Some more New York City Messenger Pics

I had to go into the New York office today. It was a horrible commuting day. As I was leaving to go to the train station the skies looked like they were getting ready to open up. While it held off until the train came I left my rain slicker on the back seat of my car. I could have used it.

The local train that usually runs ahead of us was cancelled and our express train was turned into a local. The end result was that the passengers from two trains were packed onto one. Luckily I had a seat but those who got on at stations after me were not so lucky.

Since it was raining I was thinking about taking the subway up to the office from Penn Station but I enjoy the walk so I decided to risk it since it was not raining too hard. This was a bad bet since I got about 4 blocks when the skies opened up. I was thinking about flagging down a cab but I there was guy outside of a shoe store selling umbrellas so I decided to make the $4.00 investment. It did help a little bit but I was all wet by the time I got to the office.

For the most part the day was not that productive so I decided to take a walk at lunch time. I decided to go to the main Toga Bikes Shop on the corner of West End and West 64th Street. This is about 3 blocks west of Lincoln Center. I was originally thinking of taking the 2&3 up to 66th Street (Lincoln Center) but I would have had to walk south to the station so I decided I would walk the whole way.

I was hoping that I would see some more messengers on single speeds and fixies today but I think the weather made them bring out the beaters and mountain bikes. Not nearly as many as there were on Monday. During during the lunch time hour most of the bikes that you see are from restuarants delivering orders. Most of these are beater mountian bikes with baskets mounted on the front. You also see a lot of English style 3 speeds.

Unfortunately my picture taking activities were cut short because the battery in my camera needed charging. The shutter did not have enough power to catch messengers as the rode by me. I figured I would keep trying and then recharge the battery once I got back to work so that I could get some more photos on the walk to the Penn Station on the return commute home.

Below are some of the pictures I took on the way to Penn Station to catch the train home. It started to rain hard on the walk so I had to look for bikes and take the pictures while holding an umbrella. I did see one fixie rider hit a pedestrian but I did not get a picture of it. The rider apologized and then continued on.

The rider of the bike above rode by me as I was walking but I could not get a picture in time. However, she was making a deliver to 1 Penn Plaza and I walk by her again as she was locking her bike. I really want to get some pictures of messengers posed next to their bikes but I know they are in a hurry. Also, it was raining today so I was afraid to ask. Maybe next time.

I caught the 5:33 Jersey Coast Line Express to Long Branch so I missed the steampipe explosion. I was on the other side of the Hudson in New Jersey probably in Newark by the time this happened.