She's such a cute li'l cutter...
Congratulations Daryl and Ana! Isadora Marie VanEssen, born April 26th at 12:37 PM.
Filtering by Category: General/Welfare
holla atcha boy
| If you run into this guy today, wish him a happy birthday.Then ask him to do a crossed-up wheelie on that thing. |  |
Delivery!
When people think of the words "bike messenger", I'm sure a wide variety of words come to mind. Some bad, some REALLY bad. One word that I think everyone can agree on is "style". Many different people from many different backgrounds being linked by one common interest is bound to bring out a wide variance in self-expression. Put them in one place at one time and you've got something special.
Mr. Christopher Dilts, a local photographer and a modern renaissance man of sorts, has captured these varying expressions with a compilation of portraits from Chicago's NACCC. He has done us all a great service by taking it a step further and putting it in book form. The book is available here for a very reasonable $29.95 softcover and/or $59.95 hardcover.
From the desk of Dr. Morell
Much like chess boxing, to succeed in cycling one must remain in peak shape mentally as well as physically. Experts agree, reading makes you smarter. Join the Cuttin' Crew's "Cyclist Book Club" for a bimonthly mental training ride.
First meeting (at which a book will be chosen) February 26th, FEBRUARY 19TH, 7 pm, Mercury Cafe (1505 W. Chicago Ave.)
The King
It's often said and often true: getting an interview on dispatch101 is a crowning moment of achievement...
Ben has many great accomplishments and excellent insight but he never brags about it. Thanks to Julio for gearing up this interview to give us a glimpse of what makes the king of messenger prom tick.
Worth the wait
For a while now the Cuttin' Crew has smelled a little better, looked a little better, gotten a whole lot nicer and a whole lot fiercer for reasons that should not be a mystery to you cyclocrossers...
We have a new member! Jamie is joining ship and there isn't a doubt in any of our minds that she is bound for great things this year in Crew team colors.
The women's team is growing ever so slightly. Jamie is quick, gracious, generous and tenacious. We're proud and excited to take a big step forward with the addition of Miss Jamie Gavin-Smyth.
Prime winner
Who loves ya baby?
Well. There has been plenty going on. Amidst the traveling to road races and tailgating at cyclocross races there have been developments within and without the team. Here is one thing that is definitely worth breaking the streak of non-communication:
October 9th, is 10/9 day. An irrelevant fact to most "normies" but to us messengers and open-channel geeks, 10/9 is code for "please repeat" or, more accurately, "fucking speak up", and/or "I definitely wasn't paying attention". Radio communication is what makes the job happen and therefore it's nice to have a holiday on the date of one of the key radio codes.
There is a good group of people (thank you Emily!) putting together a free breakfast for messengers this Thursday, October 9. The breakfast is available at the central location of the Thompson Center, AKA Thompson, AKA the birdcage, AKA governor's playhouse (no one else calls it that Swampy), AKA 100 W Randolph. Grub gets out at 8 AM and is getting packed up by 9 AM so get it while it's good.
By the way, this flier sums it up well. Guess correctly who it is on this flier and get a free sixer of your choice:
Daniella Update
Our little sister team, Yojimbo's Track Cats had a hard lesson handed to them recently. We've been working with them, (in some cases tirelessly...Bre) and everyone agrees some great things have come of it. National champions, their Champion trainers, World class athletes, the finest mechanics and Alums from the School of Hard Knocks have all joined the incredible volunteer committee and seemingly endless generosity of Marcus to help these kids grow as racers, riders and people. This team has done a bit of work to accommodate. We're also doing our best to share our relatively modest knowledge of velodrome riding, the respectful advice of Kenosha's velodrome mentors has certainly humbled us all. On our latest trip to the Washington Park Velodrome (August 19), one of the promising young ladies on the Track Cats got caught a bad situation. In the final race of the night, the Consolation Race, Daniella went down and hit the track hard. Stories have narrowed it down to a wheel collision, a common cause for wiping out. The painful problem was amplified, however, by the awkward manner in which she fell. She was knocked unconscious and flown to a hospital in Milwaukee. The MKE hospital was more suited for handling minors and she stayed in ICU unconscious for approximately 12 hours. She is back to a wary yet stable state of consciousness as of late. She has a few scrapes and bruises and carries a bad concussion on her resume but the medical staff is expressing confidence that she is in the midst of a full recovery.
Please keep her in your hopes, prayers, actions, whichever method you see fit to help strengthen her and her fam. Heal up quickly and keep rollin' Daniella.
8/13/2007
It was one year ago on this day that the worst news anyone could bear was spread through the community like a horrible shiver. I still remember what it felt like to hear what happened. The first thing that came to mind was that incredible smile and energy and style that defined Ryan.
It's shattering to be reminded how quickly beautiful things can be taken away. He was separated from this world and his two children and their mother. He was separated from this community that stands so unique and marginalized, yet he would never have a moment of hesitation when it came to backing you up. Seriously. He was separated but not gone. Never gone unless forgotten and that just won't happen.
Whether you had the pleasure of knowing him or knowing of him, Avi says it well:
"We all ride for our own reasons. Because we love it, or it sets us free, or it pays the bills, or because we just can't stop riding.
We fall, we rise up, and we ride again.
But when one of us falls forever, we all have to work a little harder to ride on."
It will be a difficult day for many out there. Everyone should consider the horrible weight that driver is left to bear as well. As hard as it is to move on, it's times like this Ryan reminds us to stop and think about the great things around us. It's only fitting that we pay tribute and respects to Ryan in a way that will always be one of his favorites...
He loved to hang out and be in great company. One of his favorite places was Cal's on Van Buren and Wells. Come on by Cal's on Friday (August 15). Come do what Ryan would undoubtedly be doing with us. Raise a cheer to a great life and buy Ryan a beer or whatever at the bar. That 2+ dollars will go into his memorial fund and be kept to help provide for his two children.
Also going on will be a memorial ride being assembled by the Chicago Courier's Union. It will be forming around 6 o'clock, Wednesday, August 13. The route will be determined there and departure should be right around 6.