RSSRiding Bikes For Living In London
Jun 21
Bikes courier, cycling, delivery, london, london map, map, pushbike No Comments
My memory is still full of countless courier war stories from them courier years. Life was different at the time. It was a different kind of fun. Like riding fast between two buses in the middle of Oxford Street heading to Portland Square…
Yeah, it was fun only when it wasn’t raining…hence the condition of my trusty very first London map. I think it was Collins London Pocket Map circa 1998. Every courier had to have one, even the most experienced guys. I was shocked by the amount of streets and closes and turns and alleyways I had to remember in order to learn my way around. Being a pushbike courier in Central London was not just riding about but getting from A to B using the quickest possible route. If you didn’t you’d earn no money that day. Simple as that. And at £2.50 a job I had to make quite a few deliveries.
I remember my first day as it was yesterday. I called mobile from Baker Street and Marylebone Road only to get a pickup from a package from 82 Baker Street going to SE1. Wow. What a hard day it was. I managed to do 8 jobs – a total earning of £12 that day. But more importantly I was willing to learn and perfect the knowledge of Central London streets.
Today, 13 years after, I am grateful to the circumstances that allowed me to learn all that London streets knowledge. It helps a lot every time I have to visit the City and the West End. And guess what, every time I drive through Soho or Mayfair, I have a burst of pleasant memories…which is kinda nice.
