Springtime for Bike Messengers of Stockholm

[00:00:00]In just three months time, cherry blossoms seed the way to glorious trunks.

[00:00:15]>> Just finished my first winter.

[00:00:18]>> It makes it worth it to work. Go through the winter.

[00:00:21]>> Can't wait for next winter.

[00:00:28]Bleck Fred back at the start of spring documenting springtime for Stockholm's messengers. Early in the spring, by chance, I bumped into the messenger for my first winter propaganda video.

[00:00:40]Luckily, he was off shift and giving a friend a lift, so he couldn't drop me this time.

[00:00:45]>> Who am I here with?

[00:00:47]>> Where are you delivering this guy? to Maria to press B some ice cream.

[00:00:52]>> Good weather for that >> uh for about a year.

[00:00:59]>> So, it's been found on quite new still, but I can't stand at the moment because I'd bumped into Yu's colleague Fingal earlier that day.

[00:01:22]>> We haven't managed to link up. Maybe I'll catch him in autumn. The city always feels smaller when you can greet your local courier.

[00:01:29]>> Who am I here with?

[00:01:30]>> Hey, Aumie.

[00:01:36]>> I kept bumping into people I wanted to interview.

[00:01:39]>> A was an old colleague from Cross Town and he's always got an infectious smile.

[00:01:43]Even when chilly winds blow, >> it's about to hail.

[00:01:54]And as he rides away from you, luckily he stopped for a chat.

[00:01:59]>> Can't remember.

[00:02:01]2015, the air, fresh air, the friends.

[00:02:08]>> And how does it feel now? Uh, winter's over. Oh, can't wait for next winter.

[00:02:14]Still, that's the best thing about when winter's over. You can climb on this. It can ride in the snow, too, of course, if you want to.

[00:02:22]>> Raphael from Es Carargo Couriers told me to link up with Megan and gave me his number.

[00:02:32]>> We got to go easy online, pick up some uh packages.

[00:02:44]Megan, >> I saw you were out for a big ride with Raphael this weekend.

[00:02:59]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:03:00]>> How do your legs feel today?

[00:03:02]>> Yeah, it feels fine. I had two days off after that, so How long have you been a messenger?

[00:03:11]>> I started last May/June.

[00:03:17]So, it's almost been a year now, actually.

[00:03:21]>> But it's been just finished my first winter.

[00:03:24]>> How was it?

[00:03:24]>> Yeah, it was okay, actually. I thought it was going to be a bit bit worse, but I uh it was fine.

[00:03:34]And I'm just so happy that the weather is nice.

[00:03:44]It's not too much stress.

[00:03:48]Originally I'm from Mongolia. I've been here for about 10 years. Feel like I >> know Stockholm better than my hometown now at this point.

[00:03:57]>> And how did you start working as a bike messenger? I started riding uh fixed gear going to alleycats with stock mess.

[00:04:07]Yeah, before I became a messenger. Yeah, they were quite welcoming. Everybody's so nice.

[00:04:14]>> Who am I here with?

[00:04:15]>> I'm Lionus. I work for uh in post previously.

[00:04:21]I grew up in Stockholm. So I uh when I studied before I I saw the bike messengers and I realized that yeah I want to I want to do this. I want to try it out.

[00:05:16]Oh, perfect.

[00:05:32]I bumped into Vendela, who I met the day before the screening of Claire Taylor's new documentary, Technical Terrain.

[00:05:38]Vendela encouraged me to finish the trailer for this video.

[00:05:41]Vendela's reflections on being a WTNB messenger in Stockholm was captured beautifully in technical terrain which is currently screening across the globe.

[00:05:51]Contact Claire to organize a screening or subscribe to her channel and wait for it to drop.

[00:05:55]>> I asked Vandela about her bike.

[00:05:58]>> Hey, my name is Vandela.

[00:06:00]It's a a Luke aluminum track frame, but it's got a disc brake. This fork [snorts] I just found somewhere. Not sure.

[00:06:11]>> I think I bought it in 2020. Yeah, like summer 2020. So, like six years now. I have like 4617 I think is the ratio. But yeah, and I have a little dragon here.

[00:06:21]It's my lucky charm.

[00:06:24]Yeah, six a little bit more than six years. That's a good question. But it's nice when you like have gone through the winter and then you like experience the, you know, spring approaching. Before I also appreciated spring a lot, but now it's like it makes it worth it to work go through the winter. You know, >> the next messenger had his own standalone episode last week, so be sure to check that out if you haven't already.

[00:06:59]foreign.

[00:07:14][laughter] Oh, man.

[00:07:26]foreign.

[00:07:31][snorts] Um, okay.

[00:08:00]I've been enjoying these new bike lanes which have caused quite the debate between Stockholm's politicians and a few traffic jams. In one of these traffic jams, I caught up with CF.

[00:08:17]They must heat.

[00:08:48]Who am I here with?

[00:08:49]>> Emma.

[00:08:51]>> How long have you been a messenger?

[00:08:53]>> Um, for one year >> is cool. I like it. The messenger scene is kind of small, but that means we all know each other, which is cool.

[00:09:05]>> It's Friday. I'm kind of beat. Um, doing this five days a week is a lot. Tired legs, tired shoulders, but I'm glad it's Friday.

[00:09:26]RV.

[00:09:30]>> How do you find moving back to Stockholm after 10 years in New York?

[00:09:34]>> It's been kind of hard. People are kind of introverted here. They don't spend a lot of time with friends compared to New York. It's kind of like quiet and boring, but it's also beautiful. I mean, this day is perfect. my first Swedish winter in a decade and we had a crazy snowstorm. So, you just couldn't not fall. So, I I fell like five times and then the fifth time I twisted my knee cuz my shoe wouldn't clip out. So, I had to go and like get a scan and everything. So, I actually drove a car for two months. So, it was cheating, but it was nice. The winners are brutal here. At least in New York, I could choose when I rode my bike.

[00:10:21]But now it's just a full-time job, so it's a little different. It's cool, though. You get very comfortable with being uncomfortable. You just deal with it.

[00:10:33]Ride a lot, be into bikes, work out your back.

[00:10:39]It's fun. It's the most fun job I've had. I was so tired of sitting by a desk, so I just wanted an outdoor job.

[00:10:47]And uh I was planning on staying for the summer, but now it's been over a year. I don't know. It's really free and independent and uh to be outside, ride bikes with my friends.

[00:11:03]Do it.

[00:11:14]That's all for this time. Tune in next week as some of these characters hit the woods for end of season midsummer track lacrosse race.

[00:11:24]As always, I'm Fartlick Fred. Speed, play, peace.