I got my first bicycle at my seventh birthday. That was a Giant bike, and I can still remember how exited I was at the moment. Since then, cycling has become an important part of my life.  I ride bicycle to go anywhere, and I have traveled around Taiwan by bicycle for three times. Most people might think that a bicycle is only a vehicle that takes people from A to B. Ostensibly, it is. But for me, bicycle is as special as soccer to Europeans or baseball to Americans. I would say that “I am cycling” but not “I am riding a bicycle”. When I was about 12, I said I wanted to be a cyclist when my teacher asked us to write a composition which was titled “ I want to be a…” The teacher wondered if I wanted to be an athlete. But I answered no, and then told her that I just wanted to be a person who cycles all day, every day.  Later I was forced to change the answer to doctor, because my teacher didn’t accept a cyclist as a profession. However, the truth is that, today, there are people who really live by riding bicycles, and they are not Lance Armstrong.

In Taipei, there is a company called Protorapid, a cycle courier company, which is formed by professional cyclists. They are people who indeed cycle all day, every day. Their job is delivering packages by bicycle. It sounds like they are postman 30 years ago, but they are actually not like postman at all, no matter the way they work or how they look like. Protorapid is the first cycle courier company in Taiwan, and the case they deal with is mostly express delivery in the urban city. In fact, Protorapid is a branch of a Tokyo based courier company, CY-Q, the third largest cycle courier company in Tokyo. The Taipei office is just at beginning, and not so many people hear about it. But it is really working. They deliver things every day, and as far as I know, they are reliable just like postmen we know. Maybe I should send a letter by Protorapid to my seventh grade teacher, and then she would understand that I was not kidding.

Every bicycle maniac must have seen the movie Quicksilver (a 1986 film about the story of a bicycle messenger in San Francisco). We all have dreamed about shuttling in and out through the city like the messengers in the movie.  Gen, the director of Protorapid, lives a life just like Ouicksilver. Gen is a 32 years old male from Japan. The company sent him to Taiwan 3 years ago. Every day, he wears a fitted jersey painted with  “Protorapid” and “東京快轉即便” on the back, and a pair of raw colored skinny jeans. And He rows up the trouser of the right leg while he is cycling. On his shoulder is a big and thick chain lock made by steel, he hangs it like the ribbon on the beauty queen. When he is out, he always brings a huge shoulder bag. The bag is big enough to hide a 6 years old kid in it. Usually, Gen rides bicycle all day, every day. He is a profession cyclist. When he is riding, he talks through walkie-talkie on and off, in order to know where to go. The whole city is his work area. Gen rides the bike really fast, fast than most cyclists on the street. You seldom see people ride so fast like Gen. Gen always carry a package that is bigger than the already oversize shoulder bag on his back. And no matter how heavy is the package Gen will still ride as fast as he can. You may think the way that Gen rides bicycle is dangerous. He rides on the traffic lanes, and sometimes jumps on the sidewalk when there is a traffic jam. He doesn’t follow the traffic rules, for example, he always run the red lights. People on the street stare at Gen and looked bewildered by him. The scene looks someone who has just robbed a bank with millions dollar of cash on him and trying to escape from the police cars chasing behind him.  In fact, police officers don’t know how to deal with him. They never see someone like Gen before.  Most people don’t know that Gen is a Bicycle messenger, a person who delivering package by bicycle. By the way, the huge shoulder bag is called messenger bag. It is very possible your boyfriends might own one. It is a very popular style of male shoulder bag right now. But I bet that it is more possible that your boy friends have no idea that he is carrying a “messenger” bag.

The emergence of the cycle courier is the result of the development of urban city. For the question, “Why do bike messengers exist in large urban centers as opposed to vans or even motorcycles?” the one word answer is density. Dense urban areas with heavy vehicle traffic make the efficiency of the bike messenger profitable. In an area that is jammed with buildings, traffic and people, if you want to send your package from point A to point B fast, sometimes a bicycle is the best choice. In Taipei, we already have plenty of courier companies (companies who provide express delivery service). It seems that the courier market was already saturated. With so many choices of courier companies, we don’t have any cycle courier company among the business besides Protorapid. But bicycle in Taiwan is important. Almost every family owns one or more bicycles, and Taiwan is also well known for its bicycle manufacture industry. Taipei is a typical urban city, we produce bicycles, and we ride bicycles. With all these conditions, it is strange that no one in this island has ever tried to run a cycle courier company. And when I told people there is one in Taipei, they were amazed like I was just saying that there is an alien capital in Taipei. In fact, in some of the foreign urban cities, such as New York, San Francisco, Vancouver, and Tokyo, the cycle courier companies there are so common like 宅急便 (a well-known courier company in Taiwan) in Taipei. And they make money.

Protorapid, the first cycle courier company in Taiwan, is trying hard to introduce a whole new idea about the business of courier to us. Meanwhile, the Tokyo based company also brings a new force to Taiwan’s cycling community, the bicycle messenger. These city rangers bring a sense of freshness, and their distinguishing featured push the concept of cycling in Taiwan into the next stage.

