I started messing in the early 90's, a little after the big bubble. But I knew a few messengers in the 80's and there was a lot of talk at the time about how much money these guys made. The typical figure cited was $60k for a really good messer, including the under-the-table part, which everyone said was most of the take. The only other thing i remember about messengers back then was that everyone said Nelson Vails needed specially tailored pants (you needed TIGHT pants back then) to accommodate his definitely non-steroid induced thigh-dom.
Yes, today kicks off the 2010 Track clinics at Northbrook. No, the Cuttin' Cruiser is not headed up there. Saturday night, the Chief Bus Driver, aka Mr. Jeff 'Rooster' Perkins had his appendix removed. He's doing ok but he's been ordered off the bike for two weeks and off the Driver's seat of the bus for...a while. We may have a substitute for Tuesday night. We'll see.
In other news, a few members of the crew had some fun north of the border. Nico killed the Don't Kill the Messenger alleycat up in Madison, bringing home first overall. Only one thing to be said about this: Hell Jess!
JRho and Candles, aka Jannette and Andrew, hit Whitnall for a lovely Wisconsin spring day: 40s and raining, on a circuit with a whole lot of up down left right. Jannette brought home 5th place in the Women's Open category, somehow still wearing a smile. After dodging some sketchy riding early on, the candelabra caretaker decided the best way to stay out of trouble was to drag the field around. He put in a good days' work at the front, stayed upright, and finished respectably in 15th.
By Jeff (yes, already)
I'm working on getting Brean to share his stories from the '90s about Germans and their love of roller rinks but until then this will have to serve as filler.
It was as recent as the March of '07. We were fundraising for the 2008 NACCC. A few people made things happen from all kinds of angles to make sure we could recreate this whole "goldsprint" game that had been introduced to the majority of us with the previous summer's VeloCity Tour.
It was to be called the IRO Sprints and was held at the Mutiny, a personal favorite when it comes to just a solid bar. Augie* MC'ed for the night and J Marshall* was bringing a lot of energy with his hot forum of the time (good ol' bikeliker.com). I showed up because I committed at an early NACCC organizing meeting and I was (finally) starting to get a big kick out of hanging out with those dudes. It turned out to be a fantastic decision. *(Cuttin' Crew OG)
I drew Julio for the first round and I think he had to be the hardest of the night. Since he was a seemingly well respected dude and I destroyed him so badly I decided to make it up to him over a beer. It then became a habit to buy anyone I beat a beer. I'm super stoked I did because I felt like less of an asshole and I really got to chat it up with a good number of people.
As it turned out I had to buy a lot of beers that night. I ended up winning it all in a heated final against the dude that just finished a bandit 'cross race that morning, Mr. Ben Popper. The pattern for these things haven't changed much. Everyone was absolutely spent towards the end of it and the place was emptying out quickly. I didn't get anything for the win except a good bit of pride, a shot or two from the owner, and a random kiss from a girl that must have been dared into pulling off a smooch and run with the winner (kinda awesome!)
Aside from that, I will say the highlight of the night there in the bar had to be the compliment from the Augdog -
"I'm pretty happy you won. Not because we don't have prizes and not because I know you, but really because you were clearly having the most fun out of everyone."
It definitely wasn't that long ago but it's nice to see some of those faces having a good time all under the same roof. Keeping with the "youtube is a better story teller than you" logic I leave you with this...
by Avi
While Jeff was digging through his junk drawer looking for his leopard skin seat cover, he came across a stash of spokecards, race flyers, and mementos from back in the day (even if "the day" was only a couple years back). Inspired, he decided to kick off a new series: Throwback Thursdays. While Jeff gets his Instamatic camera restocked with film, he asked me to kick it off.
Once upon a time, I was younger. This younger me went to school in Boston, bought a crashed and crinkled steel Torpado for practically nothing, bent it back into shape, and started messing. It was a big scene, and you had all sorts back then: summer trash (ignored), college boys (my cat), hippie mountain bikers stuck in the city, speed freak pseudopunks, racerboys, grrrrrls, etc. All these little tribes, but cutting across all of them were the Lifers. Careeriers, freelancers, whatever you wanted to call them, they were old school, fast, and generally worked for themselves with a client list and a pager. Rumor had it they did forty runs a day at $10 each. Yup, that's a six figure income right there.
Most of them were ice cold to the youngbloods, but a couple came around if you lasted a winter or two. Elvis always rolled up and got the backstory on new kids, even if half of them didn't last a week. Maze was an artist and musician, and had what I still consider the most styling mess bike ever: a bent-tube track pursuit frame with a disc rear wheel and a 650 up front, straight bar and bar-ends with shotgun shells for plugs. I tailed him coming in from Allston once, and it was like trying to draft a bobsled. But I digress.
