announcing The Halloween Alley Cat.
Saturday 28th of october.
Costumes only!!!!!!
More details to follow.Or check MT forum.
14th(!!!!)annual halloween race in berlin
Theres one in NYC too.

QUOTES FROM A VERY RAINY DAY

My controller on the radio said:'3 people didn't turn up today,so if anyone is planning on not turning up tomorrow,you may as well tell me now"
Another messenger, passing by in pouring rain, said:'Wet t-shirt contest?'

HOW MANY BIKES DOES MESSENGER NEED?

So how many bikes does messenger need to do his/her job?Two perhaps,just in case theres something wrong with 'the main' one?Well,read on then...
The year of 2006 has started for me pretty crap.Torn cartilige in my knee put me out of work for almost whole of the january,while waiting for the surgery managed to 'work' one-two days a week in february(riding 44x18).March and most of april recovering after the operation...
Finally felt like its time i could get back on my bike,although i figured out that riding fixed wheel straight away may not be the best idea.Gears and brakes then.
In Kristofs garden shed stashed away waited for me old battered red no name frame.Couple of years back in time I bought that frame for Kris at a jumble sale near Portsmouth.It was battered, had lots of ok bits on it(campy cranks etc) and costed like 20 quid.It also had seized seat post and stem.Kris converted it into his first fixie, he managed to unseize the stem by hiting a bus on Oxford street,seat post remained where it was.
Anyway, I'm back to work freewheeling for first time in 3 years,all going nice and smooth,and suddenly after 2 or 3 weeks of work(and one alley cat) the chainstay cracked.Straight into the bin...

Haven't got much choice then-back on fixed wheel.This time its one of my favoured work bikes-CARLTON I scored off ebay for 70 pounds.For some reason no one bid on it(apart of some guy called Westcoastmessenger,now-nearly 3 years later-i figured it was Xander...)and i just loved that bike.About two months later on thursday afternoon i was coming back to Soho after a run to Horseferry road/Francis street.walking up the stairs from the Mall to Pall Mall with bike on my shoulder, looked on my headset and there it was-a crack on the headtube.Another day of riding it-this time i noticed bit wierd steering.Again,into the bin...

This time its my 'sunday' bike-all golden TOMMY GODWIN.Another bike off ebay,very nice lugged frame,probably older than myself.Riding it without any problems.In the meantime though managed to completely trashed the green NOT A PINARELLO-by riding it full speed into a parked car in Glasgow.

Finally two weeks ago I'm waiting outside the ITN on Grays Inn Road for someone to come out and take tapes off me.30 minutes waiting time,I'm quite bored.so bored that started looking all over my bike,just to discover a long crack along the lug line where the headtube and the lower tube meet.And yet again-straight into the bin...
4 bikes in less than 6 months.Pretty good.
Bill reckons that I'm cursed.Could be:the lovely 1960s CARLTON with fancy lugs i sold to Twitchy Tom has cracked recently.Alloy BIANCHI road bike i sold to Kristof snapped on the seat tube(after ride from London to Basel and back,two rides to Stonehenge and many shorter rides not counting all the work both me and Kristof done on it).The NONAME grey bike i sold to Jacob may be developing a crack too.So curse it may be.
Wee Scott told me I'm a fat wanker.Damn right I am.Fat facking cunt.
So,don't buy any bikes I may try to sell you.No matter how good they look or how great the bargain is...
Anyway,who wants to buy a bike from a fat,cursed wanker?

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

'Lower Regent Street is like God.it doesn't exist,but everyone knows its there'

THE WRECK OF THE WEEK

Something what used to be Cannondale mountain bike was abandonned on Kingly street.

How to improve your TRACKSTAR hoodie?

TRACKSTAR's hoodie is one of my favoured tops.
if you got one of them and you think that this nice golden print is just not blinging enough heres very simple recipe how to improve it.
you will need:
Trackstar hoodie-1
deep fried pizza-at least 1
nasty whiskey-more than you can handle
eat the pizza,drink the whiskey.dont forget to wear the hoodie before the booze kicks in.
pass out puking all over yourself(and your trackstar hoodie).
wear with pride.
Ps.i strongly advice to do it during the millportpoloco but if you just cant wait till next summer,any messenger event will do.perhaps you could even do it on the circut while waiting for the next job.

MILLPORTPOLOCO

"Weekend away in Scotland....5 hours trip on the train wasnt that boring at all,thanks to some texan dude asking me questions about direct trains from glasgow to athens etc...
meeting the rest of the london crew at glasgow central.its pissing down with rain so we are off to the pub for few pints and veggie haggis.shortly moving to another pub-which is the meeting point for tonites race.catching up with old friends and making new ones.
Started racing with a big bang(literally)by crashing into a parked car during the street kierin on park circus.bend the shit out my bike,bruised myself enough to be unable to sleep on my left side for next 3 weeks...dont remember who won it and you cant blame me for it-too busy bending back my forks and trying to figure out am i still alive...

Next day off to the island of great cumbrae where the main event is happening-millportpoloco.gave up on the time trail around the island.instead hanging out by the start/finish(next to very smelly public toilet,any explanation Xander?),eating deep fried pizzas and thinking how my self-turning-to-the-right-bike may be good for riding wrong way on the velodrome.
time trials winners are Brian and Justyna(ex shitty sprint rider who now lives in glasgow).more drinking,more deepfried fat.trying to set up my tent....

night of camping by the bonfire,cant recall much.most likely due to many £1 whiskies at the local pub.hangover of the century didnt stop me from entering the Pirate Alleycat.ride up the hill nearly gave me heart attack,shot of cheapo whiskey made me puke again but theres only as much as hungover messenger can do -swiming to the next island was just too much for me.

hanging out on the shore,waiting for swimmers to return(some of them barely made it back),munching on chips from The Crocodile Chippy.loooong ride back to the ferry terminal in pissing down rain.waiting for the last boat and watching randall smashing up his carbon fibre frame...hmmm.
im definitely coming back next year.
Xander's Millportpoloco site is here
my pictures are here