Welcome to Santa Cruz County’s Bicycle Courier Blog

I thought it would be great to have a place where Bike Couriers and Bike Riders could meet and talk, share stories, trade advice, and build an online community. I look forward to reading and writing our Courier stories, news, and comments.

Rick Graves

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Messenger Profile - Cody Gin



Messenger Profile ~ Cody Gin.

Howdy,

I’m Cody, and I’ve been working for Clutch Couriers for a little over a year now.

Rick’s been hassling me to write this for months, but now feels like the right time.

I was born and raised in San Luis Obispo, California. There, I ran amok in the hills and woods with my friends, always riding our crappy mountain bikes or rollerblades to the next adventure and/or troublemaking opportunity. I started riding my bike to school in the 8th grade, and I’ve been hooked on cycling ever since.

I moved to Santa Cruz to go to Cabrillo College to avoid the torrential rains of Humboldt, where I had previously been schooled. Here, I started playing bike polo, a weird mix of hockey and horse polo (which you all should totally play!), where I met Brandon and Andrew, who worked at Clutch Couriers at the time. It seemed like they had the dream job; getting paid to ride a bike all day. I made one attempt at that operating a pedicab, but it turns out that legal documents are way easier to carry than overweight tourists.

After graduating college, I managed to evade adult life for a couple of months by working at a camp near Yosemite. After the camp burned down in the 2014 Rim Fire, I was cast adrift into the real world. Direction was only restored when Brandon offered me a job at Clutch Couriers. After a month of couch surfing (thanks for the couch Brandon!) I regained my footing and am happily working here today.

Riding one’s bike in Santa Cruz is interesting to say the least. The dense traffic and non-intuitive street layout makes for some strange riding, unlike anywhere I’ve ridden before. However, it’s all worth it when I ride to the top of a hill and can turn around to see the entire coastline wrapping around the Monterey Bay, but on overcast days see nothing but an ocean of fog reaching all the way up to the redwoods. That shit never gets old.

In my spare time you can find me drinking beer and heckling at the polo court (search for Santa Cruz Bike Polo on Facebook for times), riding my weird cyclocross bike in the forest, or throwing my disc golf discs at trees.

Owners note- Cody is our latest messenger to cruise through his rookie year with flying colors, while always leveling up in the game. He is a dedicated and professional courier, and we are stoked to have him on crew. Great messengers like Cody don't come along every day, but they are starting to become more common due to the decent living and opportunities for advancement offered by Clutch Couriers.