NYC: The Messenger

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Like a Doppler wave, she hurtled towards me and filled the frame as I took the photograph, and I looked up and she sped past dwindling in size down the street like that light blob you see when you turn off an old 70's television and in a moment's breath she was gone...

Lower Manhattan.

http://piofort.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p1018019196-4.jpg

[conbu19]

Pio,made me flinch when I first saw it. Drove limos in the city for twenty five years,if another war breaks out and we need more fighter pilots,I'll recommend NYC bike messengers

[vwjoe76]

Doesn't even look like she gave you time to thank her for being such a great subject! I've seen the bike messengers in San Francisco blazing around. I'm not sure which is scarier to an average pedestrian...a bike messenger or a cab driver? Great capture Pio! --joe

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Nice catch (and story line) BB. :) I've been fascinated with those messengers ever since seeing that old movie "Quicksilver" starring Kevin Bacon, about a NY Stockbroker turned bicycle messenger. ;)
-Bruce

[chrishunt]

Messengering is a lot of work, and especially respectful this time of the year. I wonder how long she's been at it...

[SnapsbyPoteat]

sorry - just curious- i'm from a small town, didn't realize that bike messengers still exsisted really.

but, how can you tell that she is a messenger and not some girl racing to or from school or somewhere else?

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sorry - just curious- i'm from a small town, didn't realize that bike messengers still exsisted really.
Here's an interesting read, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_messenger
-Bruce

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I apologize for responding to the comments on this thread only now, I forgot all about this!

Pio,made me flinch when I first saw it. Drove limos in the city for twenty five years,if another war breaks out and we need more fighter pilots,I'll recommend NYC bike messengers

I am glad I elicited such a reaction, conbu :D Most messengers indeed weave in traffic. I do too sometimes when I am in a hurry. I shouldn't really.

Doesn't even look like she gave you time to thank her for being such a great subject! I've seen the bike messengers in San Francisco blazing around. I'm not sure which is scarier to an average pedestrian...a bike messenger or a cab driver? Great capture Pio! --joe

Thanks Joe! Yeo, she was upon me in a flash, then she was gone.

Nice catch (and story line) BB. :) I've been fascinated with those messengers ever since seeing that old movie "Quicksilver" starring Kevin Bacon, about a NY Stockbroker turned bicycle messenger. ;)
-Bruce

Thank you Bruce. "Quicksilver" is one of my all time favorite movies! I first saw it when I was young and it was influential in developing my love affair with bicycles. Several years ago, I had the opportunity to meet Nelson Vails at a Messenger meet here in NYC. He's the messenger guy in the movie that Kevin Bacon races against when he was in a taxi cab. He is a very nice guy, and he used to be a bike messenger and a US Olympian at the bicycle track events. Meeting him was something I will always remember. Heck, he even let us watch his dog (a Lab) while he ducked into a nearby coffee shop to take a leak!

Messengering is a lot of work, and especially respectful this time of the year. I wonder how long she's been at it...

That it is burn. It is extremely miserable at this time of the year, with the biting cold. They really are tough cookies.

sorry - just curious- i'm from a small town, didn't realize that bike messengers still exsisted really.

but, how can you tell that she is a messenger and not some girl racing to or from school or somewhere else?

Hi breathless, thanks for looking! There are lots of bike messengers here, and I understand why that may be surprising since we have faxes and email now. Oftentimes, sending stuff by bike is still the most efficient way to transport sensitive documents and small packages. I see this girl every once in a while with all sorts of packages stuffed/strapped into her bag. In fact, an hour after I took this shot, I saw her again this time with a three foot long cardboard tube stuck in her bag, no doubt containing rolled documents.

Bruce, thanks for the link!

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Bruce, thanks for the link!
Any time Pio! ;)
-Bruce