Life expectancy of a london courier??

exmachina
exmachina Posts: 57
edited July 2007 in The bottom bracket
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLzGj10f ... ed&search=

(can I open my eyes now!)

I was just wondering If london bike couries have a longer life expectancy than WWII spitfire pilots.

Comments

  • elstonc
    elstonc Posts: 21
    Who needs ordinary telly when you can get exciting stuff like that on the internet!?
  • Buggi
    Buggi Posts: 674
    now that would make for an interesting first stage of le TdF 2007!!!
    _____________________________________________

    To infinity... and beyond!
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  • Yeah .... but who won :?:
    Ride On ...
  • Nick H.
    Nick H. Posts: 15
    When I was a motorcycle courier 20 years ago there were 2 of us having serious or fatal accidents per week in London and the average period for each rider between serious-or-fatal accidents was 18 months. We all thought the stats were probably skewed by the beginners who got wiped out in their first 6 weeks. The general feeling was that if we got through the first 6 weeks we would make it long term. I did about 120 miles a day and almost every day I would happen across the aftermath of a motorcycle accident - i.e an ambulance or a bike or rider in the road. (Not just couriers - any sort of biker. ) About once a week I would be sent to cover a job for a colleague who had just had an accident. Some of these were probably made-up excuses to have the rest of the day off - the courier's way of pulling a sickie. I did that once. But I remember one pickup where there were two puddles in the road - a red one and a green one. The latter was coolant.
  • Red Panda
    Red Panda Posts: 269
    I notice that at the end of the vid a pedestrian throws something at one of the riders after he's been ridden into...shame he misses.
  • exmachina
    exmachina Posts: 57
    Nick H. wrote:
    When I was a motorcycle courier 20 years ago there were 2 of us having serious or fatal accidents per week in London


    I did a year as an MC courier in the late 90's great job in summer crap job in winter.. I regularly had cars pull out or turn right in front of me.. I really can't imagine how cycle couriers coped on a day to day basis. Probably why the spent each eving getting stoned or pissed in farringdon
  • Bagonabike
    Bagonabike Posts: 2,239
    My brother was both a cycle courier and MC courier for about 11 years total. He reckoned MC was worse due to the fact you travelled quicker and the bike was heavier when it landed on you.....
    He had more than a few near misses in 9 years on the bike but nothing major, no broken bones - he must have led a charmed life (although he didn't take part in any Alleycat races.....!) but I've no idea how you could cycle day in, day out on the kind of mileage he was doing.
    It's put him off cycling for life though :cry:
  • thats the coolest thing ive ever seen
    beow
  • jjojjas
    jjojjas Posts: 346
    you can see why it makes good viewing, I certainly watched it and forwarded it onto my mates, but you can see why I think there a bunch of wankers as well..... :roll:
    it looks a bit steep to me.....
  • shazzz
    shazzz Posts: 1,077
    How difficult is it to ride out of a multi-storey? Half a dozen of them crashed in the first 30secs!!
    :lol:
  • 2007-06-24
    2007-06-24 Posts: 33
    Was thrilling to watch, but I agree that they're just like a bunch of insane vandals on wheels. Imagine the damage they'd cause to a pedestrian if they hit them at full speed!

    It must be a huge buzz to ride like that, but at the same time, I think they're mad and give all of us red-light-stopping-cyclists a bad name by riding so crazily...
  • Peacenik
    Peacenik Posts: 292
    They're at it in New York too.
    Looks great but when you stop to think about it, they're not romantic anarchists - just inconsiderate, dangerous idiots - sadly.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR2ygFn- ... ed&search=
    FCN - 3 (hairy-legged roadie)
    FCN - 6 (single speed)

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