Kind of old news...

UPDATE: Opening a new commuter-oriented bike shop, Trinity Bicycles, near Downtown Fort Worth, two blocks from the T&P rail station.

But I wanted to mention it anyway. Jeremy and Shaggy represented PCBC well at the Moritz Cowtown Cyclocross race last Saturday.

I guess all that dismounting and running to elevators is pretty decent training for Cyclocross season, now that I think about it.

Check out the PCB Blog and newest Fort Worth blog West and Clear for photos.

Bicycles Fort Worth

MAN DOWN! (but only for a little while)

On his first run yesterday, Shaggy called me and said the words a dispatcher hates to hear... "I'm down."

I sent Brian to pick him and his bike up, because it sounded like they were both pretty damaged.

His thumb was cut pretty badly; it was pretty gnarly... looked kind of like Pac Man:


His front wheel looked like a pringle:


And he cracked his helmet:


But after getting a ride home for a wound cleaning, a bike change, and a new helmet, he finished all his runs for the day.

Don't mess with our couriers... they're tough.

Little Whistler

Whistler's lovely wife gave birth to little whistler lady number two this wednesday!

knight riders and couriers drink at the chatroom.

fact.

Messenger bikes spotted at the Flying Saucer:

ouch.

I smacked the pavement pretty hard coming down bryant-irvin this morning.
Also got my first flat in a year or so.
Oddly enough, I seem to be relatively scratch free.
Actually, my neck was bothering me the last couple of days and the fall seemed to knock into the right spot.
I'll take a crash over a chiropractor any day.
I think my derailer hanger caught the worst of it, but it should be good as new after I bend it back.
damn, steel is a wonderful thing.

New Champ

As of today, I'm the new holder of the PCB most-runs-in-a-single-day-by-a-single-rider record! I will hold this record until tomorrow, when Trae will beat me. He has more scheduled runs tomorrow morning than I had all day today.

you know what sports drink rules?

PICKLE JUICE!!

no joke.

ultimate elecrolyte replacer ever.

we got a whole fridge full of it.

Another one of Fort Worth's Finest...

...bicycle messengers. Leo, in all his courier trackstand glory:

Shaggy 10-10, waiting for dispatch.

tall bikin'

this is a documentary about my former residence.
it is vaguely bicycle related and takes place in fort worth.

NEW BLOOD.

we got a new courier. he is polite and far too intelligent. his name is leopoldo.
he was my riding buddy back in denton.

jeremy put him through the ringer yesterday. hopefully he recovers in time for next tuesday.
which I assume is going to be stupid hot.

Media Darling

Check it!

BUSY

I had six or so oversized packages. couple of round trip and multiple zone deliveries. All while I was supposed to be at the shop. Anyone interested in covering tuesdays for me?

MOST BUSY DAY EVER, EVER.

The bar has been raised. between bernie, jason and myself we managed to do nine runs. all on top of the shop being stupid busy. go team.

Manic Monday? Eh, not so much...

Well, yesterday I only had one run, and it was early, so I went on a scenic cruise. I wound up going from the water gardens down Main, zig zagging thru the neighborhoods all the way down to Pafford street, about 6 blocks S. of Berry, on both sides of Hemphill. Rode past kids playing in the yards, old men sitting on the porch in the shade, and young men cruising on their bicycles too.

A smile and a nod was given to all, and most returned the same.

It was a good day to be alive and on a bike for sure.

Took my mind of of my sick kitty, Bumper. 294.00 later, she's doing much better...
YIKES.

Shaggy, out

only one delivery today.
weak. we need another summit consultants.
no big deal. jason kept me busy with the dirty work.
I even got to help sell a bike.

and as always.
got to wash the whole day down with a generous portion of rahr's stormcloud IPA.
wicked.

