Bike messengers from all parts of North America and the world arrived in the San Francisco this weekend for the North American Cycle Courier Championships (NACCC). Now in its tenth year, over 200 participants already registered and hundreds more are expected for the three day festival of messenger culture.
In addition to the championship race, the weekend will include parties, live performances, track bike events, group rides through the city and a barbeque in San Francisco's Panhandle Park, complete with bike polo. The championship qualifier and final race will take place on a closed road course and will test three major areas of messenger skill: speed, creative package handling and navigation.
Current World and North American champion Sarah Torgrimson of San Francisco's Cupid Courier Collective is sure to be a race favorite while Mike Rabdau of Godspeed Courier, another independently-owned local messenger service, will be looking to improve on his second place result in last year's competition to reclaim the top honors he won in 2005 when the race was held in Portland, Oregon. Godspeed, which also supports a local road racing squad, placed three riders in the top ten at last year's NACCC in Philadelphia and are certain to make a strong showing on local streets.
Aside from fellowship and bragging rights, the NACCC provides an open forum for messengers to address a variety of industry–wide concerns ranging from safety to wages. The San Francisco Bike Messenger Association (SFBMA) is proud to continue this legacy. For the past ten years, the SFBMA has been at the forefront of messenger industry improvements and labor rights issues. It continues to honor this commitment by promoting unity and solidarity within the messenger community and raising the status of the courier profession.
For more information, please visit the SFBMA website: www.ahalenia.com/sfbma or the NACCC website at http://www.naccc07sf.com/.
