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.