Yesterday got off to a rough start: 1) I started late because I had to stay and get griped out at my regular job. 2) I couldn't find my first pick up because of a somewhat ignorant security guard's misinformation. 3) Being frazzled from my mounting list of worries and frustrations (not excluding points 1 and 2) I forgot to get the recipients to sign my delivery slips all morning. and finally 4) I went to one drop off location instead of the pick up, and so had to turn around and to the real pick up and come right back. During all this confusion and mess I vented my frustrations by riding really hard, so at least that was a positive way of getting it all out. The rest of the day was pretty pleasant, though bittersweet. This is because that will probably be my last day to do courier work for a good while. I am trying to work my regular job and at the same time get my teaching certification and the workload for the certification is piling up on me quick. I'll miss messengering a lot and I hope I get to do it again. It's the most fun I've ever had "working," that's for sure.

Peace out, Whistler.

busy day today.
got to the shop early so shaggy and me could look pretty for a photo essay.
I think we did a pretty swell job.
did a couple runs, staged some shots. cool stuff.
RJ the photojournalist kept up pretty good on his singlespeed.
you better looks for us in the star telegram.
back at the shop I got to take care of some merch, and learn the mystical secrets of bicycle repair.
finally I got to wash it all down with the always delicious rahr stormcloud IPA.

cant wait to do it all over again.

Sub-sti-tute (Sing it like the WHO song)

SInce Jason is out of town, I gave up my messenger day to help Bernie around the shop and got the Shagster to cover for me. Turned out to be pretty unnecessary though since the only run we had for him was to go get our burger and gyro from Paul's. Shaggy spent most of the day out on his bike though and probably covered more miles than I do when I have a bunch of runs. It's good to be around folks like that who just love riding. Thanks man, sorry it was so dead.

Hey fixed gear riders!

Watch this! I've seen some videos featuring fixed/track riding that are entertaining, but this one got just the right mix of great filming and music in my opinion. Really quite lovely.

Whistler attempts to make his weekly 817 post as boring as his own blog.

If you ever read my blog, then you might know about my frequent changing of pedals, handlebars, and whatever else on my bike to try different things, keep myself from getting bored with my bike, have an excuse to tinker around with bikes, etc. Well I've been riding toe clips for a few days and liking them for riding back and forth to work, however, for messengering they kind of sucked. On my commute I rarely have to stop because there aren't that many lights (and at 2 am, even if they're red I don't usually have to stop). Riding around downtown and picking up and dropping packages though, I have to stop a lot more often - and ride harder and longer. So trying to get that second foot into the clip on the fixed gear can get annoying and my toes kept going numb. I can't figure out if it's from the straps reducing the circulation or just that they're vibrating in a weird way. Anyhow, my feet are kind of sore this morning and my SPDs are sounding really good; but man, I hate changing those shoes. We'll see...

Day off

Wow, this is the 1st day off that I've not messengered in a while, not quite sure what to think of it. Used the time well though, got the new (to me) washer hooked up, and the clothesline up.
No more Barrio washateria...
I miss riding though.

Hey Urban Cyclists!

Check out a new online zine called Urban Cyclist done by two of the guys from Dirt Rag. Word is they've been fired from Dirt Rag though. Hopefully that won't keep them from continuing this publication, because it's pretty cool. You can download and print it too for a hard copy.

Flooding on Magnolia

This is why I was glad to beat the storm back to the shop (besides the fact that I didn't have my raingear with me, and 80mph winds are no joke):



Since the pic was blurry (too long exposure, but when I tried to use flash all you could see was raindrops that caught the light), let me describe what you're looking at. That's the streetlamp post across the street, which is set back three feet onto the sidewalk, which is 8-10" higher than the street. Water was rushing down the sidewalk like a river; it was ridiculous, and I'm glad I wasn't caught out in it.

Storm ride?

Yo, I was eating dinner and the storm sirens went off so we turned on the news and Channel 8 was doing their coverage from Summit Consultants' building. The guy said he saw someone ride by in the storm on a bike. Was that by chance one of the illustrious PCB couriers?! Please tell me it was...

More Schedules changing...

OK... disregard Wednesdays. Swofford's schedule is also changing, so he's now covering Wednesdays instead of Tuesdays.

So Tuesdays are now open.

Anyone?

I miss messengering...

I'm getting flabby...

You guys get to have all the fun.

Schedule Changing

Who wants to be a courier on Wednesdays? Shaggy's days off at his other job are changing, so he won't be able to cover Wednesdays any more.

Anyone?