The cycle courier company firstly appeared in North America. Basically, how a bicycle courier company works is almost like the Taxi station in Taiwan. There are dispatchers in the office who answer client’s calls and show the direction to the messengers who are on standby on the streets. When messengers receive the assignments from dispatchers, they go to the request of clients to load the package and directly deliver it to the place where the clients. The Bicycle messenger in New York is the representative of this business. New York is the capital of this career. Others adopt the style of the New York courier company, in the way they run the business, the bicycles they ride, or even the way messengers in New York dress up has become a fashion. And New York also has the biggest market. There are 70 cycle courier companies, and about 7000 messengers in the city.  And for the biggest company in New York, there are about 1200 packages delivered per day.     In Asia, no doubt, Tokyo has led the way of this business, just like in many other industries.  The essential look of Japan is like US, but later, Japan broke out with its own style. For example, the cycle courier company in Japan is more organized. All the messengers are equipped with a walkie-talkie, which can provide efficiency to the work. And messengers in Japan wear uniforms, but most companies in US don’t have the rules about the dress. In Taiwan, because we are near to Japan, it is understandable that the business here is more like of Japan.

I am so lucky that one of my best friends is the messenger in Protorapid. As a result, I have chance to go to visit their Taipei office. To go to visit Protorapid is like a pilgrimage for me.

The office of Protorapid is on the top of an old apartment building, approximately 20~30 years old, which is located in the heart of downtown Taipei, around the crossroad of Chang An East road and Fuxin North road. The neighborhood has the typical features of Taipei city, a hustle and bustle area with a bit of every thing. This is a perfect location for a courier company, where they can easily reach all kinds of clients. When I went into the office, honestly, it disappointed me. I expected a more lively and formal office like the one in ‘Quicksilver’. There should be endless phone rings, and the office should be crowded with messengers and bicycles, maps, and notes all over the wall. But the office I visited is small, simple and crude. The place is about 30 pings. Two desks next to the living room form the work area. There was only one person in the office. Gen, the director of the office, later told me that the office is also his resident.

In the cycling community, people have doubts Protorapid, including me.  Even though my intention is to visit a cycle courier company, because of the members of the office I saw from their web side, I presupposed that it might be another gimmick of Nabiss (a crew of people dedicated to promoting fixed gear culture, who are the basic members of Protorapid at the beginning period). Then the office would be more like a promotion center for the fixed gear fan club (fixed gear is bicycle that can’t coast, the pedals are always in motion) Gen said, “The participation of the Nabiss crews is only a way to promote Protorapid. As a Bicycle based firm, we want the local cycling community to know our name as soon as possible. Now we are focusing on the courier, and we are serious and professional. However you can still see fix gears here, after all that is the bike that most bicycle messenger chooses. ” Quite surprisingly, during the interview and the observation, Gen was quite busy. The whole visit was done simultaneously while Gen was working. Gen has to be the dispatcher who communicates with clients and also needs to give orders to the messenger on the streets. Through the phone conversations and the notepapers on the wall, I learned that some of the notable enterprises and government institutions are on their list of clients. I didn’t expect that this simple and little office could be so busy and have such large-scale clients. It seems that Protorapid is a serious and a professional courier company like what Gen claimed.

Gen said, “It seems that Taipei is an ideal place for the business of cycle courier.” Taipei is a busy urban city. We have a huge population, a great numbers of buildings, and streets are always crammed with traffic.  The conditions are pretty much the same as Tokyo.  Most importantly, people in this country are no strangers to bicycle. With all the advantages above, the Japanese based cycle courier company is expected to have a promising future.  Gen said, “We had a hard time at the beginning. The situation is not like we expect. ” In Taiwan, we don’t see people who dress professionally while riding, or speed through traffic lanes with a heavy package on the back.  Gen said, “People stare at us like there is a space ship driving in the city.” For this Japanese director, he thinks that people in Taiwan have a different idea about the use of bicycle. Gen said, ”People ride differently here.”  In Taiwan, one thing that people associate with cycling is recycling. And it seems that for a cycle courier company, recycling should be a big issue. However, Gen looked hesitated and baffled by this recycling idea about cycling. Gen said, ”Of course I support the idea of recycling, but that’s not what I concern with when I am cycling.” Cycle courier in Japan is prevalent, especially in the city like Tokyo. Gen said, “The business of cycle courier has been in Tokyo for more than 15 years.”  Cycle couriers in Japan are not something new. Bicycle messengers in Japan are like the Taxi drivers. They are parts of every day life. Gen said, “When I am cycling, I don’t feel that I am being environmentally friendly. For me, it is just a job.” In Taiwan, if you are not riding to school or office, then you will be considered a Lohas, a recycling vanguard, or a bicycle maniac. Gen said, “People here sometimes make me feel that they are riding for a duty or with a mission” For Gen, business is business, and that’s all.

