In two-way radio speak, “10/9” means “please repeat.” That’s exactly what Christina Peck and Nico Deportago-Cabrera, former and current Chicago bike messengers, respectively, did at the North American Cycle Courier Championships in New York City earlier this month.
I caught up with these speedy folks last week to discuss their achievements, and the state of the courier industry.
A cool head was definitely needed for the final championship race, held Sunday afternoon on 17 blocks of Bushwick, Brooklyn, which the city rendered car-free for the occasion. There had been heavy rains associated with Hurricane Matthew the previous night and morning, delaying the start of the competition by three hours. At race time the streets of the industrial zone were still slick with water—not to mention rutted with potholes and railroad lines—and riders faced some brutal headwinds.
Peck soon tried her hand as a messenger, starting out at Standard Courier and eventually making her way to Intercept Courier, then Deadline Express. That year local couriers hosted the NACCC in Garfield Park. “The Chicago messenger scene was so great back then,” she said “There were just a lot of us who were young and coming into it with lots of enthusiasm.” Deportago-Cabrera, now 32, also started courier work in Chicago that year.
Food delivery has a different workflow than transporting documents, since food has to be delivered as soon as it’s ready and can’t be carried around in a messenger bag for hours. “But they’re both challenging,” Deportago-Cabrera said. “You’re still dealing with the same foul weather and bad drivers.”
Still, Deportago-Cabrera argued messenger racing isn’t inherently dangerous. “To the outsider, ripping through thick traffic may come across as very reckless, but I know what I’m capable of, and I think the majority of alleycat racers are the same,” he said. “You have to have a healthy dose of fear and respect for the vehicles around you. No bike race is worth a bent wheel, let alone a fatality.”