Anyone?

Bueller?

New Courier?

Who is Pelo'??? Inquiring minds want to know.

Must be the fenders...

Bernie went out for a few hours and I watched the shop. He had all that nice high end rain gear on. Came back soaked. I left about 2 minutes later for a courier run. Same weather, didn't get wet at all. Finished the run, got in a few miles and met the wife at the train station. All in all a pretty good day.

I guess those Planet Bike Hardcore Freddy Fenders really do work as advertised!

PCB: Commerce and Advocacy Can Go Hand in Hand

I'd be willing to put money on the odds that Panther City's the only bicycle messenger service that was being dispatched from the state capital in Austin on Texas Bike Lobby Day this monday. Bernie went down to "represent" on behalf of all of us here in Fort Party Worth asking Texas lawmakers to consider cyclists in bills supporting safe passing, safe routes to schools for kids who bike, and general cycling-friendly transportation enhancements. So tell Bernie "thanks" and support Panther City Bicycles because they support all of us!
It was a pretty slow monday though, which is probably good so Bernd didn't have to take a bunch of calls while in Austin. I kept busy in between runs helping Jason hook up an air compressor hose for the repair stand, doing a tube change, and enjoying some Palermo's Pizza and Rahr Blonde...so no complaints here.

Bicycle Gloves Product Review

Ok,

So I'm one of those people that's hard on gloves. No, really. I mean brutal with them. I can wear out a pair of fancypants gloves in about a month or so (and I have, many times over). I don't know why this is the case, it's not like I'm dragging my hands along the streets as I cruise along. I just happen to be one of those people that wear out the palms of gloves very fast.

With that in mind, Bernie told me he found some gloves with leather palms that just might last a little longer. I told him to order them up and let me know when they come in.

About two weeks later (March 9) I happened to be at the shop when they arrived. I remember this date because we were headed out to see the movie 300 and I was worried that Jason was going to leave without me (let's just say that I'm not real quick at doing bike repairs under pressure).



The gloves are the Planet Bike Taurus. They retail for around $20.00 and have a leather palm, crochet back, and the terry cloth thumb for wiping the brow. At first they were a bit stiff, but broke in quickly enough. Very comfortable, and don't suffer from too much padding. Also, a cool factor here... there is a section of the palm that is Kevlar. This is great for little things like; running your hand across the top of the tire to clear out any thorns and glass bits, or keeping your skin intact in the event of a fall.

I have to say that these gloves still look like they did when I got them. The leather may have stretched a bit, but they are still comfortable. More importantly... they are still intact. While 6 weeks might seem a bit premature to do a glove review, you would appreciate it more if you could see how my other gloves have fared in the same amount of time. Plus, I ride quite a bit and wear these gloves just about every day.

I'll keep you up to date on the lifespan of these gloves and periodically post pics of their condition.

If you need a tough pair of gloves that will last, and you don't mind the old school look of crochet gloves, these could be the gloves for you. Give 'em a try and don't let the idea of spending $20.00 scare you away from crochet gloves. The lifespan of these gloves will probably save you some money in the long run.

I don't think Bernie is stocking them as of yet though, as I think he was waiting to see how quickly I tore through them.

Monday...

Bernie's theory was that the weather was so nice people were just taking their packages themselves to get out of the office, but whatever the reason, I didn't make a single pick up or drop yesterday. A day at PCB can hardly be considered bad though, it was still fun hanging out talking bikes, working on a couple of bikes and riding to and from.
Speaking of, Atticus was up at the shop replacing his skid worn rear tire and since we both stay in the same 'hood - he decided to wait and ride home with me. I'm thinking, "That'll be cool, a leisurely ride home, chatting on the way." What I got instead was a) a realization that I too am an OLD ASS, b) a realization that Atticus is insane, c) a realization why Atticus rides brakeless. We started off for home and Atticus whips down the street leaving me in the dust, but I think to myself, "I'll catch up at the light." Well, no such luck, because (what is Atticus's nickname??? - I vote for 'Finch') he instead takes a left up the wrong direction and merges into traffic coming up 8th. I tried to follow and he waited for me at the top of the hill. Then it was off down Zoo hill where I tried to tail him close, but he kept throwing me off skidding and dodging all the potholes with erratic turns. Then came the realization why he rides brakeless...the son of a gun NEVER STOPS for ANYTHING. I followed him up University pedaling my wuss 44/18 combo like mad to keep up with his 48/16, we cut between lanes of traffic to the intersection (which is no problem but that's about the extent of my "daring" city skills), but then he keeps going full tilt through the red light with traffic coming in from the right and he looks back and gives me the "it's clear" wave to come on through. It's NOT CLEAR though, you can't do the wave if it's not really clear! Anyway, I'm still spinning away (Improving my pedal stroke though, according to Bernie) and Finch starts riding with no hands to answer his cell phone.
So instead of my leisurely ride, I got to sweat a lot, partially out of pedaling so fast and partially out of sheer terror. I have to admit it was a lot of fun though, thanks Finch (or whatever the guys are calling you).