The local Messengers in Protorapid are young. The oldest one is 28.Unlike the common office workers, who dressed in tidy suits and feeling already tired at the moment they step into office, these messengers have a sense of wildness and energy. Or I would say they look naiveté and unruly.  Before they became messengers, most of them were doing part time jobs.  One of the messenger said, ”I choose to become a messenger for interest. It makes me feel like bird when I am cycling.” I think these people just couldn’t stand jobs that stock themselves in a place for 8 hours a day. They don’t want to be restrained. Even though I always feel that a hobby is a hobby, and it is boring when it becomes a job, but the messengers here really have a tremendous passion for this job (or cycling?) Grassy, one of the messengers said, “I don’t feel like I am working; the delivery is just like a game for me. And every day is like a new challenge. I enjoy everyday’s work.” In my opinion, the reason a bicycle messenger is so different from the “normal” work is that the delivery provides the sense of achievement that the messengers can’t get from their previous work experiences. When I asked about the payment, their answer was thought provoking: “Money is not what we are concerned with.” And I was really impressed by one messenger’s answer about the necessity for someone who wants to be a bicycle messenger: “You should feel that you are not just delivering a package but doing it with a sense of human touch.” From the talk with these messengers, I feel that you must be an incurable romanticist who can live by dreams and passion, and if not, don’t think about joining Protorapid.

Bicycle messengers in Protorapid not only deliver the package but also want to deliver a sense of humanity. And this humanity or I would say the intimate face-to-face interaction between people is what makes them different from other companies who do the delivery service by cars, or motorcycle. Gen said, “We want our clients to feel that the messenger who is in charge of his/her package really cares about the package. Our clients are not just giving their things to a company, but a person, who is reliable and care about your package.”  In Protorapid, every package is a one-on-one delivery service.

Somehow, comparing the conversation between Gen and the local messengers, it seems that they hold different attitudes toward their job. Gen is a veteran in this business, so from the conversation I could feel that I was talking to a businessman. Gen is assigned by the Tokyo headquarters, so what he focuses is to try hard to make the performance of the Taipei office as good as possible. He has a clear and practical image about the future. But from the talks with the local messengers, I feel that they are all dreamers. They couldn’t give me a practical answer about why they want to join this business, and on the contrary, the answers they gave sound emotional and romantic, something about love, courage and freedom. They have no career plan. Grassy said, “I live in the moment.” The local messengers exile themselves from the mainstream. They got different idea about having a job, being a worker, and living.  It is interesting that I remember Gen said, “I choose to become a bicycle messenger because I want to be different.” Gen was like the local messengers when he was a rookie, but as time passed, he became a veteran and woke up from the dream. I believe that Gen still got passion in his career. He said, “I still love my job as much as before, now, I am just at a different stage ” No matter how different is Protorapid, it is still a company that needs a organizer who is able to come up with a clear plan to the firm. In my opinion, I don’t think this truth makes the business of cycle courier become boring. Actually, the professional aspect of the business makes this profession more interesting and worth knowing.  It shows that this profession is not a trifling matter that a bunch of young hipsters fool around with.

Literally, a cycling courier company is just the combination of bicycle and courier. But when I really went deeply into this business, I found that this job is not just like what I thought. I was so superficial before, and I am glad that I didn’t miss the chance to realize the richness in the business of cycle courier.

Being a bicycle messenger is harder than people can imagine. It is extremely tired and dangerous. No matter it is boiling hot or rains cats and dogs outside, messengers have to be on stand by on the road all day. And there were a messenger who hidden by the cars, and it is true that messengers got serious injures or died from the accident on the street. This job is hard work, which is definitely not the job for young guys who only want to look cool. People who choose to become a bicycle messenger have a deep faith in something. Yet the faiths differ from people to people, but what makes them in common is that they all believe that life is not a one-way road. To join this group is not only to have a job that is paid, meanwhile, it means that you want to jump out of the conventional thinking. Bicycle messengers are manual workers. They are not intellectuals who are well educated. Maybe they can’t give you a fancy speech that boasts about how they are good at their job, but they would show their ability by their hands. They believe actions speak louder than words. Bicycle messengers are like aesthetic monks, who are down-to-earth to practice his/her ideal life.

Moreover, the cycle courier company is not only refer to a kind of profession, it is also the reflection of the urban culture, especially among the young generation.  For well-dressed people, the messenger style is a key point for them to look trendy. You don’t have to be a real messenger to wear a messenger bag.  And more and more cyclists start to ride a fixed gear, which was an exclusive choice for professional bicycle messenger few years ago. Fixed gear has a simplistic aesthetic, which makes it look chic. And the appearance of Protorapid also brings a new feature of cycling into Taiwan. I have heard of lots of people starting up cycling because of the admiration toward bicycle messenger. It not only increases the population of cyclists, but also inspires people to ride bicycles only because they love the feeling of cycling, and not just treat bicycle as transportation or an exercise bike.

Gen: “I am happy about that people start to beware us, and also feel good to hear that more people are riding bicycle because of us.  This is not only an increase in number, but also change the life style of the city. And Taipei would become a more bicycle friendly city.  I anticipate the day we can really be a cycle courier company.” I assume that Gen means the day that they don’t need to be recycling vanguards or fashion icons any more, but a purely professional bicycle messenger.