Spencer James was one of the lifers too, and he was also a musician and filmmaker. He did some freelance work and put this together for a nascent cable channel. Without further ado, let's take the Internet time machine back to 1992...
...and for the record: I didn't race that night as I busted my pedal cage on the way there. and Maze still has way more style than me.
Brean has won the 'street-cred' prime for being the first on the team mentioned in a racy little article about underground cycling over at velonews.com. Congratulations to Dan for a big win.
It is officially Spring and, regardless of a little nip in the air, it feels mighty nice to know that. Races are fully amongst us for the next few weeks and we're all pretty psyched.
It all begins with the team that has been a personal favorite. Half Acre continues to impress with a repeat of their season opening criterium series. It was originally called Kevin's Crits for sake of the most interesting sailor in Chicago but now it has changed names to one of the most interesting bloggers in Chicago. The Gaper's Blocks Crit Series is the second of their 5 major events and it's running from Monday, March 22 - Friday, March 26 down at Calumet Park in Chicago. Racing starts at 6 and continuously changes fields through until 8. A much better list of the details can be found here.
The bus will be going down on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday to provide a little shelter and we'll have a water cooler and, maybe if you're lucky, somebody will take some grilling initiative. Feel free to swing by and hop in to warm up or hang out.
A sure sign of a regional Spring classic is selling out the online registration within something like 2 days. The race track and organization they've got down at Blackhawk Farms is definitely worth the trip.
There is plenty to say about our third pickup, Mr. Nico Deportago-Cabrera. Within 2 short years of becoming a messenger, Nico has made himself nothing but a positive fixture in the street scene every scene.
A solid, genuine dude through and through, everyone seems to know him across the city, country and even across the freakin' globe! Of course, rounding out the sweep for Chicago at the NACCCs will always help that cause. Pleasantries aside, the man can throw down when it's time to roll.
Just as your boy has been invaluable for the reputation of Chicago and the people in it, we're real damn lucky to have heard that trademark "hell jesss!" when we asked him to join the Crew.
*(real good lookin' pic there that sure is making its rounds thanks to indyfab)
Ladies and gents meet Roadhouse. Yes, he works at Service First. Yes, his name is Al. Yes, he's got an insane training regimen that he sticks to religiously. Yes, he hates talking. Hold up though - this man is Al PEARSON.
I'm nervous to pump up Al because he's got such great potential and, contrary to the general Chicagoan sports mentality, he likes to deliver results before imagining what-ifs. Makes a man dangerous when he's got the skills Al has.
So we'll leave it at this, Al Pearson has kindly joined us at the ranks of the Cuttin' Crew and we're all completely psyched cuz he's a real good dude and he's gon' whoop a whole lotta ass.
So, naturally, we are a chivalrous lot and have to first announce our newest lady. It's not like being first is a strange place to be for Jannette. She racked up at least 9 first places by my count last year and that omits her overall Chicago Cyclocross Cup Champion status. Might as well conclude it all on top, right?
Well, of course we twisted her arm a little here and there. Some bribes may have happened, some beers may have happened but she has certainly blessed us with her presence and we couldn't be happier.
It was a great time considering how difficult the 2nd year can be for a team like ours. We're rooted from a culture that is in a perpetual state of youth. In spirit more than anything. A lot of people around us live fast and once a novelty is done it's tough to keep something going. I'm sure it's probably not tougher than most (I'm such a whiner) but when you're a tight knit group like this it can get a bit dodgy. One ideal we try to maintain is what's best for you will most likely be what's best for the team. It helps when respecting the different styles and desires that come from a group of messengers, ex-messengers and never-messers (Stan).
Someone got a great offer we couldn't match and would have been crazy to turn them down. Someone decided it was best to part ways for a while and roll with another killer crew. Some haven't been able to race for this reason or that and some we love seeing out there no matter how few and far between. So the sun has set on one year, so to speak, but this great wheel keeps spinning.
One thing is for sure, the sun is rising again with a whole new lot of burning fury and we are rising up to meet it.
In an unprecedented recruitment blitz (!), we've got three new faces to add to the roster this year and I am so proud and excited to see them take us up on a chance to fly our colors. Keep your eyes peeled over the next few days as we are privileged to introduce a few new faces to this raggedy little band of Cuttin' Crew 3.0...
It all begins with the team that has been a personal favorite. 
Saturday is another successful criterium in place to open up the 
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