Courier needed

We need a courier tomorrow (April 17) and Friday (April 20). Anybody want to ride?

Dallas Alleycat

A new golden boy...

Hasty hasn't lost his crown, but he has to share the title now. Atticus equaled Hasty's mark today...

Bike to Work.

Now that the courier service has picked up some new clients and our older clients are using us even more, working as a bike courier at Panther City has become just that - working! Don't get me wrong, It's the most fun work I've ever done. However, after five runs before even going by the shop to check in, I was ready for a little breather. Hopefully the momentum will keep going and we'll all be working like that throughout the day...with a minute here and there to eat and rest the knees of course.


P.S. If you want to keep up with my bike nerd/non-courier shenanigans, I have started to post more often onWhistle Defense System

Awkward moment.

So, Shaggy arrived at one of Fort Worth's high-rise office towers this morning to make a delivery; as he approached the bank of elevators, he hit the "UP" button.

Much to his chagrin, the button popped off when he pressed it, fell on the floor and started rolling away. Shaggy, being quick of wit and deft of hand, scooped up the button before anybody saw what he'd done and continued on his way.

What makes a Record Day?

Had a pretty busy day today. Apparently enough runs to make for a record day.

What makes a record breaking day:

76.2 Gear Inches on the Fixed Gear
31.21 Miles
7 runs for the day
4 were done between 1015 and 1115
3 multiple zone runs
2 trips on the Trinity Trails
1 bottle of sport "Pickle Juice" (my system is still reeling from the shock of it!)

Of course my two favorite events of the day...

Blowing my Storm Whistle at a Police car that encroached upon my lane- he immediately shifted over and gave me plenty of space. Saying this whistle is loud is an understatement!

And the number one event that made my day...

A guy outside the Bombay HQ building that asked me if my document tube was a pipe bomb! He was serious too!


Finally, what does a record day look like???

This:


So sayeth the Golden boy...

Wet your Whistle

I'll back up Bernie's post and say that I was glad to ride yesterday in the rain and had much more fun out getting wet than waiting inside wet - so keep the calls coming. I got the worst of the soaking on my way home actually but I was thinking to myself, "You know, no matter what the weather is like, I feel better riding my bike than I ever would not riding it." It makes me wonder why I'll often use a myriad of excuses not to ride.

Yes, we work in the rain.

Lots of customers have said things like, "I try not to call you guys when the weather is bad."

They say it with the best intentions, thinking they're doing us a favor. But truth be told, we like riding in the rain, and we've invested in lots of nice waterproof equipment and clothing, so the package arrives safe and dry with us.

Don't hesitate; call us!

Work for us.

Sometimes we need somebody to be on call as a bike messenger. Right now, we have most days of the week covered by an independent bike messenger. But sometimes somebody's out of town, or has a doctors appointment, or some other commitment.

We'll post days we need riders here as they come up. To deliver for us you'll need a bike, a bag, a cell phone, and to be comfortable riding in traffic (though the traffic in Downtown Fort Worth isn't usually too hairy). If you'd like to be notified when a day is available, let us know.

Some days I already know we'll need couriers to cover:

Monday, March 19
Tuesday, April 17
Friday, April 20

Being a bike messenger is fun! Get paid to ride your bike, how cool is that?



