Name: Ross Gauld
Courier Position: Bike Courier.
Biker Number: 34

Ross, how long have you been a bike courier?
Over 3 years total.

Where are you from?
Annapolis, Maryland… it was a nice place before Banana Republic opened up there.

How did you first get into the courier/messenger industry?
There was an article in Bicycling Magazine sometime in the late 80s about Jack "Spider" Blackfelt, a courier in Chicago. It's his fault. Once I got the idea in my head it wouldn't leave. I recognized my destiny.

What was your profession before becoming a courier?
OK, lemme think, Hotel Desk Clerk, Radio Disc Jockey (KRTX 104.9FM), Ship's Officer U.S. Merchant Marine, Surfboard builder w/ Sunliner Surfboards, photographer & Corporate Wage Slave (Company name withheld by court order - just kidding!).

What would the perfect job for you be?
Bike Messenger.

What do you do in your leisure time/what are your hobbies?
Most nights I read. A lot of Science Fiction (never fantasy) and a lot of history. Lately I've been reading about how elevators work and I'm looking for a good technical manual on Railroad Engine operation. Weekends I go sailing on my boat "Touchstone", a Catalina 380 that consumes an amazing amount of time (and money), but she's worth it. I also build ship models, but I take a year or two to finish each one.

What is your greatest passion?
What, this week? Probably politics. I cannot understand why people don't realize that this is the only country in the world where you can fire anybody that works for the government. In Great Britain, there is one sovereign, the queen. Here, we all have the same right, we are all sovereigns and have to put up with nothing you don't agree to. If you don't vote, you have no right to complain. If you don't like the way things are, fix them, nobody will do it for you. Quit whining!

What makes you mad?
People who aren't courteous. Little things like saying "thank you" to the guy that held the door for you. Using your turn signal. People who haven't reached the point in personal development that they realize that they are not the only sentient being on the planet. Most of us realize this around 24 months -- some people don't get it at 600 months. Courtesy is the lubricant that allows millions of people to live in constant moving contact without abrasion. Not saying "please" and "thank you" causes undue wear on the machine called "Society" and can lead to premature failure.

What makes you happy?
Almost everything, roses in front of an abandoned building, a good thunderstorm, a good laugh (one of my favorites was a Metro bus that fell in a Metro pothole and got stuck, I laughed for a week). I'm easy to please.

What one word do you think describes yourself?
Survivor.

What one word do you think others describe you as?
That's scary to think about. The one I have heard the most often (secondhand) is "arrogant". I prefer to think of it as confidence.

What is one of the funniest/weirdest things that has happened to you while messing [being a bike courier]?
Last winter I was picking up a late run to the post office and our client had one of their kids in the office. It was cold outside so I was wearing long tights in addition to the normal messenger fashions. Anyway, the kid came around the corner and saw me with my courier bag, radios, pager and tights -- and said to me "Are you a Superhero?" I just smiled and said "sometimes".

What do you consider as your greatest accomplishment?
I saved my mother's life on January 10th, 1986. My father and I were undocking a boat on the St. Mary's River, in Maryland, and I turned around and my mother wasn't on the dock anymore. I jumped back onto the dock and grabbed her by the neck and dragged her back out of the water. The water was about 30 degrees with ice floating around. I broke two of her ribs doing it. My father was screaming at me the whole time, he didn't have any idea what had happened or what I was doing. I've saved other lives and accomplished other things that I am proud of, but that one means the most. How many people ever get to even make a down payment on the debt they owe their mothers?

Where do you think the bike messenger industry will be in 5 years?
Yikes, predicting the future holds real potential for embarrassment. Who would have predicted in 1990 the influence of the internet? I suspect that as computer power increases, the industry will focus more on moving goods that are sensitive (i.e. confidential) and less on stuff that could be emailed or faxed. The whole idea of what is an original document is changing. Moving original documents will become a lot less important. I suspect though, as I look into my polycarbonate ball, that privacy on the internet will be even less than it is today. You want it to remain a secret, send it by messenger.

Where do you think the courier/messenger industry as a whole will be in 5 years?
Same thing, although a lot of hard items still need to physically move. Transportation has always been one of the major industries. I forget the term, something like "economic value of location". If the local store has something that you need right now and they want 300 dollars, but one 30 miles away has the same thing for 200 dollars. It makes sense to pay a courier 50 dollars to go get it. The industry will probably change the focus from handling originals (they'll go by internet) to handling more physical goods. Transportation has always been good business, and that won't ever change.

You went to Philadelphia last year and raced in the CMWC 2000 [Cycle Messenger World Championships], let's talk about that for a moment.

What place did you come in and how many were in the race? I came 231, and there were over 600 racers!

What was the most exciting part of the race?
My most exciting part was going down the hill. Any hill looks big when you're from Houston but this was a real hill, about a quarter mile long and about a 15% grade. My first time down I started out with both hands straight up, roller coaster style, I was yelling "wheeeee!" as I passed a bunch of Danes pumping their way back up. Psychological warfare. Then I went under a bridge, probably doing about 40, and I had to put my hands back on the handlebars because there was about 100 feet to stop before blowing across a 4-lane highway headfirst into the river. The next lap I was a little more conservative, but the guys from Copenhagen remained scared of me for the whole weekend!

How did you get to the race?
Nothing exciting… truck, airplane, bus. On the trip back home, the guys from Austin woke me up that morning at 5am and said, "The bus is here!" I took one of the fastest showers ever and made the flight with about 5 minutes to spare. I slept on the plane and then shaved just before we landed. I walked out of the terminal, dragging a huge box full of my bike and 30 pounds of dirty laundry and caught the 102 bus downtown. I got off at Chase Tower, unpacked the bike, threw away the box, stashed the laundry in a safe place, downed a cup of coffee and at 10am called base; "34, I'm at the tower". I didn't even get home until after 8 that night. Airplanes are great, party all night in Philadelphia, work the next day in Houston.