UPDATE: Monday the 19th has been covered.

Voila!

What do you think of our new look!?

Help us with this blog...

I'm website-stupid. Do any readers/contributors know how to make a cool custom banner for this blog? Anybody wanna volunteer to help us with this?

A cool bike messenger action banner, where we could include our phone number so potential clients can reach us? (If you're a potential client in Fort Worth reading this, our number is 401-0146).

Fix me.

So I had a few runs right off the bat yesterday morning which was a great start for the day (or re-start depending how you look at it, because I get off work at my other job, then turn around and ride to PCB to do the Monday courier runs), but then the rest of the day was pretty darn dead. I came in the shop excited after the runs though because I had tried riding my single speed road bike my friend built from various discarded bike parts and was amazed at how fast it was. Until yesterday I had just cruised around on it. Anyway, apparently the rear wheel was not built correctly for a single speed, so my chainline wasn't really straight. I talked with Bernie about rebuilding it, but for what it would cost, I could almost afford to get a flip flop single speed/fixed wheel that was already built up with a velocity rim. After sitting around at the shop most of the day lusting after this wheel, I decided to drop the cash and Bernie showed me how to set it up with a new Surly track cog and lockring so that I could join the ICFGD (International Church of Fixed Gear Devotees). My ride home was fun and I really like how the fixed gear handles hills. However, I realized really quick all the times I usually coast for a second, like when I go from pedaling hard standing up to sitting in the saddle or when I cut across oncoming traffic onto a side street, etc. Anyway, I'm looking forward to re-learning how to ride with my new fixie. My geared bike, which I used to pull a trailer and my daughter to go grocery shopping today, is already feeling weird.

New Clients

We just got two new clients, one high-profile architecture firm, and one chocolatier (how cool is that!?).

Do any readers out there want to play bike messenger on Thursdays?

Helmet Cam!

Since the weather has been so nice lately, I decided to dig the helmet cam out of the closet and play with it some. I chose a great day to do it! Stopped by the bike shop and it was packed! Shaggy was there, Bernie was hanging out, Jason was doin' the bike thing, and Kenneth stopped by with his sweet track bike.

It took me all of 14 seconds to convince the guys to go out on a ride with me so I could get some video footage. Went home last night, threw something together on my Mac, and thought I would share the results with you guys.

The video goes from the bike shop, downtown to check in on a client, then towards the Water Gardens. There's more footage to come, escapades at the Flying Saucer and other Shenanigans. That's for later though...

Them's my boys.....ready for action....
feel soorrry for anyone who getsintheway.

Who's house?
thier house.

J

On Friday ( thank's Whistler) 3/9, death sport fans,
we will be meeting for the 1:45pm show of 300.
Meet at the shop at 1:00 pm,
and then we ride to Hellllllll!!!!!!!

J

Bikes=Better

Got a rush delivery right at the end of the day yesterday and was able to see the real benefit of sending parcels by bike. Traffic was already backed way up on Summit and I just pedaled by the whole lot and squeezed right behind the first couple of cars right as the light turned green and went on my way. I picked up and dropped with time to spare while a car would have been stuck in traffic and never even made it by 5:00. So that made me feel pretty good, as did riding back to the shop to find a cold pint of The Ugly Pug with the Whistler's name on it.

Elevator Conversation

So Jason has been asked twice recently in elevators whether he's on his way up to jump off the building! Did I miss something? Have people been base jumping off Fort Worth office towers?

I know our Chrome messenger bags...



... with their fancy seatbelt buckle look heavy duty, but "parachute" is not the first thing I think when I look at them. Oh well, at least we're starting to get people used to seeing bike couriers in DTFW. "OH, you're a bike messenger. OK."

Whistler: Race Horse or Bicycle Messenger?

"Whistler! That's it! It even sounds fast!," Jason said to me with much excitement. Yeah it does sound like a good fast name... for a horse. "Come on Whistler! Just pull this one out for me Whistler! Daddy needs a new crankset!" Unfortunately, the nickname was not bestowed upon me to applaud my quickness upon my two-wheeled steed. No, this would stem from the fact that I tend to whistle (consciously or otherwise) any tune that I am listening to or have stuck in my head, whether or not the music lends itself to a good whistle. I'm not sure when I developed this habit, but I think it's somewhat recently because my wife has let me know on several occasions as of late that she too is tiring of my improvisational contributions to the music on the stereo or riding in the car.
Despite its equine nature, the name seemed to click with everyone and I'm not one to argue. Plus, there's something inherently wrong with coming up with a nickname for yourself, so "Whistler" it is. Now let's see here, "Shaggy, Hasty and Whistler." I'm beginning to wonder if Jason and Bernie were wanting a team of part-time couriers or just some animals to have around the shop. Perhaps they're getting a bit of both whether they want to or not.

against the wind... I'm runnin against the wind!

Props out to Bob Seager and the Silver bullet Band

Great run today 1300 Summit to 900 N Commerce
Pick up to drop 36 minutes
Wind S 30-gusting to 35 mph.
Temp 60 humid

Picked up the package and headed south down summit.
Made a quick right turn on to 10th and as I did my
document tube went flying across the street.
Then rolling and narrowly missing two cars and ended up
in the gutter close to a storm drain. Luckily the gutter was dry.
I recovered my plans and went on my way.

Laugh, and enjoy the ride.
I'm out
Jason

Well, it's official, I'm now a professional part time courier.
I got two runs today, with the first being one of the mythical super rush runs, which was completed with four minutes to spare. I was pleased, to say the least.
Also, I was christened with my courier name, here to for known as Shaggy.
I like it...
This looks like it's going to be a "good thing" for everyone involved, and I appreciate the chance to be a part of it.
Thanks guys!
Shaggy, clean and green.

The Mortal Class...

Hey there, many of you probably don't know me but the guys call me Hasty. I'm a regular at the bike shop. In fact, I spend so much time there that the boys finally put me to work. I gotta say I'm glad they did. So now I'm making deliveries on my days off. I love it, gets me out of the house and lets me put some good base miles on the legs.

Two years ago, if you had told me I'd be working part time as a bike courier, I'd have said you were insane. Just the idea of cycling to the end of my street was a chore, weaving in and out of traffic in a high stress environment and really racking up miles was beyond comprehension.

Amazing what happens when you make a few major lifestyle changes.

This is a good way to pass the time on my days off when I don't have anything else going on. It really isn't much different than anything I do now, just a good chance to get some nice training miles in. Which is pretty cool in my opinion. It reinforces just how much I do enjoy riding. One thing I do know is that I need to get a quicker lock. The chain is heavy and the cable is a bit on the cumbersome side. Should probably look into the streetcuffs. Those are pretty quick.

Ended up doing just under 20 miles yesterday. When I plotted it out on the G-Maps Pedometer, it was amazing just how sporadic the travel was. As an aside, the G-Maps Pedometer is an awesome little program. Especially if you like to track your mileage (like I do), but don't have a computer on your bike. I haven't put one on the Fixed gear, and so far I like it that way. Although sometimes it would be nice to know how fast I'm going, since I'm a bit of a techno-weenie that way.

As you can see, I was kind of all over the place...

One thing I do have to say, I wish I was either independently wealthy... or that the courier gig paid enough to live the lifestyle I have grown accustomed to. It was incredibly fun today. Can't wait for my next day off so I can do it some more.

Jason in Action on a Rare Fort Worth Snow Day

In this pic, Jason was just coming back from a "New York Minute" delivery... From the call-in, to the package pick-up, to the drop, the delivery took 19 minutes. Beat that, car couriers!

Check out the sweet moustache bars on J's messenger bike, too. And the Shants/Ports/Manpris/Knickers/Whateveryouwannacall them with leg warmers...I'm telling you, he's got style.

New Blog

As many Panther City Bicycles customers know, we also operate a bicycle courier/messenger service out of the shop. It helps us make a little extra money in the winter, but mostly we do it because it's fun and we think it's a good thing for the community.

Well, this blog is intended to give you all the latest Fort Worth bike messenger news, the funny stories, the race results, the upcoming events, the joy, the pain, and anything else we think we can wax poetic about.

Enjoy.

coming soon...